Sweet Potatoes for a Happy Thanksgiving!

Gardening is so fascinating because there is always another level to it's profound nature.  Digging

through the dirt can reveal a lot of information about the health and vigor of the plant.  If the soil is healthy then generally the plant is healthy (assuming it's the right plant in the right place). Getting your hands dirty can be really rewarding, especially today. I've been removing the Summer annuals as they start to lose their spark.  A third of the containers displayed an ornamental sweet potato vine, in either chocolate or chartreuse foliage. The plants are decorative and eye catching, additionally they provide an edible sweet potato tuber. I pulled nine edible sweet potatoes out of the containers. Today's yield is going to Assistant Superintendent Josh to take home in an attempt to make a sweet potato pie just in time for Thanksgiving. These plants may not be quite as flavourful as the grocery store variety, but completely edible. Maybe dig around in your home containers and throw them in your next meal!

Ode to an Odor

It's here! My favourite time of the year.  I could smell Autumn in the air this morning and it was fantastic. Next time you have the pleasure of walking up to the front entrance of the clubhouse, take a moment to breathe it in.  It's the sweet smell of cotton candy and it's created by the Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) losing its leaves. This statuesque tree turns a soft peachy yellow colour in the Fall that almost seems illuminated by the daytime sky. There are two Katsura trees framing the front gazebo bed, both of which *survived the fire that took over that garden bed just a decade prior. Additionally, in this garden is a mass planting of lavender that has bushed out into a second growth for the season. Lavender is one of my favourite fragrances.  If you brush past it, the air fills up with a fresh herbal odor. I like to pretend I'm in Provence.

Soon, the clouds will get heavy with water and the leaves will drop. The sky will fill with the smell of smoke and wet leaves. The earth will become damp and rich. And on those dry days and cool nights the leaves will rattle across the pavement and the long, bold sunsets will stain the sky. And the pumpkins will get plopped on front porches and silent messages will be left in the air as people leave smoke signals with their breath.  Sorry, I got a little poetic there.  Either way, I'm obviously very passionate about the start of this new season.

As, I've been writing this long, flowery pose the sun just broke through the clouds and started warming up the place. Perhaps, we have an Indian Summer on our horizon.  It seems Fall will just have to wait a few more weeks before it's big reveal.

*Sidenote: Please do not throw cigarette butts into the garden beds. The bark mulch can catch on fire.

The Dance of the Black Eyed Susan and the Russian Sage

Could there be a lovelier duo then the mid Summer combination of Black eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldstrum') and Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)? It's the yin and yang of the garden world. The warm sunny daisy face of the the black eyed susan paired with the cool silvery foliage and purple blooms of the Russian Sage.  The upright stems of the black eyed susan look stunning beside the wispy foliage of the Russian Sage. It's warm and cool.  Hard and soft. This full sun plant combination has a long run of cheering it's admirers.  From mid Summer until Fall it outshines it's competition.  Due to my admiration I've planted this combination in the bed at the #18 hole and if I dare say it looked pretty stunning.

These plants are also present at the #9 hole.  The Russian Sage reaches a mature height of 3-5 feet and about a 2 foot spread.  The Black Eyed Susan maxes out at about 30" tall. This versatile plant flourishes in; dry clayey soil and rich moist soil, hot Southern U.S. Summers and Alberta Winters. No wonder it was chosen as the Perennial Plant of the Year in 1999.  The Russian Sage is a member of the mint family. Crush the leaves to release the herbal fragrance. A totally delightful pairing for a prairie perennial garden bed.  Throw an ornamental grass in there and you have yourself a garden party!

Summer Loving

Sunday is Summer Solstice. I'm trying to decide what I want to do on the longest night of the year. Maybe work on my tan in the EVENING (just because I can). I'm interested what other people do to celebrate the beginning of the Summer season. If you want to share please add it to the comments section.  Either way, these extended days are really lending themselves to more renewed energy.  The birds are definitely feeling it too. Most days I find the barn swallows attempting to build a nest in the Horticulture garage if I leave the garage door open too long. The resident coyotes have given birth to a litter of six cute and bouncy pups. Apparently, they have been spending a lot of time on the West side of the #1 hole. There is so much activity outside. I recently discovered a hummingbird hawk moth siphoning the pollen from the containers at #1. In my ten years of gardening I had never seen one before. Needless to say, I was pretty excited.

I'm also happy to say that the perennials and annuals are maturing for the year and the bed near the #9 hole is starting to take shape. In the last blog post I promised I would  provide the plants selected for that garden bed.  The plants were chosen primarily for it's Summer and Fall interest (i.e. the busy season). Warm yellow, cool blue/ purple, pure white/ silver and chocolate brown are the main colours used throughout the bed. I chose these hues to complement other garden beds and to be welcoming and calming. A mass planting of feather reed grasses were used in the center bed to create the illusion of a sea as the grasses move in the breeze.  Groupings of lavender were planted near the pathway to provide a pleasant aroma in the warm Summer months. Ultimately, it's a Summer prairie perennial garden bed and it should really be coming alive as we progress into these warm Summer days. 

Here is the plant listing for the beds:

Shrubs

Variegated Red Twigged Dogwood - Cornus alaba 'Elegantissima'

Dwarf Fothergilla - Fothergilla gardenii 'Mount Airy'

Heavenly Bamboo - Nandina domestica 'Gulf Stream'

Grasses

Feather Reed Grass - Calamagrostis acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' 

Mexican Feather Grass - Stipa tenuissima 

Blue Oat Grass - Helictotrichon sempervirens

Sedge - Carex oshimensis 'Evergold' 

Purple Fountain Grass - Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum' 

Perennials 

Cardoon - Cynara cardunculus

New Zealand Flax - Phormium tenax

Black Bugbane - Actaea simplex 'Black Negligee' 

White Conflower - Echinachea purpurea 'White Swan'

Purple Coneflower - Echinachea purpurea ' Magnus'

Cranesbill Geranium - Geranium 'Johnson's Blue' 

Perennial Sage -Salvia nemerosa 'May Night' 

Russian Sage - Perovskia atriplicifolia 

White Blazing Star - Liatris spicata ' Floristan Alba' 

Evergreen Spurge - Euphorbia characias 'Glacier Blue' 

Threadleaf Coreopsis - Coreopsis verticillata 'Moonbeam' 

Oriental Poppy - Papaver orientale

Phlomis - Phlomis tuberosa 'Amazone' 

Jerusalem Sage - Phlomis fruiticosa

Stella de Oro Daylily - Hemerocallis 'Stella de Oro' 

Spindle 'Emerald and Gold' - Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald and Gold' 

Rock Rose - Cistus purpureus 'Alan Fradd'

Fred Boutin Lavender - Lavandula intermedia 'Fred Boutin'

Wooly Thyme - Thymus pseudolanuginosus

Happy Easter!

It's Easter Sunday. Happy Easter! Finally, Spring is upon us. The anticipation of the Summer is here. At the Turf Care Center that means earlier and earlier start times.  Soon we'll be arriving at work when most party goers are still making there way home. It's the season of really long days and really really short nights. Excuse me while I just put my head down for just one second.....zzzzzzzzz....I digress. More to the point, it's the season where the air warms up and we reunite with all of the slumbering plants cozy under the soils surface. We've already seen the perky daffodils and tulips welcoming us through the entrance and the woody deciduous shrubs budding into new foliage for the season. I love the bright new red tips of the Photinia shrubs bordering the parking lot. It's my favourite time of the year to traipse around the garden and look for any new discoveries. I've noticed the herbaceous perennials are starting to plump up and are getting ready to put on a show soon.  Also, the iris's bordering the main pond are standing on guard and getting ready to bloom.  Currently, the young creamy yellow magnolia trees are blooming and timing perfect with the daffodils below them.  It's definitely the season of new beginnings and the season for Gardeners to reflect on their designs from the year before. 

This year has also seen the genesis of three new garden beds. The finishing touches are just being made to the beds at the #9 hole. They serpentine along the 180 foot walkway adjacent to the west side of the clubhouse. Unfortunately, an irrigation pipe burst at the foot of the main bed the day after planting was completed.  The Irrigation tech is waiting for a dry day when his schedule is free to fix the pipe.  Then that area will be patched up and replanted. High traffic turf and a heavy sand composition base was placed around the perimeter of the beds last week. The turf was modified from 3 feet to 2 feet. It will require a few planting adjustments to balance out the project. It's very close to being completely completed. Unless of course another pipe bursts or a parade of elephants decides to tromp right through the beds. Those variables aside, it's looking good. I'll follow up with another post soon about the plants in the #9 bed.  Enjoy your Easter holiday and I hope you all have some delicious sea salt dark chocolate hidden in your backyard and a cuppa hot early grey tea and a hot cross bun (not the stale grocery store kind, but the extra fluffy ones from the bakery...you know the kind)!

Pruning Roses 101

If you have ever pruned a rose bush in your life than you have inevitably been pierced with a rose thorn (because it happens every time).  This is when you become truly aware of the fragility of the human body...it hurts.  I would take a picture of my bloody hands from the the last two days of rose pruning but it might offend readers. It's the yin and yang of beauty and pain.  You have to prune these little buggers every year in the break of Winter to force them to bloom fantastically in the flush of Summer.  Be armed, be prepared, be savvy!  This battle occurs at the first sign of Spring, when there is no sign of frost on the forecast, generally mid-February to early March, or when the daffodils start blooming.

Rose Thorns

All the spent rose leaves should have been cleared already from under the plants when they first drop (late Fall), this should eliminate any potential mildew or black spots. I would also suggest clearing any accumulation of mulch or leaves from the base of the roses to avoid burying the plants.

Black Spot

Also, I hope you've been able to take advantage of the ripened rose hips to make all your Vitamin C rich teas and tinctures over the fall and winter months. If not, harvest those before disposing of your rose clippings.  Here is a link to some harvesting and recipe ideas.

Rose hips

Make sure you are armed with sharp and CLEAN secateurs.  I've stressed the clean part because roses are very susceptible to diseases that can be transferred from dirty tools. To disinfect your secateurs you can use any household disinfectant.  I often use a Lysol product and a towel or if I'm close to a water source...soap and water works wonders.  Also, purchasing a pair of rose safe gloves might be a good investment if you have a lot of rose pruning on your agenda.  These gloves have a slightly thicker plastic coating to prevent thorns from piercing through the gloves.

Secateurs

Rose Gloves 

Proper Pruning

Prune to open up the plants for light and air circulation and to avoid overlapping branches.  Attempt an elk antler or vase form.  When removing a dead, diseased or damaged branch, remove it from the base entirely.  Also, remove any weak or suckering branches.  Aim to keep the strongest branches that are growing away from the center of the plant.  Roses have alternate leaf arrangement.  So when pruning the roses align your secateurs to the leaf buds at a 45 degree angle and clip about 1/4 " above the bud that is facing toward the outside of the plant.  This is really important because if you leave too much of a stub from the leaf bud it will require the plants energy to replenish the plant instead of using that energy to force a leaf.  Alternately, if you cut into the leaf bud, the plant will die back to the next leaf bud and will potentially leave it open to infection.   In other words, prune it effectively in the beginning and avoid injuring your prized rose bush.   One of the most common varieties of roses is the hybrid tea.  When pruning a hybrid tea rose you want to cut it down by about a half or 18-24".  

Hybrid Tea Rose

Now, rake all of the debris from under the roses that may have fallen off during this process and dispose of all your clippings.  Put it in the green waste bin or garbage.  These are not compost worthy scraps, unless you have a high heat composter that can kill off any potential fungal diseases.  Clean and dry your tools. Tada...you're done!  Now you can wait it out for the buds to swell and fast forward a few months and everyone will ask why you have such beautiful roses.  

Of course, this is Rose Pruning 101.  It can get a bit more complicated when you start to get specific on different varieties of roses.  And, there are HUNDREDS of rose cultivars. Here is a quick link from the internet of the major rose varieties and slight pruning variations.

BLOOMS ONCE, ON NEW GROWTH

Modern Ever-Blooming Roses & Floribunda: These bloom best on the current season's growth. Prune hard (½ to 2/3 the plant's height) in the spring and remove old woody stems. Leave 3-5 healthy canes evenly spaced around the plant. Cut them at various lengths from 18 - 24 inches, to encourage continuous blooming.

Hybrid Teas & Grandiflora: These also bloom on new wood and should be pruned in early spring. Remove dead and weak wood. Create an open vase shape with the remaining canes by removing the center stems and any branches crossing inwards. Then reduce the length of the remaining stems by about ½ or down to 18 - 24 inches. You can allow the older, stronger stems to be a bit longer than the new growth.

BLOOMS ONCE, ON OLD WOOD

Ramblers: Prune to remove winter damage and dead wood or to shape and keep size in check. Ramblers bloom only once and can be pruned right after flowering, all the way back to 2-3 inches if you wish.

REPEAT BLOOMERS

Modern Shrub Roses: This group is repeat bloomers, blooming on mature, but not old, woody stems. Leave them unpruned to increase vigor for the first 2 years and then use the "one-third" method. Each year remove one-third of the oldest canes (in addition to any dead, diseased or dying canes).

Climbers: Climbers may repeat bloom. Prune early to remove winter damage and dead wood. Prune after flowering to shape and keep their size in check.

Bourbons and Portlands: These will repeat bloom, blooming on both new and old wood. Prune to remove dead wood before flowering. A harder pruning and shaping can be done after the first flowering.

MINIMAL PRUNING NEEDED

Alba, Centifolia, Damasks, Gallica, and Mosses: This group blooms only once, producing flowers on old wood and don't require much pruning at all. Prune only to remove dead or thin wood and to shape the plants and prune after flowering.

A Very Belated Year In Review 2013

I wanted to share some of the photos I took over the 2013 season. I'm sure everyone has some beautiful shots of Quilchena taking up valuable room on the memory card of there phone.  If you wish to share them please add them to the comments section. I'd love to see them!

The subtle Gunnera leaf taking up valuable space in my cart

A storm a brewing

Gorgeous Summer day cruising along the #10 hole

Sprinkler velocity

The heron investigating the koi pond for sushi

Wildflower seeds amass along the dyke and #4 hole

Captain Jack, our new member to the Grounds crew

A foggy eight legged kind of day

The Burning Bush in all it's glory near the putting green

A week of fog and weather confusion at Quilchena

First frost

Multi-layered sunrise igniting the sky

Where's the Cat in the Hat?

Aaron and Jay overwhelmed by Winter morning sunrise