Snow, Compost & Fall Bulbs

It was a busy weekend of emptying the old compost bin and spreading it; draining our water barrel for the winter; watering in the peonies we moved and finally planting the bulbs and spreading a yard of commercial compost. Yes it happened all at once. I ordered compost and just as it came the weather turned and it started raining. By the time the bulbs (Allium christophii and Allium Mount Everest - see first two photos above) were planted it was starting to snow. Luckily we finished planting bulbs and covering all the beds with compost (see bottom photo of Eagle Lake Black Gold) before it really came down this morning. Now it looks perfect!

The leaves are slow to change colour this year but those that are down were added to our cleaned out bin along with a few kitchen scraps. It is hovering near 2-5 degrees now which is only a shock because it was plus 30 last week. This is all in celcius of course and that means it was very hot and now is so cold. Good thing we are going away for Thanksgiving!

Fall Harvest Grass & CBC

I will be bringing some fall grasses with me to CBC radio this friday but meanwhile I have had an image of Foxtail Millet sent to me by John Moore (www.williammoorefarms.ca) Have a look at his beautiful website for more details about the ornamental grasses you can grow here in Alberta such as triticale, millet and old strains of wheat. Very beautiful!

Giant Hydrangeas - was it the compost tea?

This fall my Annabelle Hydrangeas are bigger and better than ever. I wondered how they managed to get so big and if it was the "special" fertilizer I used or the compost tea? I am still making compost but the days are so cool I am not making tea any more. The Sustainable Soil Solutions fertilizer was only applied once so I am not sure if that had any special effect. With the cracks in the soil as it dries out this fall I am also wondering about adding more calcium this fall. Research shows that cracks are often caused by a deficiency such as Calcium and that needs to be sprayed onto the soil instead of the plants so I might do that now. Many of us deal with poor soils and cracks form when the clays shrink. If it is a problem a fertilizer can solve then gardeners need to know.

Meanwhile don't forget to water - it is fall but micro-organisms in the soil are still working and probably need the moisture to do their life's work.

Fall is my Favorite time of Year

It is hard to believe how nature keeps ticking even as the evenings get so cold. Remember all insects are cold blooded so they are hiding in leaves and duff and cracks and crannies when it is cold but as soon as it warms up they are out and about on the flowers looking for a little last minute snack. Here I caught a painted lady butterfly on a sunflower.

Fall Harvest

With frost pending this week I am hurrying to gather up all the produce. What a beautiful sight this squash makes in the sink. These are all summer squash which means they don't have a long shelf life.

I have also pulled all the tomatoes and they are laid out in boxes between newspaper while they finish ripening. I plan to roast the tomatoes on the barbeque or in a low oven. My favorite is to slice the cherry tomatoes or paste tomatoes in half, brush them with olive oil which has crushed garlic in it. Then I lightly sprinkle sea salt on the works and roast in a low oven for an hour or more. I want things to dry out a bit before I either freeze them or mix them with fresh pasta. Yum, Good.

1962 Pontiac Landscape

It's the first day of fall - hotter than blazes and I am happy to report I saw the best fall landscape the other day. I was emerging from the LRT and there was the landscaped Pontiac. Complete with a water feature.

Someone had to do it - makes me wish I had a spare pontiac. Or not.

More Fall Colour - from Annuals?

What a surprise to come home to! The asters ordered from Vesey's in January; started from seed in March and planted outdoors in late May have finally bloomed in September. Gardening certainly beats the "slow food" movement in terms of testing patience. And within a few weeks it will all be compost.

But who is thinking about the next few weeks? The reward right now is in the beautiful deep purple blooms spilling over the sidewalk and sprouting between perennials. True to its description, Pavlova Dark Blue Aster is icing on the cake of my 2009 garden.

Hardy Korean Maple- Fabulous fall colour

Years ago Byland Nursery in Kelowna gave me three little maple seedlings to trial. They were promoted as similar to Japanese maples but for a cold climate. I was in between gardens at the time so I gave them to three different gardeners in different parts of Calgary. Two out of three survived and the fall colour is amazing!

If you don't have enough fall colour in your yard why not try this plant - especially if you are in an inner city location with good sun and some shelter. This photo was taken today in the SW neighborhood of Spruce Cliff with a spruce hedge behind it and a full west exposure. What a way to welcome the first day of fall.

Happy Surprise!

In happy news a cluster of fall crocus met us at the front door as we arrived home this weekend. When did we plant them or did they come from the previous owners? Who knows and who cares. These simple and beautiful fall crocus are a short-lived and apparently deer proof plant so we love them! If you haven't got any they are still available for sale in the garden centers.

Blue Chiffon Blooms

In a run of bad luck reported earlier this season, my new Blue Chiffon Hibiscus was initially yanked out and cast aside as a dead duck in my Calgary garden. Then, after seeing a single bud emerging from the cast-off root I decided to pot it up and brought it out to God's country - Vancouver Island - in its pot this August.

Planted carefully and fertilized with only the purest enzymes and cold water Kelp, I babied it to the still fragile but stable flower bud stage. Then we got busy on a rotation of bed changing, shopping and cooking for visitors to our west coast getaway. We basically forgot about the buds that had formed and when we got back from "the daughter's" wedding there it was in all its glory. The leaves were all munched away but the blooms were showing their prize winning form.

Sadly, the deer noticed the plant while our killer cat was trapped indoors while we were off to the wedding. Now the deer were back for another taste. As the baby deer posed in all his spots and charms I ran to grab my camera. My husband, dear thing, decided to take the offensive and tried to chase the deer out of the yard in an attempt to figure out how he got in. This produced one very scared deer, once frustrated engineer and a hapless photographer begging everyone to just hold still for a moment so a photo could be snapped.

In lieu of a photo of the deer I snapped a photo of the flower- close enough I hope to show the splendor of the late season, deer attractive plant without illustrating the stripped and naked stems. Is it just me or is this plant a prima donna? Late to come to the party and then attracting all the attention with its tasty and primed leaves. My neighbor reports these plants are so poisonous to deer he had one legs up in his front yard shortly after a late night snack. He felt ripped off because not only had the deer eaten his deer repellent and reportedly poisonous plant, it had died on his front step and the fish and wildlife had refused to pick up the rigid body. In fact they suggested he dig a hole somewhere in his own yard and bury it. It was not enough to provide the last meal, he had to provide the burial grounds as well.

Dear husband has just left the house again for another trip to the hardware store. He is reportedly planning some tweaking to the deer-proof fence he built earlier this year because although he is now getting good at running an unofficial bed and breakfast for relatives I am sure the last thing he wants to add is an animal graveyard. Not yet, anyway.

Name this plant...

A friend gave the  wife of a cousin of my husband the most beautiful impatience plant. What could it be? It came from Ontario originally so I know some of my friends/readers know this one. Help me out.

Codling Moths and Apple Maggots

On CBC radio today I received a question about Apple worms. Andrea from Edmonton wanted to know what to do about holes or worms in her apples. I suggested she pick up the apples on the ground right away but also that she get traps for next year so that this problem is diminished. Many organic growers are also finding Pheromone traps are effective and studies done in BC confirm these traps may be better than sprays so these new products are all worth testing.

Traps are available on-line and at some garden centers but they need to be installed in the spring when the moths are flying. Here is an excerpt from a web page selling the apple maggot taps:

Red plastic spheres that mimic apples and catch apple maggot flies on their sticky surfaces. We are glad to offer reusable traps, which you can order in bulk or in kits. The kit contains everything you need to set up 3 complete traps (optional apple scent lure may be purchased separately). You may also order the spheres and sticky coating separately. For monitoring, use 1-2 traps/acre. Home gardeners, use about 1 trap/100 apples (2-6 traps per tree, one per dwarf tree). Set the traps out 3-4 weeks after petal fall (mid-June).

Note: Apple maggots are present but are not yet a significant problem. Codling moths are much more common. The damage is easy to distinguish. Apple maggots riddle the fruit, codling moths make an entry and exit hole. See also the Fruit Fly Trap Kit for another apple maggot trap option.

The bottom line is that gardeners need to determine if they have coddling moths or apple maggots and then look online for traps that will work best. Meanwhile, pick up the fruit this fall, cut it open to see what you have and toss it out rather than leaving it on the ground.

Special Crops on Tap

As I arrived at my friend's house she began apologizing for her garden. "I really only grow petunias and margaritas", she explained,  as we looked at her front yard. 

"You are going to have to tell me how to grow Margaritas!" I replied. "That is something all gardeners should know. "

"Oh" - she replied- "I guess they might not be margaritas ... maybe marigolds?"

Beautiful Boulevards

After struggling with the maintenance needs of our blvds on 4th Street in Calgary I was shocked - no amazed - by the boulevard plantings in Victoria on a recent visit. How do they do it? Well to be honest I guess they just don't have any worries about winter ice or salt so it is a bit easier to have a dazzling display. Or is it simply a priority of the Victoria residents to have beauty everywhere?

This blvd. is in the Cook Street area of Victoria - just across from Beacon Hill Park - notice the brown lawn in the park - obviously they don't water in summer- a time of drought and water restrictions in this Canadian hot spot.

Dahlias are at their peak in Butchart!

Yes I went to Butchart Gardens in Victoria and yes the tourists were glued to their cameras taking pictures of dahlias and roses. So of course I took a picture of tourists taking a picture of Dahlias. Why not? They are at their peak for such a short period and so dramatic right now in this moment of summer end glory. Frost isn't on the horizon for Victoria gardeners but all us Prairie folks know it is coming soon .

Honestly - and back to Dahlias- what other garden annual reaches heights like these but is also available in dwarf plants? It grows in so many colours and shapes and is stunning in bloom in late summer? Sadly it is fleeting beauty and that is why Butchart is so succesful. Unlike the rest of us they can grow plants on in a holding area and bring them out when they need to fill a hole or want a spash of colour. 

Two Minutes - two wasps

Although I have all the commercial wasp traps at my disposal, I also bought one at the Farmer's market today. This caused a small problem. At this time of year all wasps really want is meat. This is why they are buzzing trees looking for aphids and picnics looking for sandwiches. We had it on good authority they also eat fish.

The only fish we had was the dead fish head in yesterday's garbage.

You guessed it - the handy husband went out to the garage and sifted through you know what looking for you know what. Anyway with fish head in place in the trap we caught the first two wasps in two minutes. Now this is a simple device- an empty can of niblets makes up the base and with entry holes in the can the wasps fly in looking for the fish and then up into the screened portion and then you guessed it - they are trapped. All this for 12 dollars and a fish head. The price is right and dinner will be wasp free tonight.

Bubbles with a bug inside

Nancy wondered about a problem on her very old Poplar tree - it was probably "an original" in the city she thought and it had "Bubbles with a bug inside".

Dr. Ken Fry, Entomology Instructor at Olds College had already helped me out with this problem last summer so I called up his notes:

"The moth species mining poplar and willow have one generation per year. The larvae feed within the leaf during the summer and then spin a silken cocoon in the mine to pupate. The adult emerges in late July or early August. The adult overwinters in leaf litter or debris on the ground. Eggs are laid on either the upper or lower leaf surface in the spring. The larvae then chew their way into the leaf.
       My neighbour has this moth infesting his willow. I also saw this leaf miner on old poplar at the Confederation golf course. A systemic insecticide (one that is injected into the tree and the tree delivers the insecticide to all tissues) would be effective. The reason "Cygon", the commonest systemic insecticide used by homeowners has been removed from sale is it is very toxic to humans and the majority of pests it was used against are not very serious and did not justify the use of such a toxic product (as judged by today's standards).
       Commercial applicators do have systemic products registered for such purposes. However, Donna is correct in mentioning that your trees are in the twilight years of their life and beginning to decline. Insects and diseases exploit this decline in vigour and attack the tree. It is merely another step in the cycle. The tree will eventually die and be recycled by wood-boring insects, wood peckers, leaf-cutter bees nesting in the rotting wood, etc.
       Leaf miners will not cause the death of the tree, merely stress it. As Donna has said, providing nutrients and ample water will allow the trees to weather the assault from the moths. Plan for the future by planting replacement trees now and be sure to have an arborist evaluate the trees as they age for risk of blow-down in a storm."

Green Beans are my favorite

I love green beans - especially skinny ones...Tried these new this year from Rene's Garden and loved them.  All of them skinny and long and uniformly fabulous!

Moving Plants and other nonsense

I brought a full sized (ie 5 gallon pot) tomato plant with me to the coast. This is partially because I have come here at the wrong time in terms of my garden in Calgary. The plant had green fruit but alas nothing even a California exporter would consider shipping. If you've read yesterday's post you know I have come here at the right time - it is freezing cold there and nice and warm here. Anyway I brought this full and "giant" plant in the back of  the car with a dog and a cat and an assortment of other plants that just really weren't working in Calgary - a miniature rose and a chi-chi 'Chiffon Blue' Hibiscus. 

But back to the tomato - I was imagining ripe fruit on this plant I  had started from seed in mid-March, transplanted twice as it grew and watered carefully with tepid water on alternating days. Ever the optomist I didn't want the fruit to be ripe in Calgary when I was on the coast so I dutifully put it out by the car and my very patient husband dutifully loaded it into the car. "Wrap it in newspaper" , I suggested, "to keep the leaves from being crushed if the cat decides he would rather ride in the back".

The Proven Winner's Chiffon Blue Hibiscus came to me free last summer as a trial plant shipped to Calgary. It was a "new for 2009" plant and of course - by summer's end - I was reading rave reviews about the fabulous blooms -written by every single garden writer in Toronto - even as my plant was barely getting its second leaf.  I  was fed up with my loser plant and ready to throw it away when I saw it was dead this spring. Too bad, so sad, I thought as I ripped it out to make room for the next winner-  and then - there is was - a small bud of life at the base of the plant and it was only June 25th! 

Chiffie was alive. Clearly I had to pot it, carefully adding compost to the soil, and hold it over until our departure. I had to shelter it from hail and heavy storms and by August it was rewarding me with three or four leaves!  I knew it was destined to come with us to the coast. At this size it couldn't possibly tolerate another prairie winter. 

The three amigos arrived here in good shape and one of the jobs I had to do this week was plant them in their new locations. Not their final locations, mind you, since I need to make sure they are watered and deer free for at least a season. Well- what am I saying - no matter what I do that tomato is doomed in the next 60 days even in Canada's Hawaii. Lets just say all three plants were given a second chance in the vegetable garden which of course make sense for the tomato but the other two? What they don't know won't hurt them. 

Call me Amazed...

Yes it is summer but in most of Alberta this means cold wet weather (plus 9 today in Calgary). Out East they had similar weather all July. "Only three days all month without rain in July" said our friends from Montreal. All this weather talk is partially why we pack up and come to the west coast for August. 

One of the things I love to do here is go to the farmer's market. All the great produce, happy hogs and truly free range eggs are right here. Imagine my joy when Kathy Zipp from the Qualicum Beach farmer's market encouraged me to come to her farm. I was curious - of course- about local farming methods and jumped right on it. 

Now imagine my amazement when I arrived at Kathy's farm and everything was being grown in greenhouses in what I consider the warmest and mildest climate in Canada. From seeds started indoors in January and planted out into the greenhouse in spring Kathy has produced huge onions. She also has carrots, corn and edible flowers in bloom as well. And everything is growing under cover. I guess this keeps the deer out and keeps the temperature moderate. All the beds are raised but otherwise look like they are outdoors and the crop is fabulous. 

Of course when I got lost going to Kathy's I came upon a strawberry farm. Learning that all their fertilizing was done by helicopter based on tissue analysis was fun and educational. Okay - seriously - it is warmer here and people also garden differently. If I am going to learn it all I might need a bit more time.