Category: Annuals

It’s November and …

It’s November and …

It’s November and, although we have had two heavy frosts and it is cool now, up until a few days ago gardeners have been amazed by the warm temperatures here in the Chester and surrounding area.

The following are few pictures that were taken during the last couple of weeks, some as late as the 10th of November.

Summer pots still showing off.

The last of the fragile produce, only greens left in the vegetable garden.

Winter arrangements in the near future.

11 Nov 2nd IMGP6222

We can now continue preparation for winter in our gardens, enjoy the birds as they make ready for winter and settle in with a good gardening resource for next springs plans. Fall temperatures have arrived.

 

Thanks to Kay B. and Brenda H. for the photo’s.

 

 

 

 

Why not plant a garden craft this year?

Why not plant a garden craft this year?

Birdhouse or bottle gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) are one of the thick-skinned gourds that are mainly grown for crafts or decoration.IMG_2014

One year at our Gardeners sale Sherry Chandler. sold both natural and beautifully decorated bottle necked gourds. Sherry tells me growing birdhouse gourds and then preparing them as a bird’s next prime realestate or a piece of decorative art is a garden project that anyone can do.

 

The birdhouse gourd is the white-flowering gourd species that produce the hard-shelled fruit mainly used for crafts. Birdhouse gourd seeds can be purchased from local nurseries or seed catalogues. Sherry purchased all her seeds from Northern Dipper, Barrie ON due to the many varieties to choose from. It’s preferable to get them into the ground as soon as the last frost date has passed since they can take anywhere from 125-140 days to mature. Because of this Sherry starts hers indoors in April. If they do not mature they will simply rot.

Birdhouse gourds can be grown on small “hills”. However, because they are a long-season crop, they may end up sitting on the ground for long periods and could become rotten on the side touching the ground. One way to avoid this problem is to use 3” or so of mulch around the vines and under the fruit and/or place a piece of wood under each gourd. Some gardeners grow them up trellis’s, fences or cages. A suggestion for doubling up on space is to plant another veggie like peas right up the trellis or fence with the gourds. The nice thing about peas is that they are a legume, so instead of stealing nitrogen from the growing gourds, they actually fix nitrogen into the soil.

When starting the seeds indoors, clip the top corners and soak the seeds in water overnight to give them a leg-up on germination. They need plenty light and warmth. Plant the seeds in their permanent spot as soon as the last frost date has passed. Plant 3 to 5 seeds per composted hill about 5” apart. When seedlings begin to take off, thin them to one seedling per hill.

IMG_1815If you want to train them up a trellis or fence, plant the seeds about 2 – 3 feet apart (intersperse pea seeds in between if you’d like). The larger gourds, due to their size and weight. need to stay on the ground. Birdhouse gourds like well- drained soil and some compost or  composted manure tossed in there once in a while. Sherry suggests protecting the seedlings from slugs, deer and rabbits.

 

You can start the seeds indoors in April (remember to clip edges and soak them first) before the last frost date, but plant them in peat pots so you can plant them directly into their permanent beds without disturbing their sensitive roots. Then go ahead and plant them outdoors after the last frost date.

Sherry hand pollinates her gourds to ensure a good crop. However, where pollinators abound this is not necessary.

At maturity the gourds will tolerate a light frost, so let them ripen on the vine as long as possible. The gourds will be ready to harvest when the stems turn brown, but as I said, if Jack Frost has brought more than two suitcases, he’s there to stay so go ahead and bring the gourds inside.

Handle the gourds carefully because they bruise easily at this stage. Wipe off any moisture and keep them in a cool and airy place to dry. It’s hard to say exactly how long it will take for them to fully dry, but suffice it to say; the smaller ones will be ready faster. If mould appears just scrape it gently off with a knife and then wipe with a soft cloth. If any of the gourds get soft or mushy- toss into the compost pile.

During the curing process, the gourds could go from pale ivories, rusts, beige’s or mottled grey colors: each one will be unique. Bottles that are fully dry or cured will be light weight (nothing like when you first harvested them). The seeds inside will rattle when you give the bottle a shake. Now they can be made into a birdhouse or decorated for a special person or occasion.

So, you plant your gourd seeds. They grow and flower. The flowers lure beneficial insects to your yard, helping to give you a great food harvest. The gourds grow and dry out and you then get your crafty hat on and create a masterpiece for a gift or a home for the birds. The next growing season, you have birds using the condos and acting as vegetable sentries as they eat thousands of bug pests in your garden. Once again, you harvest a bountiful food crop.

The plan is simple, but gardening always brings compelling evidence of how everything on earth is connected.

Thanks to Sherry C. for her help with this post. Pictures are Sherry’s and Brenda’s.

 

Time to Tidy Containers

Time to Tidy Containers

clip art flower potWell, with the frost now clipping the container plants, it’s probably time to tidy them up for winter. As many of us have observed, Sheila KM displays her award-winning containers to optimum effect. Let’s listen in as she describes her experiences dabbling in this unique gardening specialty.

“I started using pots to provide a barrier to keep people from inadvertently stepping off our patio. However, I may have also been influenced by my mother who always had pots on the doorsteps and lining the driveway, and I always enjoyed them.

“When we moved to Chester, I started planting in pots because I didn’t know anything about gardening. However, I could stick plants in pots and watch them grow. When I went to the nursery, the many beautiful plants were hard to resist.  I discovered that you don’t have to worry quite so much about bugs with pots. As well, I like putting different combinations of plants together and seeing what works colour-wise and condition-wise.   I can step onto my deck in the morning in summer and check my plants, pick off dead flowers, and just generally admire them.

“Potted plants can be fed more easily as you have to water them almost daily. I do feed with diluted fertilizer with every watering. That could be a down side, but I keep trying to devise a way to self-water for hot days or when I am not here. I am very fortunate to have kind friends to water when I am away.

“For a number of years, I’ve had between 50 and 60 containers, between hanging baskets, window boxes and pots [Can any of us beat that?]. I didn’t have quite so many this year, but, there is always next year!

“At the end of the season, I compost the container plants with their soil. When that compost is ready, I put it on my garden beds. In this way, I use fresh soil for the pots every year, and it is recycled to build up the soil in the beds, which do seem to expand just about every year.

“As for tips, I talk to fellow gardeners, read books and magazines, take pictures and just do it. I try to make notes about what works or not, but I could do better with that.”

Sheila finishes off with this comment, “As I am writing this, I realize again how much I enjoy my plants, gardening and the people I have met through it.” I know that our readers can easily reflect those sentiments as well. We continue to learn so much from each other. Yeah, garden clubs, right?

P.S. Before Sheila got down to business cleaning out her containers, she took the following pictures of her glorious late bloomers (mid-October). Enjoy.

This Autumn, Chester Gardeners Are Thinking Spring

This Autumn, Chester Gardeners Are Thinking Spring

The soft days of Indian Summer mean that we have not yet had a hard frost in Chester and the new beds of annuals in the Cove Garden, which were awash with colour all summer, were still blooming in the second week of October. Thus it seemed a trifle ungrateful to think of up-rooting them and consigning them to the compost. Still, like gardeners everywhere, members of Chester Garden Club track the seasons and they know that Mother Nature will not be denied. Jack Frost will find his way here eventually, and it’s much easier to dig in new plantings before the ground is frozen.  Therefore, to complete Phase 2 of the renovation of the Cove Garden, a dozen volunteers recently converged on the property to weed the beds, edge the paths, and lift all the annuals in order to replace them with more permanent plantings.

In sum, the club volunteers planted three pink azaleas (Northern Lights) in each triangular bed, along with a large number of day lilies (burgundy and apricot colours) and rudbeckias. These were under-planted with daffodils, yellow alyssum, ajuga and allium moly. The healthy ornamental cabbages were left in place as an attempt to appease the eye; their soft mauve spheres serve to outline the rather bare earth beds.  The small circular bed around the Ginko tree was filled with over 100 crocuses.  Another proposed bed, which will be developed under the ornamental fruit trees, will be done as part of the next phase.  Now, with all the plantings in place, there’s nothing to be done in this garden but wait for Spring.

Images from a Summer Garden

Images from a Summer Garden

Having enjoyed one of the sunniest
and warmest summers on record in our
area, I felt it time to look back over
some of the pleasures to be found in and around our Chester gardens.


 

Perennial sweet peas are a delightful surprise every spring when they appear at the foot of a wrought-iron fence and soon send out massive tendrils and blooms that create a privacy hedge.  The yellow flowers above belong to a tall artichoke plant (a volunteer that sprang up under a cluster of lilacs). Seasoned gardeners may also spy a young goldenrod peeking out from the background.

Wisteria drapes gracefully over a pergola, providing a shady nook on a hot day.

A pale pink rose whose I.D.  tag was lost almost as soon as it was planted in June (sigh…) has produced innumerable blossoms now that it is encased in a net cage designed to foil the deer who had dined on the bush a few nights after I had planted it.  (Perhaps one of the deer also ingested the tag!) 

Of course, deer weren’t the only wildlife to appear in our gardens.  We’re home to raccoons, pheasants and foxes, as well as birds and bees. The bee below is finding nectar and pollen in a rose blossom  – the fragrant Blanc double de Coubert. 

In early summer, gardeners and tennis players alike were supervised daily by a pair of hummingbirds who liked to perch high on a weathervane where they could survey the action in all directions.  Although they drank from strategically placed feeders, they also had access to honeysuckle vines and many other natural sources.

The standard bird feeder was a busy meeting place for chickadees, goldfinches, song-sparrows and purple finches.  Larger birds,  like mourning doves, pheasants and crows, hung around the base of the stand picking up fallen seeds.   


A future project includes learning to shoot with a video camera so that I can capture scenes like the dance of the Monarch butterflies that were busy quenching their thirst on a Buddleia in full bloom.


As perennials die back, the old reliables –  annuals, such as nasturtiums and petunias  – continue to flaunt their bright colours.  But, as this newly harvested crop of peaches attests, summer is slowly but surely drawing to a close. 

newly harvested ripe peaches

summer sunset
On a positive note, the approach of autumn means the start-up of classes, clubs and workshops designed to energize us all during the cooler months ahead.  By coincidence, having recently enjoyed the presence of a large group of  beautiful “Monarchs” in our garden, we have just been advised that the first fall meeting of the Chester Garden Club will feature Roberta MacDonald,  who will give an illustrated presentation on  Monarch butterflies.  The  meeting is scheduled for September 17, 6:30 for 7:00 PM at St. Stephen’s Parish Community Centre.