Lawrence house bringing in local experts to help with variety of gardening issues
Gardeners unite.
The Lawrence House Centre for the Arts is hosting a gardening series where local gardening experts will share their blooming knowledge.
The series which runs during the month of April will feature four sessions dealing with everything from landscape design to fragrant herbs.
"If I had a dollar for every time someone said low maintenance, well ..." said Paul Churchill, landscape designer with Sipkens Nurseries on London Line.
Churchill will talk about landscape design and colour in gardens when he is the featured expert during the April 7 session.
"First words out of most people's months is low maintenance. I am going to try to make it easy and self-sufficient, generally improving their yard," said Churchill.
The landscape designer said he hopes his session will help those who attend to have the garden they want instead of just looking through magazines at the gardens they wished they had.
Ginny Schleihauf of Gardiners - and the Other Side in Mitton Village will talk about having a healthy garden in dry conditions.
"I will hopefully help them maintain a garden with a drought problem," said Schleihauf.
Using perennials will also be discussed in Schleihauf's April 14 session, where she will introduce attendees to drought-resistant perennials as well as the perennial of the year.
The April 21 session will feature water gardens. Jeff Baarschers of Degroot's Nurseries will cover planning, design materials, plants and fish that can be used in water landscape design.
"The focus will be planning and knowledge. Doing things right the first time ends up saving people money in the end," said Baarschers.
The last instalment of the gardening series will be held on April 28. Cynthia Cook of Forest Glen Herb Farm will talk about fragrant herbs. The hands-on session will give participants the chance to make their own bouquet from sprigs of dry flowers and fragrant herbs.
The gardening series is $40 for the entire series or $12 per session. All sessions will be held at the Lawrence House.
Miyerkules, Marso 2, 2011
Arts centre hosting gardening series:
"I will hopefully help them maintain a garden with a drought problem," said Schleihauf.
Using perennials will also be discussed in Schleihauf's April 14 session, where she will introduce attendees to drought-resistant perennials as well as the perennial of the year.
The April 21 session will feature water gardens. Jeff Baarschers of Degroot's Nurseries will cover planning, design materials, plants and fish that can be used in water landscape design.
"The focus will be planning and knowledge. Doing things right the first time ends up saving people money in the end," said Baarschers.
The last instalment of the gardening series will be held on April 28. Cynthia Cook of Forest Glen Herb Farm will talk about fragrant herbs. The hands-on session will give participants the chance to make their own bouquet from sprigs of dry flowers and fragrant herbs.
The gardening series is $40 for the entire series or $12 per session. All sessions will be held at the Lawrence House.
Using perennials will also be discussed in Schleihauf's April 14 session, where she will introduce attendees to drought-resistant perennials as well as the perennial of the year.
The April 21 session will feature water gardens. Jeff Baarschers of Degroot's Nurseries will cover planning, design materials, plants and fish that can be used in water landscape design.
"The focus will be planning and knowledge. Doing things right the first time ends up saving people money in the end," said Baarschers.
The last instalment of the gardening series will be held on April 28. Cynthia Cook of Forest Glen Herb Farm will talk about fragrant herbs. The hands-on session will give participants the chance to make their own bouquet from sprigs of dry flowers and fragrant herbs.
The gardening series is $40 for the entire series or $12 per session. All sessions will be held at the Lawrence House.
Arts and Crafts Movement
Lawrence house bringing in local experts to help with variety of gardening issues
Gardeners unite.
The Lawrence House Centre for the Arts is hosting a gardening series where local gardening experts will share their blooming knowledge.
The series which runs during the month of April will feature four sessions dealing with everything from landscape design to fragrant herbs.
"If I had a dollar for every time someone said low maintenance, well ..." said Paul Churchill, landscape designer with Sipkens Nurseries on London Line.
Churchill will talk about landscape design and colour in gardens when he is the featured expert during the April 7 session.
"First words out of most people's months is low maintenance. I am going to try to make it easy and self-sufficient, generally improving their yard," said Churchill.
The landscape designer said he hopes his session will help those who attend to have the garden they want instead of just looking through magazines at the gardens they wished they had.
Ginny Schleihauf of Gardiners - and the Other Side in Mitton Village will talk about having a healthy garden in dry conditions.
Gardeners unite.
The Lawrence House Centre for the Arts is hosting a gardening series where local gardening experts will share their blooming knowledge.
The series which runs during the month of April will feature four sessions dealing with everything from landscape design to fragrant herbs.
"If I had a dollar for every time someone said low maintenance, well ..." said Paul Churchill, landscape designer with Sipkens Nurseries on London Line.
Churchill will talk about landscape design and colour in gardens when he is the featured expert during the April 7 session.
"First words out of most people's months is low maintenance. I am going to try to make it easy and self-sufficient, generally improving their yard," said Churchill.
The landscape designer said he hopes his session will help those who attend to have the garden they want instead of just looking through magazines at the gardens they wished they had.
Ginny Schleihauf of Gardiners - and the Other Side in Mitton Village will talk about having a healthy garden in dry conditions.
Free Clinic Network
"He loved the area and it seemed to be a good place to reside at this particularly difficult time of his life, which proved to be true," Tanner said. "After his death, I was well settled here and now almost feel like a native."
When she's not busy with the Free Clinic Network, Tanner is also involved with a number of other community organizations, including the Wayne Center for the Arts, St. James Episcopal Church, Women's Committee for the Wooster Symphony Orchestra and Every Woman's House. She enjoys gardening, taking in musical productions, reading, sewing, visiting famous gardens, playing cards, seeing friends and watching movies.
As far as food goes, Tanner said her favorites are "the sweets, especially those of the chocolate kind!" She's not a fan of cooking but understands that it is necessary for life.
"Years ago, I saw a sign in a wonderful grocery store that read 'Practice the art of not cooking' and that has been my motto ever since," she said.
She remembers one Christmas when she took the ham out of the oven and it "bounced across the kitchen floor," and her favorite kitchen tip is one about keeping it simple.
"Never prepare a dish that requires more than one bowl to prepare," Tanner said.
Tickets for A Meal that Heals are available at the Viola Startzman Free Clinic, TJ's and Buehler's locations in Wooster and Orrville. Tanner said this year's goal is to sell 1,000 tickets.
When she's not busy with the Free Clinic Network, Tanner is also involved with a number of other community organizations, including the Wayne Center for the Arts, St. James Episcopal Church, Women's Committee for the Wooster Symphony Orchestra and Every Woman's House. She enjoys gardening, taking in musical productions, reading, sewing, visiting famous gardens, playing cards, seeing friends and watching movies.
As far as food goes, Tanner said her favorites are "the sweets, especially those of the chocolate kind!" She's not a fan of cooking but understands that it is necessary for life.
"Years ago, I saw a sign in a wonderful grocery store that read 'Practice the art of not cooking' and that has been my motto ever since," she said.
She remembers one Christmas when she took the ham out of the oven and it "bounced across the kitchen floor," and her favorite kitchen tip is one about keeping it simple.
"Never prepare a dish that requires more than one bowl to prepare," Tanner said.
Tickets for A Meal that Heals are available at the Viola Startzman Free Clinic, TJ's and Buehler's locations in Wooster and Orrville. Tanner said this year's goal is to sell 1,000 tickets.
Support Free Clinic with dinner at TJ's
As its membership inches toward 200, the Viola Startzman Free Clinic Network is making progress in an effort to raise funds for an organization that has become so vital to this community.
Formed in February 2007, the Network's main goal is to help with fundraising efforts for the Free Clinic. Since it began, members have raised nearly $126,500 through donations, membership dues and its two annual fundraisers, Clayware for Healthcare and the upcoming A Meal that Heals, said member Marilyn Tanner.
The event, to be held at TJ's Trio of Restaurants on Jan. 24 from 1-9 p.m., gives patrons the choices of a chicken, strip steak or salmon entree, salad, bread and non-alcoholic beverage for $27. It will also feature "celebrity" bartenders, gift basket raffles and local entertainers, with all proceeds going to the Free Clinic.
Membership to the Free Clinic Network is open to anyone in Wayne County, with annual dues at $15.
"Since 2007, members have generously donated over 2,483 hours of service," Tanner said. "Volunteers can help in many ways, including selling and purchasing tickets to the fundraising events."
Tanner, who is retired from the Ford Motor Company's engineering and research center in Dearborn, Mich., moved to Wooster 28 years ago. Her husband, who died of Alzheimer's, was a graduate of The College of Wooster.
"He loved the area and it seemed to be a good place to reside at this particularly difficult time of his life, which proved to be true," Tanner said. "After his death, I was well settled here and now almost feel like a native."
Formed in February 2007, the Network's main goal is to help with fundraising efforts for the Free Clinic. Since it began, members have raised nearly $126,500 through donations, membership dues and its two annual fundraisers, Clayware for Healthcare and the upcoming A Meal that Heals, said member Marilyn Tanner.
The event, to be held at TJ's Trio of Restaurants on Jan. 24 from 1-9 p.m., gives patrons the choices of a chicken, strip steak or salmon entree, salad, bread and non-alcoholic beverage for $27. It will also feature "celebrity" bartenders, gift basket raffles and local entertainers, with all proceeds going to the Free Clinic.
Membership to the Free Clinic Network is open to anyone in Wayne County, with annual dues at $15.
"Since 2007, members have generously donated over 2,483 hours of service," Tanner said. "Volunteers can help in many ways, including selling and purchasing tickets to the fundraising events."
Tanner, who is retired from the Ford Motor Company's engineering and research center in Dearborn, Mich., moved to Wooster 28 years ago. Her husband, who died of Alzheimer's, was a graduate of The College of Wooster.
"He loved the area and it seemed to be a good place to reside at this particularly difficult time of his life, which proved to be true," Tanner said. "After his death, I was well settled here and now almost feel like a native."
Champion of North culture has died
BRIAN Holland, a broadcasting champion of North East culture in the 1970s and 80s, has died aged 65.
He worked for BBC Radio Newcastle and then moved to Tyne Tees TV where he was a producer and presenter.
In 1979 he became co-presenter with Eileen McCabe of a new show called Come In, If You Can Get In which was billed as a critical look at art, books, film, theatre and television in the region.
He also worked on The Tube, which helped to launch Channel 4 in the early 1980s, and a series of education programmes.
Brian was born in Lynemouth, Northumberland, and left school at 15 to serve an apprenticeship at the local pit.
In his 20s he decided to re-educate himself, attaining six O levels and two A levels inside 15 months.
Explaining his change of direction, he once said: "I just got fed up with bits of the roof falling on top of me." Deciding on a career in the classroom, he went to the Northern Counties Teacher Training College but got sidetracked by broadcasting after setting up a studio in a college annexe.
Before long he was recruited to join the new BBC Radio Newcastle where his first programmes included a history of mining in the North East and a wry weekly review of national news from a Geordie perspective.
He also had a culture review programme that nurtured local musical talent and reviewed the region's entertainment scene.
Brian was a passionate supporter of North East musicians, actors, authors, comedians and artists, backing them on and off-air.
He was equally passionate about Newcastle United and was the PA announcer at St James' Park for all home games in the early 1970s.
He joined Tyne Tees to present and research Come In, If You Can Get In but also presented and produced a series of half hour interviews with celebrities such as Derek Jacobi and Spike Milligan Although he left Tyne Tees in 1988, Brian's love of reading, music and regional arts - and also gardening - continued throughout his life.
Brian was divorced and lived in Lynemouth. He had four children, Julie, Tony, Laura and Jack, from his two marriages.
He worked for BBC Radio Newcastle and then moved to Tyne Tees TV where he was a producer and presenter.
In 1979 he became co-presenter with Eileen McCabe of a new show called Come In, If You Can Get In which was billed as a critical look at art, books, film, theatre and television in the region.
He also worked on The Tube, which helped to launch Channel 4 in the early 1980s, and a series of education programmes.
Brian was born in Lynemouth, Northumberland, and left school at 15 to serve an apprenticeship at the local pit.
In his 20s he decided to re-educate himself, attaining six O levels and two A levels inside 15 months.
Explaining his change of direction, he once said: "I just got fed up with bits of the roof falling on top of me." Deciding on a career in the classroom, he went to the Northern Counties Teacher Training College but got sidetracked by broadcasting after setting up a studio in a college annexe.
Before long he was recruited to join the new BBC Radio Newcastle where his first programmes included a history of mining in the North East and a wry weekly review of national news from a Geordie perspective.
He also had a culture review programme that nurtured local musical talent and reviewed the region's entertainment scene.
Brian was a passionate supporter of North East musicians, actors, authors, comedians and artists, backing them on and off-air.
He was equally passionate about Newcastle United and was the PA announcer at St James' Park for all home games in the early 1970s.
He joined Tyne Tees to present and research Come In, If You Can Get In but also presented and produced a series of half hour interviews with celebrities such as Derek Jacobi and Spike Milligan Although he left Tyne Tees in 1988, Brian's love of reading, music and regional arts - and also gardening - continued throughout his life.
Brian was divorced and lived in Lynemouth. He had four children, Julie, Tony, Laura and Jack, from his two marriages.
Martes, Marso 1, 2011
A Southern tradition still in bloom
Bill Talbot, co-owner of the inn, which he describes as a "B&B or beer and breakfast," says bottle trees "have been here all my life, part of the African American superstitions.
"We had so many haints on the compound, we had to try and control them," he says.
Haints are lost souls, angry ancestral spirits, and it's conceivable there are more than a few around Talbot's inn, which is on an old plantation. He rents out rooms and refurbished sharecroppers' shacks to visitors.
Dwyer's trees feature what he describes as "green, blue, red, clear, purple ones, whiskey bottles, Coke, Mountain Dew, medicine bottles, all kinds of weird bottles."
"The haints get up in those bottles and don't get out," Talbot says.
Although bottle trees are said to have arrived in the American South with West African slaves, the superstition is far older, according to Rushing.
Since hollow-glass vessels began appearing in Egypt and Mesopotamia around 1600 B.C., he says, most ancient cultures have believed that bad spirits -- imps and genies, for example -- could be captured in bottles placed around entryways, where they would be destroyed by morning's light.
The idea moved through sub-Saharan Africa to Eastern Europe and eventually to the Americas. But Rushing says German, Irish, and other European immigrants brought their own evil-spirit shibboleths in the form of witch-repelling gazing balls and hex symbols on barns.
Nowadays, Rushing says, gazing balls are garden art, hex symbols are tourist attractions, and bottle trees are "outdoor culture, garden accessories no different from hanging glass ornaments from earlobes."
At the "blue-bottle cottage," the bottle tree is an integral part of the garden.
In warm weather, it's enveloped by pink lilies and yellow verbascum or mullein, mauve geraniums and sunny nasturtiums. In cool weather, it stands out against the dried seed heads and snow.
At Longwood, Kanamee, nicknamed Koa, works on specialty chrysanthemum forms, such as topiaries. Petravich, who grew up on a dairy farm in Schuylkill County, is a research assistant; he breeds clivias, conducts plant trials, and studies ways to eliminate viruses from cannas and chrysanthemums.
Their blue-bottle collection easily tops 100 and, thanks to friends who drink certain types of wine, water, and vodka, continues to grow.
Some bottles get packed away in the attic. Others are set on the sills of curtainless windows in the house, blue sentries in square frames that catch the winter sun full on.
The light is clear and bright in morning and afternoon. In early evening, it glows a deep blue, utterly entrancing, perfect for ensnaring those disquieting haints.
"We had so many haints on the compound, we had to try and control them," he says.
Haints are lost souls, angry ancestral spirits, and it's conceivable there are more than a few around Talbot's inn, which is on an old plantation. He rents out rooms and refurbished sharecroppers' shacks to visitors.
Dwyer's trees feature what he describes as "green, blue, red, clear, purple ones, whiskey bottles, Coke, Mountain Dew, medicine bottles, all kinds of weird bottles."
"The haints get up in those bottles and don't get out," Talbot says.
Although bottle trees are said to have arrived in the American South with West African slaves, the superstition is far older, according to Rushing.
Since hollow-glass vessels began appearing in Egypt and Mesopotamia around 1600 B.C., he says, most ancient cultures have believed that bad spirits -- imps and genies, for example -- could be captured in bottles placed around entryways, where they would be destroyed by morning's light.
The idea moved through sub-Saharan Africa to Eastern Europe and eventually to the Americas. But Rushing says German, Irish, and other European immigrants brought their own evil-spirit shibboleths in the form of witch-repelling gazing balls and hex symbols on barns.
Nowadays, Rushing says, gazing balls are garden art, hex symbols are tourist attractions, and bottle trees are "outdoor culture, garden accessories no different from hanging glass ornaments from earlobes."
At the "blue-bottle cottage," the bottle tree is an integral part of the garden.
In warm weather, it's enveloped by pink lilies and yellow verbascum or mullein, mauve geraniums and sunny nasturtiums. In cool weather, it stands out against the dried seed heads and snow.
At Longwood, Kanamee, nicknamed Koa, works on specialty chrysanthemum forms, such as topiaries. Petravich, who grew up on a dairy farm in Schuylkill County, is a research assistant; he breeds clivias, conducts plant trials, and studies ways to eliminate viruses from cannas and chrysanthemums.
Their blue-bottle collection easily tops 100 and, thanks to friends who drink certain types of wine, water, and vodka, continues to grow.
Some bottles get packed away in the attic. Others are set on the sills of curtainless windows in the house, blue sentries in square frames that catch the winter sun full on.
The light is clear and bright in morning and afternoon. In early evening, it glows a deep blue, utterly entrancing, perfect for ensnaring those disquieting haints.
Bottle trees
-When Eelekoa Kanamee was growing up on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, he loved to race down to the beach after a big storm to hunt for bottles that had washed ashore.
The cobalt blue ones are his favorites to this day. It's a preference he shares with partner Alan Petravich, who had his own blue-bottle collection when the two met in California in 2004.
Both collectors work at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square now, and live on the grounds in a rental house they call "the blue-bottle cottage." It's named for their shared blue-bottle collection and for the bottle tree out in their garden.
The bottles are wedged, upside down, on the lower branches of a yew tree that is oddly bare on the bottom and green on top. "When the sun comes up, the blue actually glows. It looks liquid," says Kanamee, 41.
"It gets us through winter," adds Petravich, 42.
Bottle trees are a long-standing Southern thing, embedded in the life tapestries of African Americans, especially in the Mississippi Delta. Traditionally, live or dead crape myrtle and cedar trees were decorated with bottles -- often blue Milk of Magnesia ones -- intended to trap evil spirits and prevent them from entering the house.
But bottle trees are popping up in other parts of the country, as chic -- or not so chic -- garden art, made on a base of powder-coated steel, iron rebar, or odd pieces of metal.
Garden-supply companies sell them. So do entrepreneurs with catchy names like "Bottle Tree Bob." And enterprising artists and welders are reinterpreting the original form, using blue, green, amber, red, and clear bottles to create high-end trees, chandeliers, arbors, hummingbird feeders, fountains, even magazine racks.
"Bottle trees are whimsies to some folks, folk art to others, and an evocative art form to yet others," says Felder Rushing of Jackson, Miss., author of 15 gardening books, who has studied bottle trees in the United States and around the world for many years.
The newer ones may also represent what sculptor Virginia Maksymowicz describes as "outsider art" crossing over into more sophisticated forms. "The bottle may also be a representation of the human body with a spirit inside, which may be why artists like them so much," says Maksymowicz, associate professor of art at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster.
Whatever you call them, Dudley Pleasants of Glenwood, Miss., has discovered that money grows on bottle trees, too. Manager of a 4,000-acre corn, soybean, and cotton farm, Pleasants makes rolled-steel bottle trees on the side.
They've have gotten so popular, both inside and outside the South, that he says he is pressed for time as never before.
"I have a lot of men who call me and say, 'I got to have a bottle tree. My wife says she wants one,' and I understand," says Pleasants, also known as "the bottle tree man," who got into this sideline because his own wife wanted one.
Stephanie Dwyer, a metal artist from Jackson, didn't know what bottle trees were when she moved from California to Mississippi in 2006. She came to live on property her mother owned, to do her art, and immediately upon her arrival, an aunt asked her to make a bottle tree.
The aunt drove Dwyer around to show her some. "They had no soul. They didn't speak to me," recalls Dwyer, who designed her own, highly stylized version and moved on from there.
Bottle trees, arbors, and specialty items now account for 80 percent of her income. "Bottle trees are taking care of me," she says.
Several of her trees are displayed at the Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale, Miss., a mecca for blues musicians and fans.
The cobalt blue ones are his favorites to this day. It's a preference he shares with partner Alan Petravich, who had his own blue-bottle collection when the two met in California in 2004.
Both collectors work at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square now, and live on the grounds in a rental house they call "the blue-bottle cottage." It's named for their shared blue-bottle collection and for the bottle tree out in their garden.
The bottles are wedged, upside down, on the lower branches of a yew tree that is oddly bare on the bottom and green on top. "When the sun comes up, the blue actually glows. It looks liquid," says Kanamee, 41.
"It gets us through winter," adds Petravich, 42.
Bottle trees are a long-standing Southern thing, embedded in the life tapestries of African Americans, especially in the Mississippi Delta. Traditionally, live or dead crape myrtle and cedar trees were decorated with bottles -- often blue Milk of Magnesia ones -- intended to trap evil spirits and prevent them from entering the house.
But bottle trees are popping up in other parts of the country, as chic -- or not so chic -- garden art, made on a base of powder-coated steel, iron rebar, or odd pieces of metal.
Garden-supply companies sell them. So do entrepreneurs with catchy names like "Bottle Tree Bob." And enterprising artists and welders are reinterpreting the original form, using blue, green, amber, red, and clear bottles to create high-end trees, chandeliers, arbors, hummingbird feeders, fountains, even magazine racks.
"Bottle trees are whimsies to some folks, folk art to others, and an evocative art form to yet others," says Felder Rushing of Jackson, Miss., author of 15 gardening books, who has studied bottle trees in the United States and around the world for many years.
The newer ones may also represent what sculptor Virginia Maksymowicz describes as "outsider art" crossing over into more sophisticated forms. "The bottle may also be a representation of the human body with a spirit inside, which may be why artists like them so much," says Maksymowicz, associate professor of art at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster.
Whatever you call them, Dudley Pleasants of Glenwood, Miss., has discovered that money grows on bottle trees, too. Manager of a 4,000-acre corn, soybean, and cotton farm, Pleasants makes rolled-steel bottle trees on the side.
They've have gotten so popular, both inside and outside the South, that he says he is pressed for time as never before.
"I have a lot of men who call me and say, 'I got to have a bottle tree. My wife says she wants one,' and I understand," says Pleasants, also known as "the bottle tree man," who got into this sideline because his own wife wanted one.
Stephanie Dwyer, a metal artist from Jackson, didn't know what bottle trees were when she moved from California to Mississippi in 2006. She came to live on property her mother owned, to do her art, and immediately upon her arrival, an aunt asked her to make a bottle tree.
The aunt drove Dwyer around to show her some. "They had no soul. They didn't speak to me," recalls Dwyer, who designed her own, highly stylized version and moved on from there.
Bottle trees, arbors, and specialty items now account for 80 percent of her income. "Bottle trees are taking care of me," she says.
Several of her trees are displayed at the Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale, Miss., a mecca for blues musicians and fans.
Gifts to slip under the tree this Christmas
5. Deny winter: A gift certificate from Gardenimport delivers the promise of a new plant for your garden with an artistic edge. Hand lettered in beautiful calligraphy and available in any amount over $25, this certificate also comes with a colour catalogue that is valid for two years, which means you have a lot of time to think about your final choice. Place your order at www.gardenimport. com.
6. Shady character: Choose a handmade floral lampshade to add a green factor to your indoor garden this winter. White will seem ever so boring. Check them out at www.anthropologie.comor visit them when you're next in Toronto. Choose from six designs ranging from $98 to $128, plus shipping.
7. Plan ahead: These Mad Mat outdoor carpets are weatherproof and designed to dress up your patio spaces come spring. Offered in various colours and patterns, they are fade and mould resistant, easy to clean and durable. Comfortable for bare feet and available in many sizes, these carpets are made from recycled plastics by mechanized looms in a worker-friendly Thai factory. Phew. For information on where you can buy them, contact their Canadian distributor at 1-800-859-5081; call your local retailer for prices.
8. Under cover: Invest in a greenhouse or cold frame to extend the growing season with these Canadian products. Contact Ottawabased Lexis Greenhouses (www. lexisgreenhouses.com) to see their selection of winter-friendly designs (all manufactured in Western Canada), starting from $2,000, plus shipping. If space and finances are tight, try a cold frame for under $200 from Lexis or a plastic row cover kit from Lee Valley at $31.50.
9. Donations: Give your money to a local, sustainable and organic food organization. Consider a donation or membership to a local food growing or distribution group. In Ottawa, here are some suggestions: Ottawa Good Food Box, (www.ottawagoodfoodbox.ca), Just Food (www.justfood.ca), Canadian Organic Growers (www.cog.ca), or go to www.canadahelps.orgto choose a charitable organization and make a donation online.
10. The ultimate splurge: Why not roll up Christmas, birthday and anniversary present all into one and reserve your place on an international garden tour. Join Linda Thorne on a tour of Scotland in 2011 where garden visiting will be combined with golfing. Contact her at thorneandco for information. Or if that's not exotic enough, try visiting Thailand's gardens in February with Donna Dawson; $3,675 p/p sharing. Contact her at www. gardeningtours.com.
6. Shady character: Choose a handmade floral lampshade to add a green factor to your indoor garden this winter. White will seem ever so boring. Check them out at www.anthropologie.comor visit them when you're next in Toronto. Choose from six designs ranging from $98 to $128, plus shipping.
7. Plan ahead: These Mad Mat outdoor carpets are weatherproof and designed to dress up your patio spaces come spring. Offered in various colours and patterns, they are fade and mould resistant, easy to clean and durable. Comfortable for bare feet and available in many sizes, these carpets are made from recycled plastics by mechanized looms in a worker-friendly Thai factory. Phew. For information on where you can buy them, contact their Canadian distributor at 1-800-859-5081; call your local retailer for prices.
8. Under cover: Invest in a greenhouse or cold frame to extend the growing season with these Canadian products. Contact Ottawabased Lexis Greenhouses (www. lexisgreenhouses.com) to see their selection of winter-friendly designs (all manufactured in Western Canada), starting from $2,000, plus shipping. If space and finances are tight, try a cold frame for under $200 from Lexis or a plastic row cover kit from Lee Valley at $31.50.
9. Donations: Give your money to a local, sustainable and organic food organization. Consider a donation or membership to a local food growing or distribution group. In Ottawa, here are some suggestions: Ottawa Good Food Box, (www.ottawagoodfoodbox.ca), Just Food (www.justfood.ca), Canadian Organic Growers (www.cog.ca), or go to www.canadahelps.orgto choose a charitable organization and make a donation online.
10. The ultimate splurge: Why not roll up Christmas, birthday and anniversary present all into one and reserve your place on an international garden tour. Join Linda Thorne on a tour of Scotland in 2011 where garden visiting will be combined with golfing. Contact her at thorneandco for information. Or if that's not exotic enough, try visiting Thailand's gardens in February with Donna Dawson; $3,675 p/p sharing. Contact her at www. gardeningtours.com.
Pleasing the gardener
1. Home entertainment: If you can't go there, at least transport your favourite gardener to famous gardens around the world with a DVD. Try the Special Tribute Edition of Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn ($18.32 and up, plus shipping; available through sellers at www.amazon.ca) or the four-DVD set called Great Gardens of England ($26.99; www.amazon.ca). If your garden lover is less of a dreamer, opt for Penelope Hobhouse's The Art and Practice of Gardening ($21.24; www.amazon.ca) or if they're a budding rosarian, try Secrets of the Rose Gardener ($14.95; www.leevalley.com)
2. Adopt a wild bird: Should the gardener on your list also be a bird lover, consider a donation to Bird Studies Canada where you can adopt a wild bird through their Project Recovery program. You will receive an adoption certificate with a colour photograph of the bird species you have chosen, details of the banding of a real bird captured at BSC's Long Point Bird Observatory on the north shore of Lake Erie, and information about the species. Learn more about this project by contacting Bird Studies Canada through their website at www.bsc-eoc.org.
3. Splish splash or sit a while: If the gardener you know favours natural stone over fancy statuary, then think about purchasing one of Scott Switzer's unique rock creations that will blend seamlessly into less formal landscapes. See a selection of his pieces at www.you-rock. bravehost. comor arrange to visit him at his studio in Bloomfield (call ahead at 613-393-1908). Prices vary (usually from $300 to $500) and delivery with on site setup is also available.
4. Bogs and boots: Lee Valley certainly knows how to brighten up dreary days in the garden. Their high bogs boots have been available for a few years, while their ankle shoes have been a stalwart friend of mine through many mucky months. Now the colder temperatures are here to stay, I've discovered the true value of this colourful footwear. They are waterproof and keep all toes cosy down to - 40 C. Find your nearest retailer at www.bogsfootwear.com.Call your local retailer for Canadian prices for the colourful variations or stick with basic black available at Lee Valley, 1090 Morrison Dr. (www.leevalley.com). The black ankle boots are $49; the higher black boots are $74.
2. Adopt a wild bird: Should the gardener on your list also be a bird lover, consider a donation to Bird Studies Canada where you can adopt a wild bird through their Project Recovery program. You will receive an adoption certificate with a colour photograph of the bird species you have chosen, details of the banding of a real bird captured at BSC's Long Point Bird Observatory on the north shore of Lake Erie, and information about the species. Learn more about this project by contacting Bird Studies Canada through their website at www.bsc-eoc.org.
3. Splish splash or sit a while: If the gardener you know favours natural stone over fancy statuary, then think about purchasing one of Scott Switzer's unique rock creations that will blend seamlessly into less formal landscapes. See a selection of his pieces at www.you-rock. bravehost. comor arrange to visit him at his studio in Bloomfield (call ahead at 613-393-1908). Prices vary (usually from $300 to $500) and delivery with on site setup is also available.
4. Bogs and boots: Lee Valley certainly knows how to brighten up dreary days in the garden. Their high bogs boots have been available for a few years, while their ankle shoes have been a stalwart friend of mine through many mucky months. Now the colder temperatures are here to stay, I've discovered the true value of this colourful footwear. They are waterproof and keep all toes cosy down to - 40 C. Find your nearest retailer at www.bogsfootwear.com.Call your local retailer for Canadian prices for the colourful variations or stick with basic black available at Lee Valley, 1090 Morrison Dr. (www.leevalley.com). The black ankle boots are $49; the higher black boots are $74.
CAROL'S TEN BEST COTTAGE GARDEN PLANTS
Primroses Epitomising the coming of spring, you can't have too many of them. I collect their seed to sow when the seedpods are fat to bursting but still green. Foxgloves Perfect for a shady spot, and great self-seeders. I particularly love white ones. Hardy geraniums Happy in sun or shade. We have pink Geranium psilostemon growing everywhere at Glebe Cottage. Another favourite is the meadow cranesbill (Geranium pratense), an easy, self-seeding plant. Cosmos One of the easiest annuals to grow. White 'Purity' looks stunning. Parsley One of the most useful garden herbs, and it looks very pretty as well. Roses My favourite is the very old Rosa mundi. Go for roses that are disease-free and have a long flowering season. Borage A super plant and one of the best for attracting wildlife to the garden.
Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens' Prized for its gorgeous, smoky, purple-blue flowers. I like to sow it in March and plant it out in containers. Alchemilla mollis It will self-seed everywhere, but with its beautiful soft green leaves and pleated foliage it's one of my favourites. It's the perfect foil for the soft pink and blue flowers in the June garden. Ferns Ideal for damp, shady spots. Watching the fronds unfurl in late spring is always a magical sight - somehow they embody the power of nature.
ASK MONTY
Q I have a Macleaya cordata which is overtaking everything. It grows to about 2.75m (9ft) and seems to root everywhere. Even though I keep digging it out, it keeps growing.
Mrs E. Sheldrick, Surrey
A Macleaya cordata is a lovely herbaceous perennial, which will grow tall and spread quickly in heavy, fertile soil. My advice would be to keep on pulling and digging up the roots, rather than hacking at the top growth. Work away at the roots this spring, removing what you can and enjoying what remains.
Q My pond gets full of duckweed very quickly in summer. It makes good compost, but I'm fed up with clearing it.
How can I get rid of it for ever?
Mrs S. Partridge, Dyffryn Ardudwy, Gwynedd
A The simple answer is that you can't. However, you can minimise duckweed. It is introduced by plants and birds so is likely to appear repeatedly. It fares best in full sun, so shade will help, as will water lilies. A fountain will also help, as it keeps the water moving.
Q I have a four-year-old camellia in a large pot on my patio. Last spring it flowered and dozens of buds formed in summer. But in early autumn they all dropped off and this year it looks as though I will have no flowers. What went wrong? I usually feed it in summer but last year I didn't.
Pamela Winthrop, Surrey
A I would guess that when you fed your camellia it was with a liquid feed, and the liquid was just as important as the feed. Any plant in a pot needs regular watering, and a camellia, which constantly loses water through its leaves, needs it especially or it will defend itself by dropping next season's buds to reduce the demands on its roots. The simple fact is you haven't watered it enough. Camellias need plenty of water in late summer to make sure they have healthy buds for the following spring.
Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens' Prized for its gorgeous, smoky, purple-blue flowers. I like to sow it in March and plant it out in containers. Alchemilla mollis It will self-seed everywhere, but with its beautiful soft green leaves and pleated foliage it's one of my favourites. It's the perfect foil for the soft pink and blue flowers in the June garden. Ferns Ideal for damp, shady spots. Watching the fronds unfurl in late spring is always a magical sight - somehow they embody the power of nature.
ASK MONTY
Q I have a Macleaya cordata which is overtaking everything. It grows to about 2.75m (9ft) and seems to root everywhere. Even though I keep digging it out, it keeps growing.
Mrs E. Sheldrick, Surrey
A Macleaya cordata is a lovely herbaceous perennial, which will grow tall and spread quickly in heavy, fertile soil. My advice would be to keep on pulling and digging up the roots, rather than hacking at the top growth. Work away at the roots this spring, removing what you can and enjoying what remains.
Q My pond gets full of duckweed very quickly in summer. It makes good compost, but I'm fed up with clearing it.
How can I get rid of it for ever?
Mrs S. Partridge, Dyffryn Ardudwy, Gwynedd
A The simple answer is that you can't. However, you can minimise duckweed. It is introduced by plants and birds so is likely to appear repeatedly. It fares best in full sun, so shade will help, as will water lilies. A fountain will also help, as it keeps the water moving.
Q I have a four-year-old camellia in a large pot on my patio. Last spring it flowered and dozens of buds formed in summer. But in early autumn they all dropped off and this year it looks as though I will have no flowers. What went wrong? I usually feed it in summer but last year I didn't.
Pamela Winthrop, Surrey
A I would guess that when you fed your camellia it was with a liquid feed, and the liquid was just as important as the feed. Any plant in a pot needs regular watering, and a camellia, which constantly loses water through its leaves, needs it especially or it will defend itself by dropping next season's buds to reduce the demands on its roots. The simple fact is you haven't watered it enough. Camellias need plenty of water in late summer to make sure they have healthy buds for the following spring.
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