February 2021 - Bowen Island Garden Club
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
February 2021
The Mission of the Bowen Island Garden Club is to promote the love of gardening,
encourage sound horticultural practices through education, & enhance civic beautification.
Thank you everyone who attended the Zoom trucking finished compost back on. The timing
AGM. Congratulations to our new executive: can’t be better. With Covid many new people
have begun to grow food on Bowen. It is
essential that we have good quality compost
available and wholeheartedly support this
project."
This cold weather brings to mind the need to
protect vulnerable plants. I have a new hardy
gardenia that I hope will survive. I read that a
cover with bubble wrap may be helpful. Another
option was to place a cardboard box over the
plant for protection. Unfortunately, I recently
took the perfect sized box to recycling.
It's pretty remarkable that a year ago few of us
had had Zoom experiences but now virtual
Acting President’s Message meetings are a fact of life for most. The Board
Lynn McArthur has been meeting regularly on Zoom with Laura
It is disappointing that we haven't yet identified McGregor as our Zoom mistress. We plan to re-
a Vice President and a President. I feel strongly institute Club meetings virtually and Lyn van
that the Bowen Island Garden Club is an Lidth de Jeude and Cathryn Robertson have
important organization in our community and some interesting programs afoot! They will
trust that one day soon there will be persons continue emphasizing our two themes, being
with the heart, the time and the energy to fill waterwise and growing veggies. Pop-Up Plant
these roles. In the meantime, I will endeavor to Sales are also becoming a new norm. Consider
do my part and welcome all suggestions. potting up sale items when you are out in your
garden again. And stay tuned for news on Open
Recently, on behalf of the Club, I wrote a letter
Gardens.
to the Muni supporting their CleanBC Organic
Infrastructure Grant application. "As gardeners Spring is coming and the good news is that the
we look forward to being able to access first class groundhog did not see his shadow! Enjoy
compost on our own island. It will be wonderful anticipating an interesting season in our
to put an end to trucking compost off island and gardens.
1
Cuttings - February 2021 continued
The Bowen Island Garden Club is pleased to MEMBERSHIP
present:
Time is ticking to take
PLANT ADAPTATIONS in a TEMPERATE advantage of the $15 Early
RAINFOREST Bird Special which ends on
February 28. After that,
Please join us via Zoom at 7pm on February 22
membership dues will be $20. Renewals can be
for a fascinating hour-long presentation by
paid by cheque or e-transfer. For details please
Daniel Mosquin.
visit the club website
Daniel is a Research Manager in the UBC Faculty (www.bowenislandgardenclub.ca).
of Science, Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant
Thanks to those members who have already
Research. He is an award- winning photographer
renewed.
and an accomplished speaker on various aspects
of plant research. This talk promises to be The Garden Club
pertinent, beautiful and interesting to everyone welcomes the following
who has a garden. new members: Tori Ball,
Liam Edwards, Laura
BIGC Members will receive a Zoom invitation to
Feyrer, Laura Robertson,
your inboxes.
and Adrian van Lidth de
Jeude
OPEN GARDENS 2021
Pam Miller and Doug Elliott
As everyone knows, the Garden Club made the
decision to cancel our 2020 Open Garden season
because of Public Health restrictions on large
gatherings. However, since many members have
recently expressed a desire to have this program
resume and barring any further restrictions
being imposed by the Public Health Authority,
we are looking at ways that we might be able to
make this happen. Of course, in order to comply
with current COVID public health orders,
changes would need to be made to our usual
format. There would be no refreshments, we
would have to extend the hours each garden is
open, and masks would be mandatory. Also, we
This month’s Cuttings comes with appreciation for are considering the possibility of asking visitors
contributions from:
to book a time slot in advance. This would give
Anna-Marie Atherton – BIGC History & Photos Jackie us better control over the flow of people in
Bradley – Vegetable Gardening & Photos attendance and minimize contact.
Su Rickett – Cold Comforts If any of you would consider opening up your
Holly Cleator, Pam Miller, Doug Ellioitt, John Hazell garden for such an event, please contact either
Pam Miller at pe7miller@gmail.com or Doug
Elliott at dlselliott@gmail.com and we will see if
we can come up with a plan.
2
Cuttings - February 2021 continued
enormous wealth of information and wise
advice. The best thing is that it all relates to our
area on the coast. Their website is also a
fantastic place to spend a few hours planning out
the veggie garden for this year. Time well spent.
If you are going to be starting seeds anytime
soon, now is the time to make sure your seed
trays and pots are sanitised and ready to go.
Check to see if you have clean labels. Time to
ready the greenhouse if you are fortunate
enough to have one. Clean down shelving and
walls using a mild bleach solution to get rid of
grime. Dispose of old potting soil into your
compost. Sweep and sluice down everything and
give yourself a clean slate to start up the year
with. You will so appreciate not having to do this
COLD COMFORTS
job once spring really gets going.
Su Rickett
Mother Nature always has to have the last laugh.
Just a few weeks ago, after what seemed like
endless weeks of oppressive rain and sombre
skies, we were treated to a few days of sunshine,
reassuringly warm sunshine that urged many of
us to go outside and tinker with the garden. Who
could blame us? It has been rather a mild winter
so far and many plants were waking up, poking
through the soil and generally offering us hope
that there would soon be an end to this gloomy
winter.
Those thoughts were short lived. As I write this,
Hopefully, this cold snap will be short lived. A
we are being taunted by words like ‘strong
cold winter afternoon is often made a lot more
outflow winds’, ‘snow’ and more horrifyingly,
palatable with either a beautiful garden book, or
‘freezing temperatures.’ While the rest of the
a wonderful TV show to lift the spirits. For a
country soldiers on with even chillier forecasts,
book, I would suggest Windcliff: A story of
we had been given the kind of hints that it was
People, Plants and Gardens by Daniel Hinkley.
safe to ‘get going’. Obviously, Mother Nature has
This is a such a lovely personal volume from one
other ideas.
of our modern-day plant hunters. I had the great
So, while we wait it out, and wait we must for pleasure of visiting his previous garden,
fear of setting our gardens back, there are many Heronswood, many years ago. This book is a real
things to brighten our day and keep ourselves visual treat and beautifully written.
from binge watching bodice busters or endless
Now, put another log on the fire and fill up the
closet sorting.
teacup and settle down to watch The Secret
If you haven’t done so already, get yourselves History of the British Garden. Four episodes,
acquainted with the West Coast Seeds worthy of a binge watch. Enjoy the beautiful
catalogue. This really is a must read for anyone settings and listen to Monty Don as he takes you
who grows vegetables locally. It offers an on a magical tour of some wonderful gardens.
3
Cuttings - February 2021 continued
Once this big freeze up is over and the birds start Give any clematis a nice thick mulch of compost
heralding that spring is a little bit closer, it is a or well rotted manure once you have pruned
great time of year to move things about in the them.
garden. Most plants are still dormant and while While we are on the subject of vines,
nothing can be done while the honeysuckle, evergreen clematis and winter
jasmine, all benefit from a good clean out of old
leaves and dead branches. Do this as soon as you
can to avoid disturbing nesting birds. Apply a
nice thick mulch of garden yummies once you
are finished.
While we wait for the big thaw, it’s the perfect
time to reflect on how we’d like the garden to be
this year. Was it too much work to grow so much
veg? Did you eat it all? Have you planted those
hydrangeas too close? Have you just got too
much lawn to mow? Maybe this is the year to put
in a pond? Perhaps we should fence the garden?
As we watch a few flakes fall, we can warm our
thoughts with new and exciting ideas for the
coming year
ground is frozen, or covered in snow, plans can Stay safe everyone.
be made to do this when we have warmed up
again. Plants such as Siberian Iris and Daylilies Virtual Seedy Saturday Conference
can be moved and split now. Huge clumps of
catmint and rudbeckia are easily divided before Feb 19-21, 2021.
they get growing. http://www.bcseeds.org/2021-bc-seedy-
February is more often the big month for cutting Saturday-virtual-conference/
back grasses and while technically most of them
are very hardy, it does not hurt to wait a little bit, STARTING SEEDS for
until the freeze is a distant memory. It is still far
VEGETABLE GARDENS
too early to cut pampas grass back – wait until
Jackie Bradley
any frost has passed, usually late March.
It used to be that I planted all my seeds directly
Clematis are another group of plants that are on
into the garden, but I soon discovered I lost way
my radar in February. Again, I would wait until
too many to hungry birds first thing in the spring.
sub-zero temperatures are over before cutting
The cheeky towhee would join me as soon as I
back hard. Group A, which includes the
ventured into the garden and start tossing my
Montana, Alpina and early flowering types only
straw everywhere searching for seeds. I can’t
require a light trim. None at all, if they are the
resist sowing a few seeds for the towhee each
shape you like. Group B, which are those that
spring. Once there
flower around May but before June have
is more food
optional pruning, which means you can trim
readily available,
them back to the first set of buds or just snip
the birds aren’t so
away at any dead stems. Group C – those that
intent on finding
bloom after June, are the easiest of all, simply
every seed.
cut back everything to the lowest set of buds.
4
Cuttings - February 2021 continued
of my garden. The soil needs to have enough
organic matter, so it is light and not compacted.
If there are bugs, I pick them out and leave them
in the garden.
TIMING & HARDENING OFF It’s difficult to
choose the absolute best time to start and to
transplant. The goal is to have your seedlings
ready to go outside as soon as the weather is
favourable. Start by consulting your seed
package. West Coast Seeds has a seed starting
chart for this area.
https://www.westcoastseeds.com/pages/regio
nal-planting-charts
CHOOSING Now I start all my early plants as The first two apparent leaves that come up are
seedlings. The other plants that I like to start as called cotyledon. They are not actually leaves but
seedlings are the ones that take a long time to the power-pack from the seed that feeds the
grow or the ones that I just want to eat as early plant until it gets its own leaves and can
as possible. For me these are basil, tomatoes, photosynthesize. When a seedling has 5 true
cucumbers and squash. As well, I’ll often plant leaves it is happy to be transplanted.
some of these directly into the soil once it is But first it is very important to harden it off for 5
warm enough, just in case we have a long days to a week so it gets used to the outdoors.
growing season and I will then be able to harvest Begin by putting it outside for an hour in a
into the late fall. sheltered location. Each day gradually add longer
LIGHT Most windowsills produce seedlings that time and less shelter.
stretch towards the sun and become leggy. Since What do you do when your plant is all ready for
a strong seedling produces a strong plant, leggy transplanting and you have a bad cold spell? This
seedlings are not a good way to start. You need happened last year for me, so I decided to plant
a strong reliable light source. I can’t emphasize two of my squash plants anyway and see what
this enough. Weak light = weak seedlings. LED happened. They survived but didn’t grow any
grow-lights are now available. They are powerful bigger. It surprised me that they weren't in
and efficient and don’t generate much heat. anyway negatively affected by the cold. I assume
SOIL Most people use potting soil and this works they were busy establishing their roots and were
well. However, since I have learned about the hence ready to take off when the
importance of having biology in my soil, I don’t weather warmed. When it was finally warm
like to use store bought potting soil that is sterile. enough, I planted my other seedlings. The
Most potting soil also contains something like seedlings that I had planted earlier took off and
vermiculite or perlite which I prefer not to have grew really quickly, the others took awhile to
in my garden. They are added to help the soil grow and produced fruit later than my cold
hold water. weather plantings. So this year, as long as we
have passed the danger of frost, I am going to
So, I am experimenting with using my own
plant all my seedlings as soon as they have 5 true
garden soil for raising seedlings. Soil for
leaves. You can still plant cold tolerant seedlings
seedlings needs to be not too wet and not too
outside before last frost, if you cover them.
cold. Several days before starting, I bring in a
bucket of soil for warming up to household
temperature. I choose soil from the better areas
5
Cuttings - February 2021 continued
Hat” award with honourable mention going to
Allie Drake for her amusing bonnet, “Gone to
Seed.” In the Flower Arrangement category, the
award went to partners Wynn Neilsen and Karrie
Brueckner. In December, the club held a
workshop at Judy Taggart’s home to make
wreaths, swags, and kissing balls. Nearly
everything sold at the BICS Craft Fair netting a
profit of $713.
2001 featured new name tags designed by Liz
Hazelwood. The April meeting featured author
Margaret Horsfield presenting her book Cougar
Annie’s Garden based on the life of Canadian
legend Ada Annie Rae-Arthur who with
extraordinary stamina and bloody-minded
determination, maintained a unique life from
1915 into the 1980s on a rough stump farm along
the shores of an isolated inner harbour of
Clayoquot Sound on the West Coast of BC.
In September the club travelled to Keats Island
by water taxi to visit the garden of Lawrence
Wicks, a tropical paradise featuring banana
plants, agaves, passionflower vines, gingers and
daturas. He gave a windmill palm to each visitor.
In 2002, meetings moved from the Old General
Store, which was being converted into the
Library to the Gallery at Artisan Square.
Highlights of 2003 included BIGC’s decision to
The club logo that we continue to use today was
beautify the new golf course by supplying plants
designed by Su Rickett in 1994.
and maintaining a small plot near the clubhouse.
BIGC 20 YEARS AGO Wynn Nielsen introduced the idea of having a
Bowen Island Garden Club turns the page on our monthly Open House for Gardens on Bowen as
40th year. Part three of a series of notes from club an opportunity for members to exchange
historian Anna-Marie Atherton: 2000-2010. information, find ideas and inspiration, take
photographs, swap cuttings or seeds and
Records from Bowen Island Garden Club during socialize with other keen gardeners. Garden Club
the year 2000 indicate that bulbs were planted member Ann Davidson was celebrated for her
along Miller Road as a legacy for Wilf Birnie. And best rose novice class award for her rose ‘Silver
the year was remarkable for its parties. The June Jubilee’ at the Vancouver 2003 Rose Show.
Summer Party was held at the neighbouring
homes of Sally Petter and Louise Dale. Activities The 2004 Citizen of the Year Award went to
included a croquet tournament and Jacqueline Bakker, founder of the Bowen Island
competitions for “The Best Garden Hat” and Garden Club. The first Open Garden was held in
“Best Floral Arrangement.” Liz Hazelwood won April at the home of Anna-Marie and Murray
the ladies croquet championship and Len Clark Atherton and the Club made a day trip to the
the men’s. Mary Clark won the “Best Garden Seattle Flower and Garden Show. The Mission
6
Cuttings - February 2021 continued
Statement was updated to “encourage club produced a hand-out, “The Best of Bowen,”
beautification of Bowen Island,” which led to a a guide to gardening with deer, drought and
large purchase of daffodil bulbs that were rocky soil on Bowen.
planted on the hillside opposite the BICS field
“not for picking but for admiring!”
In 2006, the Undercurrent again celebrated BIGC
for daffodil plantings. “Sheila Webster, daffodil
A 2005 Undercurrent article observed that, chairman, was delighted as she spoke of the
“some think we have too many signs, but these 16,000 bulbs that the club sold at enticing prices
golden dafs. planted by the Bowen Island Garden last year.” The club purchased thirty wooden
Club are a spectacular sign of spring.” The club half-barrels to plant with daffodils, muscari and
visited the ‘clearing in the forest’ garden of drought resistant summer plants to place across
architect Arthur Erikson. the island.
The club’s speaker series included Brian Minter
and locals Moira Greaven and Julie Hadrill on
“Green, Silent and Creeping,” invasive alien
plants in the landscape. The club spearheaded a
new initiative to address the increasing problem
of noxious invasive plants with a focus on Scotch
Broom, English Ivy and Daphne Laureola.
2006 records detail the club’s BowFest float on a
Medieval theme with a trailer and costumes
loaned by the Wrinch’s, bunting from the
Lawrence’s, gazing ball from Sylvia Boss, design
and Gregorian chants by Tracey Hearst. “Lady”
Seventy-one people attended the Summer Party Mary White, draped in gold, jewels and purple
at the home of Pam and John Miller celebrating velvet with her needlepoint calligraphy and rosy
the Club’s 25th year. The theme was ‘hot colours smile was the star of the float.
of summer’ and eight former presidents cut the In 2007, Weed Warriors tackled broom removal
ribbon to start the festivities. at Windjammer and Arbutus Point Road. The
‘Flower Power’ was the club’s prize-winning float Undercurrent lauded the club’s efforts to
at the BowFest parade. First President remove invasive scotch broom, Japanese
Jacqueline Bakker and Denys Meakin rode on the knotweed, daphne spurge, and wild clematis.
float while Mary Buckerfield White, the most The municipality endorsed the removal program
senior in the group, walked the entire route. The and agreed to provide disposal bins for collection
7
Cuttings - February 2021 continued
of invasive plants at the old BIRD site in
Bluewater and at the old crusher site on
Headwaters road.
2009 was year of the big snow, so much that
chairs were inaccessible for the January meeting.
Members either brought their own or stood up
for Sandy Logan’s presentation, ‘Garden Keep-
Sheila Webster was again acknowledged for her Fit.’ The club visited the Bradner Flower and
continuing effort to plant bulbs along public Garden Show. Weed Warriors continued to
roadways. The 2007 Summer Party had a pirate battle invasive species using an extractavator
theme with a treasure hunt, held at the Sealeigh and focusing on Miller’s Landing, Bluewater and
park home of Anne and John Ayre. In the fall, King Edward Bay. As a thank you for collecting
members visited Minter Gardens in Chilliwack. and dropping invasive plants, the club gave each
participant a ribes sanguineum (red flowering
current) donated by Linnaea Nurseries.
Stay in touch with Bowen Island Garden Club
activities through our website:
http://www.bowenislandgardenclub.ca/home
and Bowen Island Garden Club on Facebook
2008 opened with speakers on the Women’s
Land Army in Britain during World War I and II.
Due to a shortage of men, women were enlisted
to work the land during the war years. By 1944,
over 80,000 women were involved in agriculture.
The club traveled to Pender Harbour to tour the
500 rhododendron varieties at Caron Gardens.
The BIGC BowFest parade float embraced a
circus theme with a green elephant.
8
You can also read
