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Pasque Flower welcomes spring

10/5/2019

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Pasque Flower in the garden
Pulsatilla Vulgaris Rubra Photo: Hans Braxmeier at Pixabay
Spent Pasque Flower
There are many plants I wish were in my garden, but when spring arrives the one I miss the most is Pasque Flower or Prairie Crocus (Pulsatilla vulgaris).  While many plants are still sleeping in the spring garden, Pasque Flower is happy to hail the new season.  

This plant is native to much of Canada.  According to the Canadian Wildlife Federation, Pasque Flower ranges "from the Yukon and Northwest Territories down through British Columbia and across to the western tip of Ontario and is the floral emblem of Manitoba."  It is typically found in "open areas such as prairies, rocky outcrops, slopes and occasionally in woodland clearings."

Pasque Flower is also a useful, if little known, pollinator plant. The flowers offer abundant pollen when bees are eager for an early-season food source.  Some observe that the generous, upright flowers provide a place for small insects to warm up, thanks to the arrangement of their sepals which reflect sunshine, increasing the temperature inside the bloom by several degrees.

Like me, you may fall for the fuzzy stems and the charming little 'pinwheels' that form from the spent flowers. These interesting structures  add texture in the garden for some weeks.  

​Take a little time to read 
cultivation requirements for this hardy plant at Dave's Garden. 

And, you can read more about cultivated varieties in Susan Mahr's article at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension.  Check your nursery for plants or purchase seeds online. 

You might guess how much I like Pasque Flower as you view my new home page image. 
​So beautiful, don't you think?

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Photo: Coleur at Pixabay

Want to grow Pasque Flower in your garden?  Find plants and seeds at these locations:
Canning Perennials - for 'Alba' or white Pasque Flower
Wildflower Farm - for seeds

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A Clematis Primer

21/7/2016

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Picture
Bev Werbowy
What a pleasure to share a Guest Post by Bev Werbowy.  A talented gardener and long-time member of the Thunder Bay Horticultural Society, Bev is known for her interest in alpine plants, rocks and the interplay of plant textures and hues.  Her sweetly compact city garden was part of the 2015 Thunder Bay Art Gallery Garden Tour.

This article first appeared in the Spring 2016 issue of Bay Leaves, the Thunder Bay Horticultural Society newsletter.  You may want to keep this post for reference.  Republished with permission.
Thank you, Bev.


What can provide more pleasure, early in the season, than making the rounds of the nurseries and big-box stores to source out new plant varieties and old favourites.  Time and time again, however, I find myself asking the same two questions:
Why are we seeing the same clematis varieties year after year?
Why are so many offered which are not guaranteed to survive in our Zone 3 gardens?

We have all, at some time, been seduced by those stunning large-flowered hybrids, resplendent in their jewel-toned hues, only to witness their inevitable decline in later years. 

A knowledge of the specific pruning needs of the many species of Clematis will determine which we should plant and which we should avoid.  The genus Clematis can be divided into 3 distinct groups based on the aforementioned pruning requirements. They are generally referred to as Group A (Group 1), Group B (Group 2) and Group C (Group 3).

Group A (1) Clematis
  • small flowers - generally bell-shaped
  • vigorous growers
  • bloom in early summer
  • bloom on wood produced the previous year
  • minimal, if any, pruning is required
  • Clematis a!pina and Clematis macropetala are very hardy, vigorous performers
Notable Clematis alpina cultivars
  • 'Pamela Jackman - deep blue
  • 'Frances Rivis' - violet-blue
  • 'Willy' - pale pink
  • 'Markham's Pink' - plum-pink
  • 'Ruby' - pinkish-red
  • 'Frankie' - mid-blue
  • 'Constance' - deep pink
  • 'Pink Flamingo' - red-purple to pale pink
Notable Clematis macropetala cultivars
  • 'Blue Bird' - purple-blue
  • 'Rosy O'Grady' - mauve-pink
  • 'White Swan' - double white
Clematis alpina 'Pamela Jackman'
Clematis alpina 'Pamela Jackman'
Photo: Royal Horticultural Society
Clematis alpina
Clematis alpina 'Markham's Pink'
Photo: Royal Horticultural Society
Group B (2) Clematis
  • large-flowered hybrids, single and double
  • bloom in early summer and occasionally re-bloom in late summer
  • flower on previous year's growth
This group is the least reliable and should be avoided.  Some examples are:
  • 'Duchess of Edinborouqh'
  • 'Multi Blue'
  • 'Dr. Ruppel'
  • 'Henryi'
  • 'The President'
  • 'Elsa Spath'
  • 'Niobe'
  • 'Nelly Moser'
  • 'H.F. Young'
You will recognize several of the above selections since they regularly appear of big-box stores and some nurseries. Do not be tempted!

Group C (3) Clematis
  • includes both large and small-flowering cultivars
  • bloom in late summer on new wood
  • prune back to twelve inches in early spring
Recommended large-flowered hybrids
  • 'Comtesse de Bouchaud' - mauve-pink
  • 'Rouge Cardinal' - crimson-red
  • 'Ville de Lyon' - carmine-red
  • 'Pink Fantasy' - pale pink/ darker bar
  • 'Jackmanii' - purple
Recommended small-flowered hybrids
  • 'Alba Luxuricrns' - green-white
  • 'Abundance '- deep red
  • 'Etoile Violette' - dark purple
  • 'Huldine' - white
  • 'Margot Koster' - mauve-pink
  • 'Minuet' - mauve-green
  • 'Mme. Julia Correvon' - red
  • 'Purpurea Plena Elegans' - red-maroon
  • 'Venoso Violocea' - purple-white

The Clematis viticella hybrids, also members of Group C (3), perform reliably in Zone 3.  What they may lack in flower size, they more than make up for by their profusion of bloom.  Their flowers come in a variety of forms; open-faced, bell-shaped, rosette and recurvate, They will happily clothe a trellis or scramble through shrubs.

'Polish Spirit' is one of a group of hybrids bred by Brother Stefan Franczak, a Jesuit priest from Warsaw.  Other notable examples of Polish Clematis in Group C (3) are 'Warsaw Nike', 'Danuta' and 'Kordynol Wyszyriski'.

Mention should also be made of Clematis integrifolia 'Arabella'.  Purple-blue, this plant is very vigorous, a great scrambler.

Clematis recta 'Purpurea' – a herbaceous clematis whose leaves emerge sporting a lovely purple-burgundy colour. They will retain this hue until the small white flower clusters emerge.  I train this plant up a small
obelisk, thereby providing a striking exclamation point in the perennial border. 

The well-known Clematis tangutica is a prolific climber (up to 4m).  It  produces small yellow, cup-shaped flowers.

Final thoughts ...

Check the pruning group before purchasing.  lf it's not on the tag, Google the cultivar first. 

Avoid Group B (2).  • lf you must succumb to Group B envy, try 'Guernsey Cream'.  lt has survived in my garden for five years ... by keeping my fingers crossed (and the ground mulched)!
Clematis 'Rouge Cardinal'
Clematis 'Rouge Cardinal'
Photo: Royal Horticultural Society
Clematis 'Polish Spirit'
Clematis 'Polish Spirit'
Photo: Royal Horticultural Society
Clematis recta 'Purpurea'
Clematis recta 'Purpurea'
Photo: Royal Horticultural Society

Want to learn more?
Most of the cultivars mentioned are profiled on the Royal Horticultural Society online plant guide.  It is an excellent compendium of plant information, but always confirm the Canadian hardiness of plants to be sure of success in our colder zone.

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A greenhouse blooms in the country

9/3/2016

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Tell me, do you dream of having a greenhouse one day?  What about a greenhouse big enough to start a nursery business?  Fifteen years ago, this was Karen Breukelman's dream.  And while the timing was a surprise, Karen put her love of gardening together with her desire for home-based employment and launched 'My Blooming Business'.
greenhouse
View of the greenhouse interior
Photo: My Blooming Business
PictureKaren Breukelman
Photo: therebloomsagarden.com
Today, country and city gardeners alike take the drive to Karen's rural greenhouse for a healthy selection of plants.  Karen was a member of the Thunder Bay & District Master Gardeners and she still shares her gardening advice with customers, often showing them how a plant blooms or matures in her own garden.  She knows her plants, especially those that are hardy for our cold climate.

With spring just around the corner, I asked Karen to talk with me about her greenhouse business and her love of gardening. 

The interview follows ...

How and when did you start your greenhouse?
A:  We started in 2001 when we purchased a greenhouse from the old experimental farm.  The opportunity to buy a 22 x 100 foot greenhouse came up by tender.  We put in a very low bid  and found out two days later that we got the greenhouse and that we would have to move it to our farm about a kilometer away.  We had to take it apart like a jigsaw puzzle, reassemble it at our location, and then decide what we would do with it.  So it wasn't a planned thing, it was something that just came along.

At the time we thought maybe we would go into the cut flower business, but the first year we opened to the public [with bedding plants], we also offered plants as a fundraiser for the Thunder Bay Christian school.  A lot of the patrons of the school are in our area.  The fundraiser let people get a taste of what we were growing at a good price.  Then from there it grew and grew. 
also What plants do you grow?
A:  I try to grow all the basics that would have been in your mother's garden and your grandmother's garden ― the geraniums, the petunias, the pansies, the marigolds.  But then I also try to grow things that are new and different and unusual.  I'm trying to be a one-stop shop where people can come and get their basics in the four-packs or full trays and they can also get things that you wouldn't find at a big commercial greenhouse.  I look far and wide for things that are unusual.  

Every year I have a few new things and I bring back the popular things from the years before. 
I try to have the old heirloom varieties ― like the nicotiana that grows six feet tall that you just can't find anymore but people remember their grandparents growing ― and I try to have something that's just coming out on the market.

I grow a lot of vegetables.  More people are interested in growing their own.  We noticed last year that the trend to growing your own vegetables is gaining.  And also canning, people are canning.  For the vegetables, I try to have short-season varieties, things that mature early, like green peppers that will turn red within our season.  Anything I grow is for our region ― Zone 2-3, 3b ― so that people will have success.
purple pansy
Photo: My Blooming Business

I think gardening is something a lot of people did with their parents and so those old-fashioned plants are as important as the new and unusual.  Plants take them back to when they were with their parents or grandparents.  It's nostalgic.  I try to have that kind of feeling in my greenhouse.
                                  ― Karen Breukelman


What do you find your customers are looking for?
A:  One of the things people are coming for is someone who will take the time to talk to them.  I have a lot of people who come to my greenhouse who don't have a lot of experience with gardening.  I can take the time ― if they come on a quieter day ― to help them choose plants and just help them to understand how to garden better.

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned in running a greenhouse?
A:  That's a good question.  I think, how all-consuming it is at a certain time of year.  You almost have to brace yourself for it because once it starts, you have to be all in.  Once I start the greenhouse at the beginning of April, it's morning to night that you are thinking about it.  Because we are a family-run business, it's me, my husband Gerald, and our daughter who helps when she can, when she's not in school.  I don't have back up and once I start I can't leave the property for any length of time.  That was what surprised me when we first started.  But it's exciting, it's invigorating, it's lovely work. 

Do you have time to grow a garden for yourself?  What do you have here on the property?
A: 
Last year, because it was our transition year and we were moving [from the dairy farm which was sold to a new property and new house], I didn't have any flowerbeds.  I missed it so much!  We didn't even have grass.  I realized how much I missed puttering in the garden.  So at the end of the summer we put in sod and I outlined my beds. 

There is a big oval in front of the house.  I want masses of plants there, for impact.  I want you to be a hundred feet away and say, 'Wow, what's going on over there?'  I'm going for impact from a distance ― that is my plan.  At the end of the house we put in a large perennial bed that's about 9 or 10 feet deep and about 28 feet long.  I haven't started working on that one at all.  I am very excited for this year. 

We are also going to put in a vegetable garden.  I didn't have a vegetable garden last year.  Again, I missed it so much.  You don't even realize how much you appreciate being able to walk out the door and get some lettuce or herbs, right?  It's just so simple. 

When you imagine your garden in the future – say, in five years’ time – what do you envision?
A: 
I think, established perennials beds, but still playing with annuals, because I have so many choices in annuals with the greenhouse and lots of fun things that I get to try.  In my flowerbeds I like to try out new plants and see how they do.  I like to test out different things and just play.  The annuals give me that opportunity to mix it up and change it every year.

What kind of garden appeals to you?
A: 
I like a crowded garden.  I like a flowerbed that the plants are close enough that you don't see the dirt.  I guess a cottage garden style.  Mixed with stepping stones and old pieces of wood, things you've collected over the years, just things that make it personal.  I like to throw interesting things in that catch you off guard ― little surprises.  But I'm going to have to work on that here yet, and figure out what my surprises will be!

My Blooming Business is located at 341Hanna Rd. Thunder Bay, ON  (807) 474-3235
Also find the greenhouse on Facebook.

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Picture perfect peonies

12/8/2013

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Peonies – perhaps more than any other flowering plant – lend the garden a sense of grace.  Their delicate, complex blossoms belie the hardy nature of these long-lived perennials.  Given the right conditions, a peony can quite possibly outlive the gardener who tends it.
Picture
Peony of unknown parentage, possibly 'Monsieur Jules Elie'
A quick primer on peony origins and types ...
As American peony grower Allan Rogers writes, "Peonies, the genus Paeonia, are native to Morocco and Spain across the mountainous regions of Europe and the Mediterranean, through the Caucasus to central Asia, on into China and Japan and even the western United States" (Rogers, p. 45).  Peonies have been cultivated for centuries both in Europe and Asia.

Within the genus Paeonia there are two distinct groups.  First there are tree peonies. Characterized by their woody growth, tree peonies originate in the remote areas of China and have only recently become more available to gardeners.  They can grow into one to six foot flowering shrubs, but they are only considered hardy to USDA Zone 4.

Second are the  herbaceous peonies which die to ground level in the fall.  Their return each year brings rich blooms during the transition from spring into summer; their shiny foliage continues to anchor a perennial bed after the blooms have faded.  Most herbaceous cultivars are able to grow successfully in the Zones 2-3 cold of northern Ontario and their long history of cultivation has resulted in a diversity of flower form, colour and fragrance. 

Peonies are an excellent plant choice for the gardener doing battle with deer and rabbits.  One nibble and these animals are  likely to leave peonies alone, thanks to the bitter-tasting "phenol compounds found in the plant's foliage and flowers" (Rogers, p. 7).

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Meet a true lover of Paeonia ...
Many avid gardeners find themselves fascinated with a particular plant species.  For Master Gardener Eloise Rodger, it's the peony in its many cultivated forms that has captured her imagination. 

A visit to Eloise's garden when these beauties are in bloom is a summer highlight.  Last month Eloise generously agreed to a tour and a chat about her collection of herbaceous peonies.  As we walked, Eloise easily named each cultivar, its development date and the name of the plant breeder.


How long have you gardened in this location?

A: "I've gardened here since 1976.  We bought the property and Bob built the house; then I began the surrounds.  First was lawn – that was essential to keep it clean – and then I began flowerbeds.  So it's a long process.  My first peony was purchased in 1978."

What is the exposure and hardiness zone?

A: "I am a Zone 2b, very exposed to winds. If we don't have a good snow cover, I do lose plants. Freeze-thaw is bad for peonies, especially freeze-thaw in late December. But generally peonies are lasters.  That's why I have chosen them.
"We have put in a red pine windbreak in the west and the north is pretty good because it's bush.  There is a wind tunnel in the back area; the wind strips the snow off the beds.  I put styrofoam boxes over the peonies in this area to protect them." 

What is it about growing peonies that captures your interest?

A: "From a practical point, peonies are winter-hardy and that appeals to me very much.  I can't abide losses!  Then it's the selection; there's the singles, the doubles, and the colours. 
"My interest has developed a lot more since I joined the Peony Society.  I have attended their annual meetings and exhibited. The highest award I've received is third prize."

How do you prepare peony blossoms for exhibit?

A: "The date for a show may be in two weeks.  I don't know what's going to be open, but I do know this flower is in bud and it's soft like a marshmallow. I cut it, wrap it in paper towel and in a full plastic seal, and put it in a cooler. The day before the show, you take it out, snip the end, put it in water, and voilà , it should open.  It doesn't always work. 
"With flower judging, the flower that just opened this morning – the freshest –  is the one that's going to win the prize."

What do you do to prepare your plants for winter?

A: "I cut back the foliage and I burn it.  I don't want any disease like botrytis [the fungus, Botrytis paeoniae] to carry on into another season.  I've got into the habit of cutting down the whole flowerbed because I have so much to do in the spring.  In the fall, I empty my compost onto all my beds as a mulch."

If someone was going to start growing peonies, what advice would you offer?

A: "I recommend a good well-dug flowerbed with good soil. When peonies are newly planted you don't want to give them too much fertilizer.  If you start off with good soil that is well-dug, you really don't have to do much.  Just top them up with compost once a year.
Give them space [one metre of growing room]; don't crowd them.  In two years time, it will fill that space."

What plant sources do you rely on for purchasing peonies?

A: "I have used all the vendors listed on the Canadian Peony Society website. 
"I have purchased from La Pivoinerie d'Aoust in Quebec and Blossom Hill Nursery near Peterborough."
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'Garden Treasure'
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'Butterbowl'
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'Edulis Superba'
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'Asa Gray'
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'Krinkled White'
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'Do Tell'
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'Dandy Dan'
NOTE:  August is a good time of year for dividing and planting peonies.  Canadian suppliers dig to order and ship roots with fall planting in mind.  Peony roots are also available for purchase online through the Annual Fall Root Sale of the Canadian Peony Society.

Picture
Peonies bloom contentedly as Eloise Rodger works in one of her mixed borders.
Eloise's love of plants has made her a valued mentor for me and other gardeners.  Her passion for peonies keeps these perennials ever on her mind ... "I'm always thinking.  I don't like some of those big doubles.  I might take those out and get something I desire."

Eloise Rodger is the Coordinator of the Thunder Bay & District Master Gardeners.

Photo credit:  Final image - Eloise Rodger; all other images -There Blooms a Garden
Resource for this post: Rogers, A. (1995). Peonies.Timber Press: Portland, OR.

Want to learn more about peonies?
Read 'Peony Cultural Requirements' (Canadian Peony Society)
Read 'What to Plant under Peonies'
Visit La Pivoinerie d'Aoust website for growing notes and links to instructional videos
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