YORKTON - What are your impressions of this gardening year so far?
We got some most welcome rain, but some gardeners have remarked that it might have been too late for some things. The heat made everything advance quickly, and so many of us are probably finding that the state of some of our garden plants seems more like early September than mid-August.
Come with me now. Let’s do a garden tour and see what we can see. Every garden year is different, but looking around at things right now gives us an idea of plants or areas in the garden that need attention or refurbishing.
If you’ve got a ‘garden journal’ on your phone or iPad, take pictures of the successes. Maybe certain container plantings or garden arrangements look outstanding; take a picture of them because we always think we’ll remember from year to hear and then we don’t. I’d like to share a great success story; last year we planted ‘vanilla’ marigolds in some of our large containers. They turned out so well that we did it again this year, and the results are even more outstanding! If you’re not familiar with the vanilla marigolds, they are a creamy white, vey ruffled, and extremely easy to care for. The heat of this summer did nothing to detract from their beauty, and they bloomed prolifically! They do vey well in containers. They form a dense plant, so a group planting of these amazing marigolds makes a dramatic statement!
I really advocate container planting, because we can move them around and create interesting new groupings; we can care for them efficiently because when we water them, we are not wasting water, it all goes where it is needed; they are easy to care for; and for gardeners who either don’t have traditional garden space or perhaps are unable to manage a traditional garden, containers can grow it all, from flowers to herbs to veggies!
I think I told you that we have a lot of borage volunteers in our garden. We leave a lot of them to encourage the bees. My morning tour today was gifted by seeing the early morning sun sparkling on those stunning little blue borage flowers and seeing many bees buzzing through the patch. The garden looks quite wild in that area, maybe not the thing for gardeners who like a vey manicured patch, but the bees certainly come and bring their friends, so we are happy to give them that wildness!
Following up on our ‘to do’ list from last year’s garden evaluation tour, we removed a patch of perennial cransebill geranium; it was healthy enough but crowding its corner and was showing its age with some bare spots. If you recall, we chatted about plants that are more aggressive and/or invasive. Sometimes plants are very determined in their growth habit, and if they do start to be ‘in the way’ then yes, we have to roll up our sleeves and dig them out. Being vigilant is the key with plants like this; if they have high hopes of taking over, then its best to deal with them early.
So you see, while we’re on our garden tour, we should also make a note of the things that were not what we hoped for. Sometimes we might try again next year, just because we like a certain plant. But if space is at a premium, we might choose something else instead. I love the idea of yellow beets; we planted ‘Golden Detroit’, but they were very poor this year, so we might give them a miss next year.
A garden is an ongoing project until the first snow flies, and maybe even then there are things to do! Visit the hort society at and see interesting photos and ideas. Thank you to YTW for their fine work. Have a good week and take that tour of your garden!
