Spring is postponed
The RBG Royal Select program evaluates perennials, shrubs and trees that have performed well at various RBG locations over the years and offers those types of plants for sale at Plant Faire
Spend a few minutes with the peony or bonsai or lily society people and you will leave with a new, unquenchable thirst to become a specialist.
Atrocious April carries on.
BULBS
ARE SHIVERING under ice, and Christmas wreaths still hanging on doors bang in the wind.
Spring is postponed this week due to lack of interest.
Still, some people have to press on. In a greenhouse at the Royal Botanical Gardens Arboretum, plants are being groomed for this weekend’s Plant Faire.
I popped in to see the plants that will be sold as part of the Royal Select program. These perennials, shrubs and trees have performed well at various RBG locations. Over the years they’ve been evaluated by volunteers (formerly RBG Auxiliary members) and staff, and are considered the best of the best.
Royal Select picks join plants from outside vendors at the Plant Faire this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at RBG Headquarters on Plains Road in Burlington.
I
WOULD SERIOUSLY consider adding a meadow-rue (Thalictrum) called Black Stockings to the garden. Flats of it in the greenhouse were looking robust. I already have a couple of meadow-rue varieties in my garden and love their cottagey yet elegant profile. Stems of Black Stockings are dramatically dark, and you can expect the flowers to be tall, and billowy like most meadowrue. Grow it in sun or semi shade and enjoy watching butterflies and bees hovering about.
Purchasing plants this early requires some babysitting. The annual plant sale used to be in May, so an April 21 date means protecting plants from cold weather and frost, and delaying planting until the time is right.
Three roses from the RBG collection will be for sale. The very dependable shrub rose called Carefree Beauty is an excellent selection for gardeners who have fear-of-roses. Tough and undemanding, Carefree Beauty blooms over a long period and is disease resistant. For those coveting a red rose, the floribunda called Canadian Shield is another Royal Select, and traditionalists would approve of the pink and very fragrant hybrid tea rose called Savannah.
If your garden is in need of a specimen tree, one Royal Select star this year is Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum). Small, slow growing and nicely shaped, the Paperbark Maple has curling copper bark that is particularly stunning in the winter.
In addition to plants with the RBG seal of approval, other plant sellers at the Plant Faire include Lotsa Hostas, Vineland Nurseries, Whistling Gardens, St. Williams Nursery and Ecology Centre, and Tree and Twig Heirloom Vegetable Farm.
Most of the major plant societies will be there. Spend a few minutes with the peony or bonsai or lily society people and you will leave with a new, unquenchable thirst to become a specialist. Mohawk Seedkeepers from Six Nations will have information on heirloom corn and bean varieties and garden speakers will cover topics ranging from pruning to bonsai to plants for pollinators.
The Plant Faire may be just what we need, while we wait for daffodils to bloom, and the right time to plant pansies.
Without real contact with plants, what’s a gardener to do on these dreary days? I’ve been wistfully looking at photos from trips to the Netherlands. A place where it seems the smallest pot, windowsill or table by a front door is transformed with flowers. Baskets of hydrangeas, wagons filled with tulips, a window box jammed with French lavender, even a roof edge arranged with spring bulbs — no opportunity to display colour and texture is ignored.
That’s a way to escape these mean days of April.
Tough and undemanding, Carefree Beauty blooms over a long period and is disease resistant.