Helen Chesnut
After a long period of cold and rain, a welcome explosion of growth, colour in the garden
As we venture into the first official days of summer, it seems as though the excessive rains and frosts of the past three seasons have brought forth a welcome abundance.
Clusters of neighbours have been noticing and remarking on two horse chestnut trees on the street, each one almost impossibly loaded, at three to four times the usual numbers, with upright spikes bearing numerous small fruits.
Those trees become a source of wildlife entertainment later in the season, when my fence becomes a squirrel highway as the busy rodents ferry chestnuts to secret storage sites. The buried seeds give rise to many a young chestnut tree in my garden.
Within my garden I’ve been astonished at a pillar rose, trained on a post at a corner of a vegetable plot, teeming with an unusually large number of broad bud clusters. I gathered the first few partly open, dark, velvety red flowers to insert in a Victorian pin jar (bought years ago in a secondhand store) together with yellow Laura Ford mini roses. I gave the nosegay of intensely fragrant roses to a neighbourhood friend who loves flowers, but is unable to tend a garden.
As further rose buds open, there’ll be plenty for cutting and enjoying in my home. Meanwhile, a peony called Therese has been heavily laden with big pink blooms in front of my daughter Theresa’s old play house, which is sadly in the process of toppling over and awaits demolition.
A first cutting of the peonies made a gorgeous bouquet interspersed with a few spikes of red valerian, from plants growing improbably out of a big rock pile. There will be more peonies to cut; Therese has a longer bloom period than most peonies.
Cheddar pinks that dot the driveway area of the front garden are unusually thick with spicescented flowers. Bountiful numbers of fruit are swelling rapidly on a rambling old fig tree — a happy sight as I anticipate sharing truly ripe figs later with welltravelled friends who remember relishing the freshly picked, fully ripe, squishy-sweet figs that delighted them on visits to Italy.
Like so many gardeners who take intense pleasure in cooking with the foods they grow, I go a little giddy over the garlic plot. The plants are especially robust this year, and the curly flower stems (scapes) that began appearing early in the month have added a flavour zing to salads and stir-fry dishes. Minced finely, they were a particularly tasty addition to a recently made creamy salad of new potatoes with onion and hard boiled egg.
During the spring I listened with interest to radio interviews with growers about ongoing challenging conditions and anticipated late harvests. They were surprisingly optimistic, most of them looking forward to an explosion of abundance at the end of a long period of cold and rain. They were right.
GARDEN EVENTS
Orchid meeting. The Victoria Orchid Society will meet on Monday at 7 p.m. in Gordon Head United Church Hall, 4201 Tyndall Ave. Expert orchid grower and photographer Alexey Tretyakov will present Growing Cool on a Budget — strategies he uses to keep cool growing orchids flourishing. In his greenhouse Alexey has devised ways of adjusting small areas to accommodate the needs of different orchid types. Meetings include a question and answer session and plant sales. Guests are welcome.
View Royal meeting. The View Royal Garden Club will meet on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Wheeley Hall at Esquimalt United Church, 500 Admirals Rd. Internationally qualified rose judge Barb Munton will provide an overview of her collection of roses — minis, shrubs, Hybrid Teas, Flribundas, Grandifloras, David Austin roses and others. As well, a judged mini-show will feature exhibits from members’ gardens. A sales table will have plants and garden items. Visitors and new members are welcome. Drop-in fee $5.
Picnic in the gardens. The Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, 505 Quayle Rd. in Saanich, is opening its gardens to the public for an evening picnic with live music on Wednesday, from 5 to 8 p.m. Admission is by donation. Picnic boxes can be pre-ordered from the on-site restaurant Charlotte and the Quail. hcp.ca 250-479-6162.