Cold snap should spare bulb flowers

Dear Helen: I’m sure everyone is asking about this: How much damage do you think the recent cold snap will have done, especially to early flowering trees already in bloom or about to bloom, and to spring bulb flowers well advanced because of the mild January temperatures?

P.F. The bulb flowers will be fine. They just hunker down during periods of freezing weather and pop back up again when temperatures rise.

It’s hard to say how sudden, fairly severe cold will affect flowering trees. Much will depend of the type of tree, the micro-climate with its specific temperatures and wind conditions, and how advanced the bloom. The trees will be all right, but whether blooms will be damaged or simply carry on where they left off as the weather warms depends on a number of conditions.

Many home gardeners grow winter vegetables. Most know to cover leafy greens with lightweight fabrics when freezing temperatures are predicted. I covered the Brussels sprouts, and the over-wintering cauliflower and sprouting broccoli, with several layers of old floating row covers, and piled leaves around the leeks and root vegetables.

Snow is a natural insulator. Where snow fell before temperatures dipped, plants will have benefitted from its protection.

Dear Helen: Last summer, I was disappointed to find raised, scabby areas on most of my beets. The disorder looked somewhat like the scab I sometimes see on potatoes, but I’ve never heard of a similar problem on beets. R.B. Though it does not appear so often as it does on potatoes, scab can occur on beets and rutabaga, and even on carrots and radishes. The cause is a soil-borne bacterium present most commonly in soils with a high pH.

Beets, as with most other vegetables, grow best in a slightly acidic soil. Ideal for beets is a pH of about 6.4.

On a pH scale of one to 14, seven indicates a neutral soil, one that is neither acid nor alkaline. The numbers above seven indicate degrees of alkalinity, with 14 being the most extremely alkaline.

Numbers below seven indicate degrees of acidity. Our coastal soils are usually acidic because of the fall and winter rains that leach out alkaline elements such as calcium and magnesium.

In most home gardens, and for most vegetables, we need to apply lime to the soil to bring it up to the just slightly acid range. But if too much lime is applied, or wood ashes, which are highly alkaline and fast-acting, are used, the soil pH can be pushed far enough into alkaline levels to allow the scab bacterium to proliferate and affect susceptible plants.

Scab is a common problem on the Prairies and in the interior of our province, where soils have a naturally high pH.

In garden spaces where scab has been an issue, avoid planting root vegetables for a few years, if possible. The bacterium persists in the soil for many years. To lower the pH in soils that have produced scabby roots, applications of powdered sulphur helps to lower the pH.

Dear Helen: If a person wanted to express sorrow over jealousy in a relationship, what plant or flower could symbolically express that sentiment?

S.L. Yellow roses have traditionally symbolized jealousy. They could be given as an acknowledgement of that feeling. Given as a single rose, in full bloom, the flower also says, “I love you still.”

GARDEN EVENTS

Floral arts. The Mid Island Floral Art Club will meet on Thursday, Feb. 14, at 2 p.m. in St. Stephen’s United Church, 150 Village Way in Qualicum Beach. The afternoon's program will be a “Back to Basics” presentation covering tools, wire and foam, along with several tips and tricks. More information at 250-752-1858.

Seedy in Victoria.

The James Bay Market Society is hosting Victoria's Seedy Saturday on Feb. 16, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Victoria Conference Centre, 720 Douglas St. This official start to the gardening season in Victoria focuses on organic, sustainable gardening and food security, with considerable attention also to gardening in small spaces and in containers. The event will feature garden related exhibitors and vendors, 16 educational speakers, workshops, a seed and book exchange, a café, and a children’s area. Admission cost of $8 (under 16 free) includes a full program of workshops and presentations throughout the day. Details at jamesbaymarket.com/SeedySaturday.

At the onset of freezing temperatures, snowdrops bend over to the ground to take advantage of any warmth from the earth.

As with most vegetables, beets grow best in a slightly acidic soil. In soils made alkaline with applications of wood ashes or too much lime, the roots become susceptible to damage from the same scab disease that afflicts potatoes.