Working in the clouds, seeding the soil
Run on seeds like this hasn’t happened since Y2K
The invention was brilliant, I thought.
A Japanese maple in the front yard needed shaping. It was once pruned using the Japanese cloud pruning method. This type of shaping turned it from a big mop head to a tree with airy foliage shaped like clouds.
In the absence of an available local cloud pruner, I sometimes shape it myself. At least the branches that I can reach.
My bright idea was to hang duck decoy weights on the slender branches to lower them down to a level easier for me to prune. It worked.
It is a slow process, this cloud pruning. While snipping away your neck is cranked back at an angle that may later require medical attention. So, I will fit it in between other jobs.
One job was to continue planting annuals around the garden. But suddenly, the annuals are gone. They are in short supply at garden centres, the colourful markets on James Street North have empty shelves, and the garden centres at many grocery stores have already closed, at least a month earlier than usual.
Seed racks are sparse too. “Our sales were double the normal volume, but so were expenses.” That’s Connie Dam-Byl, of William Dam Seeds assessment of the season.
The Dundas seed company (damseeds.com) hasn’t seen a similar run on seeds since the Y2K problem 20 years ago.
“I guess people were hoarding seeds because of worry over a potential crash in computer systems.”
While the uptick in seed sales was welcome, William Dam Seeds also had to spend extra money on courier delivery, after a backlog at Canada Post slowed shipments down.
Byl-Dam is encouraged that many new gardeners were ordering seed, and that in addition to herbs and vegetable, flowers were hot sellers.
The shortage of annuals spurs creativity. In a semi-shaded window box, I planted tropicals and traditional indoor plants. The colourful croton, maratha and tradescantia Nanouk are pretty and economical choices. Nanouk is splashed with pink, green and magenta. It will trail from the window box and could happily move indoors for the winter.
Early in the spring I wrote about a rosemary plant that overwintered outside in a plastic pot.
I don’t know where I bought it, and no one I’ve asked at garden centres is aware of super hardy rosemary. It’s been pruned back and will move into a more attractive clay pot for the summer. I also might try rooting some cuttings.
That idea came to me after browsing through The Hungry Herb Gardener by Judith Adam.
In the morning, I’ve taken to sitting outside and looking at gardening books. You quickly learn what you’ve already forgotten. In Adam’s book, I was reminded that many herbs are happy with a bit of shade, and some like regular fertilizer. She suggested propagating the rosemary. It’s a sure way to duplicate the exact plant you want.
Sadly, many plants just come with generic names. Yet, there are many specific rosemary varieties, including Tuscan Blue, Arp, Golden Rain and even one called Barbecue rosemary with stems so straight and strong they are used for skewers.
Of those, the Arp variety is said to be cold tolerant to hardiness Zone 6, which is the rating for Hamilton. One has to be aware that US hardiness ratings do not line up with Canada’s so best to check online for information.
Shortages aside, good news comes from the Royal Botanical Gardens where garden areas have opened and the timing is perfect to go view iris, roses and peonies.
My Beverly Sills iris is in bloom, it’s so beautiful it needs to be worshipped every day.
Next up on the To Do list? Repotting my monster monstera plant. I’m combat ready.