Withstand the ups and downs of an Ontario spring
Like a yo-yo. That’s our Ontario spring weather these days. It gets suddenly, absurdly hot — then overnight, wham, the thermometer plummets like a stone dropped down a well.
For gardeners, it’s more than annoying. These ups and downs can drive us mad. Here’s why: barely 10 days ago, my fledging tomato plants (proudly started from seed) sat languishing in 30 C temperatures while I dithered like an anxious mama.
“OK, you poor things, I’ll get you out of those hot little pots and into the ground tonight,” I finally said, spraying them with water for the umpteenth time and anticipating a pleasurable evening of planting, plus a bumper crop in summer, because the growing season had already turned so sunny and warm.
But who was I kidding? A check of Environment Canada’s website always drives home the reality that we live in the frozen, infuriating north. The meteorological mavens were predicting, for the following night, a very drastic change. It would be near zero in my area, northwest of Toronto, with a “possibility of frost.”
FROST? It seemed unbelievable. Impossible. Utterly nuts. Because at that moment, you could have fried an egg on my flower beds and the tulips and daffodils had all keeled over, their petals splayed open in the suffocating heat.
And as for my tomatoes-in-waiting . . . well, the whole ridiculous episode made me feel grateful — as it always does — to own a greenhouse.
Before Jack Frost could show up again, I carried them behind the glass and shut the doors so they’d be safe from his icy grip. And, hallelujah, they’ve all survived.
This rather rambling story brings me to this: if you’re a keen gardener and can afford a greenhouse, get one. They are truly a godsend in our difficult Canadian climate.
Mine is small, unheated, made of aluminum and glass and quite basic (from Europa greenhouses in Ballinafad, Ont., europagreenhouses.com) but it’s been worth every penny of the $2,000 I shelled out a decade ago. My much-used plant protector helps thwart Jack Frost every spring, is a boon in fall and also great for deterring four-legged animal life from nosing around new purchases. It’s also fun to sit in, on chilly days.
But if you don’t have the cash (or the space) here’s a suggestion: treat yourself to this comely and functional alternative pictured here.
I spotted it at Canada Blooms back in March and was impressed. First, the cold frame is well designed and solidly built from Canadian cedar. Second, the recently-opened company that makes it is Canadian, too (based in the little town of Langton, Ont., near Lake Erie, where they’ve created over 20 local jobs). And third, well, it just looks nice.
Most cold frames are cobbled together by gardeners from old, discarded windows (I owned one in my pre-greenhouse days). While practical, they’re not exactly esthetically pleasing.
Yet this Cadillac version would look perfectly at home in the swankiest of gardens — or even on a condo balcony. It costs $399. The company, Freedom Growing, also makes elevated planter boxes (a boon for aging, creaky knees) raised garden beds and an enticing potting bench. Check them out at freedomgrowing.com or call 519-875-1900. Sonia Day’s latest book, a novel called Deer Eyes, has won a Silver Medal for fiction in the Independent Publisher Book Awards. More at: soniaday.com