The sweet spot on our garden calendar
It’s an oddity of our time that the Stanley Cup finals, and our country’s national winter sport, occur as gardening season is hitting its stride.
The truth is, the gardening season is a series of seasons. Each plant species or genus has its own rhythm. Mid-June is a sweet spot on the gardening calendar: not too late to plant most anything and right on target for the “hot crops,” like potatoes and tomatoes. It is a few weeks late to sow broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and the like from seed, but you can plant transplants now with good success.
Annual flowers can and should be planted within the next week if you want them to meet your expectations for garden performance. You will find petunias, marigolds, zinnias, bacopa and more available now at garden retailers in larger format, three-and-ahalf- and four-inch pots. They cost more per plant than the four-packs that were available in May.
You can still plant the small transplants of four-packs this weekend if you can find them at retailers. And you can still expect great garden performance this summer from the less-expensive versions.
However, make sure that they do not show signs of stress: Yellowing leaves and densely rooted containers are a sign to you, the buyer, that your new plants will sit in the garden for up to several weeks before they begin to grow.
Stressed plants are lazy. If you plant them, you will need to be patient if you want your garden to fill in and become the showpiece you have dreamed of.
Perennials, potted roses, shrubs, herbs and trees can be planted now. Keep in mind that we are on the threshold of summer and that means you will have to water more frequently then you did in May — especially this past, soggy May. There is no magic rule for water frequency. To determine whether your newly planted garden needs water, use your finger, press it through the surface of the soil about five centimetres deep — about to your second knuckle. If it feels cool or damp, don’t water. If it is dry, water deeply.
One more caveat with June planting is sunshine. The sun is more intense this time of year than at any other. If you plant in blazing sun, place a light bed sheet or newspaper over the plants during the few hours midday to shield them from the burning and dehydrating rays of the sun. Do this for a week or so, until the new plants are accustomed to the intensity of the sun this time of year. Summer solstice — the longest day we will have this year — is only a week away: June 21, 11:54 a.m.
In bloom: It is a well-known fact that the demand for a plant rises when it reaches its natural bloom time. This week, many people will be looking for roses, peonies and Japanese tree lilacs as they see them in bloom in their communities. Smart retailers stock up with these plants as they bloom in your neighbourhood. It is OK to plant them now.
Impatiens: One of the mostasked questions since the demise of the impatiens, due to a worldwide outbreak of downy mildew, is: “When can I safely buy impatiens again?”
The answer is spring — yes, spring 2020. Two large seed hybridizers have been competing to beat the clock on this one as the demand is anticipated to be sky high when diseaseresistant varieties finally get to the retail market. Look for Imara, which is Swahili for “strength and resistance,” from Syngenta seeds while impatiens Beacon will be introduced from Pan Am seeds.
Mark and Ben Cullen are expert gardeners and contributors for the Star. Follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkCullen4