Happy Holidays & All the Very Best for 2012

Apples, Apples, and more Apples

First settlers in Atlantik Canada must have spread tons of apple seeds in their new home country. Apple trees grow everywhere: along golf courses, in ditches and even close to the water, not to mention those, growing in gardens or on farms.

What a pleasure to see them bloom in May and June and ripen into bright red or green fruits in September and October. One would think folks here are happy to harvest free apples and back apple pies, make jelly and jams, apple sauce or juice and cider.

But not so: they fall from trees, rott in the grass or hang on branches until birds or other wildlife picks them.

Apples are instead bought in grocery stores for top dollar and often coming from China! (igitt) or in the best case from South Africa or California.

Can anyone explain this to millions of starving individuals around the world?
I consider opening an apple store - not an Apple Store.

Brilliant Colors on Dark Winter Days

This is a stunning plant in the dark days of winter: it glows with brilliant red berries on an artistic sculpture of branches that are bare of all leafs in December. It seems to me they are especially glorious in the Maritimes and grow abundant on the South Shore.

The perfect addition to a Christmas Wreath, in a doorway planter or as an indoor decoration, mixed with dark-green fir or pine twigs to give it a strong contrast.

The Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society explains:
Ilex verticillata, Winterberry, is a deciduous holly, common throughout Nova Scotia in damp woods and thickets on wet ground with a preference for acid soils. It has distinctive alternately borne leaves which are shiny on top and dark green. Small, creamy white, flowers are produced in mid-summer. The species is dioecious, which means uni-sexual, male and female flowers occur on separate plants.

First Nation people used it as medical plant. The bark is antiseptic and astringent and used internally in the treatment of diarrhoea and externally in the treatment of sores and chronic skin disease.

Bright red berries develop on female plants and are retained after the leaves drop if not eaten by wildlife. Winterberry is native to eastern North America. Horticultural varieties are popular in the U.S.

Propagation
Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame. It can take 18 months to germinate. Cuttings of almost ripe wood with a heel, plant it in August in a shaded position in a cold frame. Leave for 18 months before potting up.

Powell Gardens in Kansas City describe it on their blog
in detail: http://powellgardens.blogspot.com/2011/01/winter-landscape-surprises.html


What a beautiful gift of Mother Nature to lighten up our dreary Winter days with those cheery red berries.

Japanese Garden in Seattle

Located within the Washington Park Arboretum, a 3 1/2 acre formal garden designed and constructed under the supervision of world-renowned Japanese garden designer Juki Iida is enchanting visitors. A must-see in Seattle and opens in mid-February already.


http://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org

Short Video:
http://www.lonelyplanet.tv/Clip.aspx?key=D17D38A7D40FBE75

Food Film Festival Wolfville, Nova Scotia

Melange of great Chefs and great films

If Robert Redford can turn Park City, Utah, into a film festival destination, Michael Howell believes he can do the same for Wolfville, drawing parallels between the home of the famed Sundance Film Festival and Wolfville, which has the Al Whittle Theatre on Main Street.

Howell, chef-owner of Tempest Restaurant in Wolfville, is organizing the second Slow Motion Food Film Fest November 10 - 13. At the first festival in 2009, 1,000 people came out for a retrospective of classic food films like Babette’s Feast and Ratatouille. Other films are:

Land Awakening, set in Greece, France, Italy, Spain and Canada, the 89-minute feature is lovingly photographed and "an unbelievably beautiful view of the world."

Blood into Wine, a documentary about the singer for the rock band Tool moving to Arizona and opening a winery, gets its Canadian premiere at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Another Canadian premiere is El Camino del Vino, an Argentinian film about a sommelier who loses his sense of taste and his journey to recover it. The movie, which has been written up in Wine Spectator magazine, screens at 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

At 8 p.m. at the Harvest Gallery, learn from an expert How to Really Taste Wine.

Jason Priestley will take part in the festival’s opening "Barn Dinner" on Thursday at the Wolfville Farmers Market, joining these celebrity chefs in cooking a four-course meal.

- Craig Flinn (Chives),
- Dennis Johnston (FID Resto),
- Peter Dewar (NSCC),
- Jason Lynch (Le Caveau),
- Luis Clavel (Atlantica Hotel),
- Peter Jackson (formerly of Jacks Grill in Edmonton),
- Renee Lavallee (The Feisty Chef),
- Chris Velden (Flying Apron),
- Brad Bowden (Glen Arbour) and
- Jesse Vergen (Saint John Alehouse)

There will be awards for best documentary feature, best documentary short, best feature and best feature short. Winners will be given papier mache snails, the symbol of the worldwide slow-food movement.

Information on the festival can be found at http://www.slowmotionfilmfest.ca

Beautiful Wildflower Images by Lee Hiller-London

At http://Chime.In I just found amazing photos of wildflowers by famous artist and avid hiker Lee Hiller-London
Have a look at her blog and thousands of beautiful images at these websites:

http://leehiller.com/Book.html

http://www.redbubble.com/people/leehiller/collections/1703-wildflowers
or on Amazon.com






What is Chime.In?

While Facebook has earned billions of dollars selling ads next to the content uploaded by their 800 million members, users haven't seen a dime from their posts.

It's an arrangement that extends across many of the web's largest social networking sites -- and one serial entrepreneur Bill Gross plans to change.

Gross, the CEO of UberMedia, which owns several popular social networking apps, is launching a new social media site on Tuesday, Chime.in, that will effectively pay its users to contribute.

Share with Chime.in and Chime.in will share with you. The site, which allows individuals to post photos, links, videos and text in two thousand character "chimes," will give users 50 percent of the revenue it earns from selling advertising on their profile pages. Individuals or brands that sell that real estate themselves can keep all of the proceeds from the ads.

Pruning of Magnolias and other trees and shrubs

Congratulation to your wonderful early spring blooming tree. If it is a Southern Magnolia it can become huge. If it is a tulip magnolia you are still looking at a 20' tall and wide tree. After your Magnolia has finished flowering, you can then let it prune back. Although they don't like to be pruned heavily.


Trees and Shrubs to Prune in Late Spring/Summer, After Bloom:
•Azalea (Rhododendron species)
•Beautybush (Kolkwitzia amabilis)
•Bridal Wreath Spirea (Spirea x vanhouttei)
•Flowering Crabapple (Malus species and cultivars)
•Forsythia (forsythia x intermedia)
•Hawthorn (Crataegus species and cultivars)
•Hydrangea, Bigleaf (Hydrangea macrophylla)
•Lilac (Syringa vulgaris)

•M A G N O L I A (Magnolia species and cultivars)

•Mockorange (Philadelphus coronarius)
•Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)
•Rhododendron (Rhododendron species)
•Serviceberry (Amelanchier x grandiflora)
•Slender Deutzia (deutzia gracilis)
•Weigela (Weigela florida)


Trees and Shrubs to Prune in Early Spring, While Dormant
•Bradford Pear (Pyrus calleryana)
•Butterfly Bush (Buddleia Davidii)
•Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica)
•Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
•Flowering Plum (Prunus blireana)
•Glossy Abelia (Abelia x grandiflora)
•Golden Rain Tree (Koelreuteria paniculata)
•Honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissiam)
•Hydrangea, Peegee (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’)
•Potentilla (Potentilla fruticosa)
•Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
•Spirea (except Bridal Wreath) (Spirea japonica))
•Wisteria (Wistera species)

Ligularias - My new Favorite

Ligularias are perennial flowers that blossom in yellow and light orange in summer on bold stems. Its name comes from the Latin word ligula, which means little tongue, referring to the tonguelike shape of the large petal on each of the ray flowers. The plump, large leaves in rosettes are either round or kidney-shaped and are sometimes toothed.

Ligularias do best in partial shade and good, humus-rich garden soil that is kept evenly moist. Since the roots form large clumps, plenty of space should be allowed between plants.
Propagation: By division in spring or from seed.
Uses: Ligularias are great in the back of shady beds, along borders, in bogs, or planted at the edge of water gardens. The plants prefer afternoon shade.


I fell in love with this variety (top photo):

Ligularia dentata Desdemona

It has green leaves up to a foot wide and yellow flowers.

Good to know:
Hardiness: USDA zone 4-8.
Mature size: Height: 3 feet (1 m), Width: 3 feet (1 m).
Flowering period: July and August.
Flowering: Bright yellow-orange flowers on long maroon-purple stems.
Leaf: Large, deep green, kidney shaped leaves with purple undersides.
Growth habit: Clump-forming.
Light: Morning sun and afternoon shade.
Soil: Humus rich, very moist soil.
Feeding: Side dress with compost or manure. Fertilize in spring and again in early summer with a complete organic fertilizer.
Propagation Methods: Sow seed in autumn and place in a cold frame. Seed usually produces same as parent. Divide in spring or after it is done flowering.
Pests and Diseases: Slugs are a nuisance by making holes in the leaves, but with lots of mulch around it and maybe a ring of crushed egg shells you can keep these pest away.

Ligularia 'Dark Beauty' is remarkable with its large, dark foliage, adding a tropical look to shady areas. The clear yellow-orange flowers bring color to the dark side of the garden.

Rhododendron Gardens

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The South Shore of Nova Scotia is blessed with a mild climate, perfect for Rhododendrons.  No wonder that there is such an abundance in plants and colors in every garden.  Here are the Rhododendrons not just small shrubs, but huge ones, almost tree-like.  Enjoy this beautiful scenery from mid-May to mid-June, travel to Nova Scotia!

Or when you live there already, become a member of "The Rhododendron Society" http://www.AtlanticRhodo.org

The Society supports and promotes the development and exchange of expertise and material relating to the practice of creating and maintaining year-round garden landscapes featuring rhododendrons.  Meetings/Conventions: First Tuesday of the month, 7:30 p.m., September-May, at "The Nova Scotia Museum", Summer Street, Halifax, NS.

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Liverpools Beautiful Gardens