Garden Design History in Quebec

Southern Quebec is blessed with more historic gardens than anywhere else in Canada. The ornamental gardening tradition in the province can be traced back to the beginning of colonization. After French explorer Samuel de Champlain established a settlement at Québec in 1608, the inhabitants planted a rose garden even as they struggled to stay alive in the sometimes-hostile environment of New France.

 
.

During the ensuing years of the French Regime, numerous gardens appeared in the city of Montréal and Québec.  Period maps and other documents indicate that religious orders frequently developed extensive plots.  The Ursulines, for instance, planted a flower garden in Québec City in 1642, while the Sulpicians constructed a walled garden at their seminary in Montréal around 1650.  High-ranking officials, such as the governor and the intendant of Quebec, also supervised the creation 
of impressive gardens.
.



Plants and botanical information were exchanged regularly between Quebec and France.  Indeed, a royal ordinance of 1726 obliged the captains of ships traveling to the colonies to bring back seeds and plants for the royal garden that had been inaugurated in Paris a century before.

 
.

After the British conquest in 1760, decorative gardening continued to flourish in Quebec, reaching unparalleled popularity in the second half of the nineteenth century.  Some garden owners called on the services of landscape architects or designers; most did the planning themselves.

  In Montréal, Sherbrooke, the Eastern Townships, and Québec City, leading citizens kept plants indoors as well as outdoors.  Fascinated by horticulture, Montreal’s industrial barons founded the Montreal Horticultural Society.

In 1937 landscape architect Louis Perron laid out the stunning Joan of Arc Garden in Quebec City, which surrounds a statue of the French heroine and harmonizes French and English garden styles.  Visitors have an opportunity to admire over 150 species of bulbs, annuals, bulbs and especially, perennials.  During summertime, hundreds of varieties ornate the flowerbeds, beneath the branches of the majestic elms.  During Fall season, visitors can appreciate the warm colors of seasonal perennials and annuals.  All October-long, Halloween decors await visitors, in the daytime or in the evening.
.

Reford Gardens is the Most Famous in the “Belle Province”
Ten-thousands of visitors will stroll through the enchanting 17-hectare grounds in Grand-Métis on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River.  

It was in the summer of 1926 that Mrs. Reford took up gardening at the age of 54.  A wealthy Montrealer, she was convalescing after surgery at “Estevan,” a fishing lodge on a peninsula at the confluence of the Métis and St. Lawrence Rivers that she had inherited from an uncle and adopted as a country home.

As a pastime, she decided to create a garden alongside the lodge.  She ordered a plot to be cleared, soil to be produced from peat, sand, and gravel from nearby farms and beaches, and compost to be rendered from the leaves of local deciduous trees.

.
Self-Taught Horticulturalist
Mrs. Reford had no formal education in horticulture.  She could have afforded to hire a landscape architect, but she simply preferred to lay out the garden on her own.  

Over the next 30 years, she became more and more passionate about gardening.  She continued to experiment and learn from her mistakes.  She read voraciously, toured gardens in England, and exchanged tips with more experienced gardeners.  She kept a detailed written record of her garden’s evolution, while her husband, Robert Wilson Reford, kept a comprehensive photographic record.

  Mrs. Reford’s original garden gradually expanded into six garden areas interspersed with sheltering woodlands. 

Assisted by local employees, she built steps and terraces with stones from neighboring fields.  She planted a dazzling diversity of indigenous and exotic plants, including gentians, lilies, meconopsis, peonies, primula, and roses.  

She designed a formal herbaceous border along the sides of a flagstone pathway known as the “Long Walk.” Otherwise, she incorporated wild-looking plantings, many of them on the banks of a stream meandering through the property.

In 1954 Mrs. Reford gave the estate to her son, Bruce.  Seven years later, unable to meet the rising costs of upkeep, he sold it to the Quebec government.  The province opened the gardens to the public but eventually put the site up for sale.  Since 1995 it has been owned and run by Les Amis des Jardins de Métis, a non-profit corporation, and managed — with remarkable success — by Alexander Reford, Elsie Reford’s great-grandson.

.

Les Quatre Vents
During the 1930s, an American family by the name of Cabot took up gardening in Cap à l’Aigle, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River.  Their gardens, “Les Quatre Vents,” ultimately covered more than eight hectares.  

On occasion, owners themselves have ensured the conservation of their gardens.  Prime Minister Mackenzie King bequeathed his Gatineau estate, which features picturesque gardens and reconstructed ruins, to the government of Canada.  The park is named Kingsmere.


.
Recognizing Heritage Gardens

The federal Department of Canadian Heritage and the provincial Ministère de la culture now consider historic gardens eligible for funding.  Parks Canada has plans to restore the gardens at the Manoir Papineau National Historic Site in Montebello.



“For centuries,” Alexander Reford concludes “gardens constituted a vital element of Quebec’s heritage. They deserve to remain that way.”

.

Read more:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/his-quebec-garden-called-canadas-best-kept-secret/article4179930/

https://www.gardenvisit.com/gardens/in/canada/quebec

https://www.gardenvisit.com/gardens/montreal_botanic_garden

https://www.refordgardens.com/

https://garden.org/learn/articles/view/1124/

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/historic-gardens

https://hudson.quebec/en/location/the-history-garden/

.

<><><><><>

.

Why Are My Daffodils or Tulips Not Blooming?

A Checklist of Causes:

Are you feeding with high-nitrogen fertilizer? The first number in the N-P-K ratio should be low; high N=no flowers, so bulb fertilizers aren’t high N?  Use instead one, low in nitrogen with these numbers:  3-6-6 or: 5-10-10.

Did you neglect to feed for more than a year or two? Feed bulbs when they begin active growth - when the green shoots are emerging.  Use an all-natural organic fertilizer intended for bulbs.  Apply according to label directions.

Did you cut foliage back too soon last year?  At least 6 weeks of “ripening” time is needed, with their foliage growing and intact.  In order to hide these yellow leaves, plant the bulbs behind large perennials or shrubs.  They will grow up or bloom at a time after the Daffodils are finished blooming.

Is the area very dry?  Bulbs need ample moisture when they are growing actively. On the other hand, a soggy area is harmful to them.

Is the area filled with tree roots, or with other competing plants who grab all the nutrients and moisture? Areas under evergreens can be inhospitable, for instance (ad well as too shady).

Dividing may be called for - or transplanting to another, better-suited area.

Were the bulbs recently planted or recently transplanted? Both can set back the bulbs for a time.

With daffodils - and bulbs in general - there are some additional triggers of diminished bloom, says the American Daffodil Society.  Read their full list of possible causes:
https://daffodilusa.org/growing-daffodils/non-blooming-daffodils/


What About Tulips?
They need similar care: In the spring, when leaves emerge, feed your tulips the same bulb food or bone meal which is low in nitrogen, the same you use for Daffodils: 5-10-10. Water well. Deadhead tulips as soon as they go by, but do not remove the leaves! Allow the leaves to remain on the plants for about 6 weeks after flowering.

.

Historic Public & Residential Gardens in Canada

Canada's historic gardens reflect aspects of the history, the climate and most important the geography of the country.

Public parks, such as The Public Gardens of Halifax, Nova Scotia or the Dow's Lake park in Ottawa, are usually ornamented spaces with lawns, flower beds, and huge trees. Built to offer resting-places, paths and sometimes play areas. Today the Public Gardens of Halifax consist of winding paths, flower beds in geometric form surrounded by grass, borders of both perennials and annuals, statues, fountains, and a bandstand, the latter attesting to the Victorian taste for open-air musical performances.

The Royal Botanical Gardens of Hamilton consists of vast landscaped gardens including a notable collection of irises, a rock garden, a rose garden, an arboretum (including a lilac garden), a children's garden, a garden with medicinal plants, natural areas for explaining ecosystems, as well as a program of courses and research.

In the first decades of the twentieth century, gardens were laid out next to schools so that the children could learn the rudiments of gardening. These gardens had a pedagogical function. In the same period, almost everywhere in the country, gardens were laid out next to small railway stations. They served to beautify the sites and, particularly in the West, to promote the development of new regions.

Residential gardens
They have a much more private, intimate character, whether they are pleasure gardens, vegetable or kitchen gardens or even small plots of aromatic herbs, laid out next to private or official residences. Maplelawn in Ottawa, built from 1831 to 1834 by William Thomson, a farmer, had an adjoining walled garden. In its early stages, it was probably a kitchen garden for the domestic use of the household.

Garden Styles
Style is the expression of an aesthetic ideal, a trend, a particular taste or a form peculiar to an era or a cultural group. In Canada, styles popular in France, England and the US have been relied on as models. However, the unique social, ecological, climatic or geographic conditions prevailing in Canada, as well as the limitations and possibilities inherent in the plant stock, have influenced Canadian versions of European and American styles.
.
In some regions, particularly BC and the western provinces, the influence of Japanese and Chinese styles has been important. The influence of ethno-cultural traditions is traceable in some gardens. And, of course, gardens can encompass more than one style or present a modern interpretation of a style from the past.

French-style gardens are those laid out during the age of New France in connection with political institutions or religious communities. With its geometric plan, flower beds, walkways, floral clumps and fruit trees, the garden of the Vieux-Séminaire des Sulpiciens on Notre-Dame Ouest in Montréal, dating from the late 17th century, is the best-preserved of the convent gardens in that city.

After the British conquest in 1759, British and Loyalist settlers introduced a new approach: vis-à-vis nature and landscape. In contrast to French formalism, the aesthetic theory featured natural and picturesque landscapes and was expressed in the choice of spectacular sites, and irregular contours. With their borders, lawns, winding paths and exotic trees, the grounds surrounding the Governor's House in St John's, Newfoundland illustrate this English fashion with its emphasis on picturesque effects.

Laid out in the 1870s, most likely following designs prepared by Frederick Law Olmsted, the Beechcroft estate at Roches Point in Ontario illustrates this natural approach with its vast green spaces, careful groupings of trees and judiciously chosen viewpoints.

Gardens described as gardenesque contain a great variety of flower borders and groves, fountains, urns and statues that give them an ornate character. With its statues, urns and flower borders, Lakehurst at Roches Point in Ontario illustrates this popular garden style as implemented during the second half of the 19th century in Canada.

Gardens designed and built at the beginning of the 20th century under the influence of the writings of Gertrude Jekyll emphasize perennial borders, rockeries and alpine plants. The rock-garden which Mary Stewart laid out at the Cataraqui estate in Sillery in the 1930s was inspired by this approach. On a different principle, many gardens created at this time mark a nostalgic return to the past by imitating concepts developed in Italy and France in the 18th and 19th centuries.
.
West Coast influences on the style of gardens emanate from California and the Orient, at the same time making use of the climatic and geographic conditions prevailing in this region of the country. It combines, for example, modern ideas about handling landscape with Japanese influence, at the same time creating a close relationship between the house and its garden.

The many Chinese and Japanese gardens on the West Coast are one indication of the contribution these cultures have made to BC. The Nitobe Memorial Garden at the University of British Columbia is an example of such a Japanese garden and the Japanese garden in the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC. Even the Botanical Garden of Montréal includes a Chinese garden, the Jardin du Lac de Rêve. 

.
Historic gardens are much more than a pleasant ornamental and recreational décor. They bear witness to the aesthetic, social, cultural and environmental tastes and pre-occupations of a past - sometimes distant, sometimes relatively recent. They form an important part of our heritage, a rich heritage that should be preserved for future generations.

.

<><><><><>

.

16 Tips for Successful Growing Tomatoes

While you are home-bound temporarily, enjoy your backyard and start growing seeds and seedlings, for example, tomatoes.

From the first seed sown to the last fruit stashed in the freezer, homegrown tomatoes are a labor of love. Whether it’s tomato-sowing time (as it is April 15ish in my Northeastern Zone 5B), or maybe already transplanting time in yours, it’s a good moment to review what goes into tomato-growing success.

Growing Tomatoes is Part Nature and Part Nurture
Start with a homegrown seedling or a locally raised one—not a big-box-store seedling that may have been shipped in from warmer zones, where more tomato diseases are endemic and overwinter.  Plants from far away can be vectors for disease.

Getting great flavor out of a tomato is part nature, part nurture—meaning the genetics of the seed you start with, and the way you grow it both factor into what is probably a 60-40 equation. Choosing a Florida-bred variety for your New Hampshire garden will never let you hit the sweet(est) spot.

Here’s why, and how to push for a perfect flavor score:

https://awaytogarden.com/16-things-i-know-about-growing-tomatoes/

.

<><><><><>

.

Hellebores: Flowering Winter Delight

On a recent visit to Vancouver Island, I admired the most beautiful Hellebores in gardens all over the island. What a sight in the middle of Winter! In Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal their blooms might not show up before the end of April or in early May. But no matter what their blooming time is: amazing colors and beautiful, early blooms will touch the hearts of plant lovers.

Here are some practical tips for growing Hellebores:
When you purchased a small plant, it may need time to grow up. Hellebores flower between two and three years after transplanting. Like with many other plants, they will take a while to settle in. And if you purchased a larger plant in flower, it is not uncommon to take a year off after being taken out of its container and planted into your soil.

They have a very large and far-reaching root system. It is not uncommon to purchase a hellebore plant that has roots that are wrapped all around the pot. This does not necessarily mean the plant was poorly grown, it just makes a lot of roots fairly rapidly once the plant reaches a certain age.

Loosening the root ball, or cutting the roots in a couple of places, helps the plant get out of its container shape and into the nice, rich soil you planted it in. A period of adjustment is required after planting, when we try to coax the plant's roots out of the soilless potting media they have been growing in while container-bound.

Hellebores will grow in a wide range of conditions. While most of us think of them as “shade plants,” they are shade-tolerant plants. Best is to grow Hellebores with other taller perennials or shrubs that provide some relief from the burning summer sun. They like well-drained soil, don't water them too much, Hellebores don't like soggy soil. In very heavy clay soil, before planting amend the area with organic matter, such as composted pine bark or other material. And if you do plan to divide, fall is the best time to do so.

.

<><><><><>

.

Vanishing Bumblebees Due to Extreme Weather

Bumblebees are vanishing because of extreme temperatures and habitat loss. Extreme temperatures, both cold and hot are driving a dramatic decline in bumblebees across North America and Europe, according to a new study. Yet another way climate change is putting ecosystems at risk.

Researchers looked at half a million records showing where bumblebees have been found since 1901, across 66 different species. They found that in places where bumblebees have lived in North America, you're about half as likely to see one today.
The decline is especially pronounced in Mexico, where bumblebees once lived in abundance. Big heat events can stress both the bees and the flowers they depend on.

"It's these extreme events throughout the year that's pushing bees beyond what they've ever had to handle before," says Peter Soroye, a graduate student at the University of Ottawa, Canada, and lead author on the study published in the journal Science. "And that seems to be driving a lot of the disappearances in bees."

Bumblebees also don't seem to be rapidly expanding into new habitats in search of cooler temperatures. Scientists believe that some plants and animals will move northward or to higher elevations as the climate warms.

Bumblebees are crucial pollinators for natural landscapes. Just don't confuse them with honeybees. Bumblebees are native to the U.S., evolving with the ecosystems that rely on them. Honeybees were brought over from Europe to pollinate many agricultural crops.

"Bumblebees are some of the best pollinators that we have." One bumblebee, the rusty patched bumblebee, is listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. In California, a legal battle has erupted between the state, agricultural groups and conservationists over protecting four bumblebees species under state law.

Still, scientists say there's a lot everyday people can do:
"If you have a garden, fill it full of native plants that the bees can go visit," Soroye says. He also recommends leaving fallen logs or leaf piles on the ground, in a corner of your garden. It can create shelter and shade during extreme heat events.

Read more:
https://www.npr.org/2020/02/06/803130948/bumblebees-are-disappearing-because-of-extreme-heat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblebee

A Winter-Pleasure: Start Growing Avocado Plants Indoors

Back in the 1970s, when avocados first became popular, a trend emerged for sprouting their seeds, speared with three toothpicks and suspended in a glass of water. 

Enough people were evidently successful with this that if you take a look over the fence into many city gardens, it’s not an unusual sight to see an avocado tree in full fruit.

Eventually outgrowing their living-room homes and relegated to being planted outside, these plants have thrived remarkably well in the protected microclimate cities provide.

How-To
All you need to do is to half bury your seed in a pot of gritty seed compost, pointy end up. Give it a thorough watering, cover the pot with a plastic bag to seal in the warmth and moisture, and then leave it alone.

Kept in a warm place, such as a well-insulated windowsill, you should begin to see signs of germination in two to four weeks. This starts with the seed splitting open, followed by a tiny sprout emerging from the center of the split a few days later. At this point, remove the plastic cover and keep it in a spot with bright, indirect light.

This way you will have a pretty (and evidently super trendy) houseplant for free in a matter of few weeks.

.

<><><><><>

.

Welcome to Canada? Agricultural Workers - NO

When I spent three months in the Napa and Sonoma Valley, CA, area, I walked most days with my dog among the Valley’s vineyards. During many of these walks, I saw small tractors, driven by men, covered in white gear and masks, driving through the fast rows of vines, spraying the plants. One day I met one of these drivers and ask what they are spraying. His answer: Roundup weed killers. It meant: Glyphosate.

Then this man turned into the next row to continue his work. I ran as fast as I could down the hill, and in the other direction.  From there I saw something just unbelievable: Another tractor driver who was spraying, drove just one row next to Mexican and Middle-American workers who were pruning the vines. Locals don't seem to work in California's vineyards.  I was horrified, and regret it to this day, that I did not take pictures and report it to the authorities.

The men and women who toiled in the vineyards wore no masks, no special gear.  As it was a warm day, most wore only t-shirts. To me it seemed almost murder to these migrant workers…

.

During stays in British Columbia and in Southern Ontario I felt always bad to see these workers living in caravans and sheds, and toiling day by day for a minimum wage (or less), totally isolated from the surrounding communities and thousands of miles away from their families.

.

What Would North America Do Without Migrant Field Workers?

Well and the same for Europe. From the fertile vegetable growing and dairy regions of the north to the fruit-producing, arid climate of the south, the agricultural industry shapes many Canadian provinces.. More than 80 percent of Canada’s cherries and apricots come from this low-hilled region dotted with the remnants of glacial lakes. Raspberries, plums, apples, nectarines, peaches, and pears grow in abundance. 

The Okanagan B.C. agricultural areas, for example, produce 80 percent of B.C.’s wines, with 9,000 acres of vineyards. Pick up a basket of B.C. cherries or apricots from a grocery store or farmers market, and chances are that a migrant worker from the seasonal agricultural worker's program (SAWP) will have plucked those fruits.

.

Amy Cohen is an anthropology professor at Okanagan College. She first became aware of the hardships migrant workers face while studying in the United States, where she met and later married a Mexican national. When Cohen returned to Canada years later, she recognized the need for an organization like RAMA. In four years, the group has grown to include Spanish- and English-speaking volunteers who conduct outreach work, as well as core RAMA members who plan public advocacy campaigns and social events for the workers. 

.

Former journalist Stephanie Harrington wrote in an article “Canada is failing its seasonal migrant farmworkers. I was there to accompany Cohen and Diaz on a visit to a nearby farm, where we would meet a group of migrant workers after their long shift harvesting lavender, basil, and echinacea. The visit is part of the outreach work RAMA does with migrant workers so they feel more connected to the local community."

“We might be the only Canadians they talk to during their time here,” Cohen said.  We were not far from the farm, and Cohen told me to follow them. I ignored a “No Trespassing” sign as our vehicles navigated a long gravel road, the sun an orange orb sinking in a cloudless sky.”

.

“The seasonal program enables farms to hire temporary foreign workers for up to eight months a year—between January 1 and December 15—if Canadians and permanent residents can’t fill the positions.  What started in Ontario in 1966 as an agreement between Canada and Jamaica has since expanded to include Mexico and many Caribbean countries.  Other programs, including a low-wage stream of the temporary foreign worker's program (TFWP), bring migrant workers to the agriculture sector in Canada, but the seasonal program is by far the largest.”

.

Lousy Pay

Stephanie Harrington explains: “Across Canada, farmers individually sponsor more than 40,000 workers from Mexico and the Caribbean to work on farms, orchards, and greenhouses. What started 50-odd years ago in Ontario as a measure to fill an employment gap in Canada’s planting and harvesting seasons has become an entrenched part of our agricultural system.  And, according to the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council, the shortage is expected to worsen, from a current deficit of 59,000 workers to 114,000 unfilled industry positions by 2025.  Without these foreign workers, produce would rot on trees.  A report attributed the difficulty in recruiting and retaining domestic workers to an aging workforce, the rural location of many farms, and negative perceptions about working in the sector.” 

And I must add "The extreme lousy pay for farmworkers."

Migrant justice groups argue otherwise. In recent years, these advocacy and labor organizations have been bringing attention to what they say is a racist, colonial food production system—one that Canada’s alternative agricultural movement cannot ignore.

Migrant justice groups argue seasonal agricultural workers are part of a massive underclass of temporary foreign workers in Canada, including the live-in caregivers. Unlike some classes of temporary workers, seasonal agricultural workers have little chance of staying in Canada. (A recent Statistics Canada report found only three percent of seasonal agricultural workers gain permanent residency.) 

"Simply put, temporary foreign workers are good enough to pick our fruit, care for our elderly and young, and pour us coffee at Tim Hortons, but according to immigration rules, these workers are less desirable citizens."

"Welcome to Canada"?

RAMA volunteers find creative ways to reach the workers. “Sometimes I go to Superstore on a Sunday and hand out flyers, so they know RAMA’s here for them,” Diaz said. “That’s one of the only ways to find out where the farms are.”

Walk through the aisles of Canadian Superstore on any Sunday in Kelowna, the most common day agricultural workers have off, and you’re likely to encounter a much more diverse crowd than any other day of the week. According to government data, visible minorities make up 25 percent of the population in B.C., but in Kelowna, that number drops to five percent.  The region is staunchly conservative. Evangelical churches populate strip malls. There’s a Pro-Life Thrift Store and a Salvation Army Bible Mission Shop. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think the concerns of developing-world migrants would rank low on the social agenda of this regional agricultural powerhouse.”

“How Many Hours do They Work Each Day?” 

Most of the men had just finished their shift, she told me. It is 7:30 p.m. They had worked from 5:30 in the morning to 7:30 p.m., six days a week, with one-hour breaks each day. “Hot,” the man with gold teeth said. He fanned his face with his hand. 

The conversation turned to a documentary movie made in Ontario about the Mexican consulate not standing up for workers’ rights. Heads shook around the table. These workers pay income tax, and into the Canada Pension Plan and employment insurance, but benefits are hard to access. Cohen told me if a worker is fired, there is no recourse or appeal. Because their employment is tied to a single farm, it is difficult for migrant workers to voice concerns about unfair or unsafe conditions—they are afraid of losing their jobs. 

“If conditions are poor, they can’t leave to find another job,” she said. “They’re reliant on good evaluations by their boss so they can continue working in the program. What I hear from workers on a daily basis is, ‘We can’t speak out.’”

.

“It’s slavery modernized. They’re forced to be an unending pool of labor for us,” she said. “Choice is a luxury. Because of economic policies and free trade agreements rich countries developed, they’re disenfranchised. They need to leave their country to find work.”

.

<><><><><>

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

.

Elegant gloves are not exactly what Botanical Garden visitors expect to find here.  But for me, it was a Godsend, as the day I admired the 72 acres, still filled with lots of blooming flowers, was sunny, but windy and chilly.  I stopped my leisure walks to warm up at the spacious gift store, filled with lovely books, plants, heirloom seed packages, and yes, gloves, shawls, and mittens. 

.

Free Admission
Edinburgh’s Botanical Garden and its 13,302 plant species are totally free to visit, only the glasshouses charge a small fee to admire the tropical section.

.

One of Edinburgh's three Hop-on-Hop-off buses stops conveniently at the cities’ fantastic Botanical Garden. Local buses #23 and #27 stop here too.

.

.

I was lucky to find still colorful blooming plants at the end of October on the extended grounds. Not to mention those tropical beauties, growing in attractive heritage glasshouses. 

.

.

200-year-old Palm Tree
The Glasshouse visit is a particular highlight, starting at the Victorian Temperate Palm House dating back to 1858 and one of the tallest traditional palm houses ever built.  The Garden's 10 magnificent Glasshouses each has a different climatic zone, from steamy tropics to arid desert, and are home to 3,000 exotic plants from around the world - including a 200-year-old palm tree.

.

.

A MUST-SEE When You Travel to Edinburgh:
Enjoy the serenity of the Chinese Hillside, explore the world-famous Rock Garden or stroll amongst the awe-inspiring Giant Redwood trees in the Woodland Garden.

.

.

There is, even more, to explore in these 350-year-old Garden: educational exhibitions, festive Christmas lighting, a small waterfall, Britain’s biggest fossilized trees, microscopic photos of plants or botanical drawings, plus the wonderful coffee shop.

.

.

.

.

.

Goal for 2020: Alternatives to Lawns

Many homeowners are obsessed with lawns. Although originally created by European aristocrats in the 17th century as status symbols, today’s lawns are a symbol of the American dream. Unfortunately, they also can be a source of unnecessary burden for homeowners, which has led to a recent, and growing, interest in alternatives to grass in yards. If you are looking to cut down on your grass while still maintaining a luscious green landscape, here are some ideas:

Clover 
to inter seed lawns, the most popular is Dutch White Clover because it is relatively low growing, tolerates close mowing, and out-competes other foreign weeds.  Just after the snow is melted, clover shows its fresh green, and it stays this way through all the summer drought into the late fall until the first snowfalls.

.
Ground Covers 
Sprawling across the ground, they are providing an elegant touch to your garden.  Ground covers don't grow tall, eliminating the need to mow, but providing the perfect alternative to grass.  Many of them are nicely blooming in light hues or their leaves are in lime, grey or silver-blue shades.

.
Creeping Thyme
It is excellent planted as a lawn substitute in sunny areas or among stepping stones and even as pavers to create a living patio.  Creeping thyme builds dense carpets that can even withstand some foot traffic.  It takes one year to get established and then begins to spread in its second season.

.
Ornamental Grasses
Most of them like sun, are drought-tolerant and grow from 3 inches to 30 inches or even higher.  Garden owners can choose from a variety of colors and types and styles, from blue fescue grass to Japanese forest grass to Muhlenbergia or the red-blooming fountain grass to pampas grass.  They look best when grown in groups of the same variety.

.
Evergreen Moss 
For shady or half-shady parts of the garden or underneath trees (where they grow anyway) moss is a lovely substitute to lawns.  Carpet moss or fern moss would prefer a damp, cool environment to grow in.  They can be planted usually from hardy zone 3-8.

.
Native Perennial Beds
These important plant species provide nectar, pollen, and seeds that serve as food for native butterflies and birds.  Match plants to your site and to the soil.  Design for a succession of blooms, such as early spring flowers and shrubs, then summer blooms such as roses, lavender, irises, salvia, and yarrow.  For late summer and fall chose purple coneflowers and sedum autumn joy.  Don’t forget heuchera with its colorful leaves that are showing off almost all year.  Or just plant all kinds of blooming shrubs for year-round colors!  Mulch the beds well and you never have to weed again.  The only “chore” will be the cutting off spent flowers, immediately after blooming.

Conclusion
Compared to lawns there is almost no maintenance or future costs involved in all these lawn replacements.  Forget about lawn mowing fees, lawnmowers and snippers, weed digging, fertilizers and god-forbid pesticide poisons.  PLUS: it looks much better and gives your property curb (or back yard) appeal.  And you don’t need to change the whole lawn in one step. Start small and continue year-for-year with a bit more garden design. Enjoy!

.

<><><><><>

Horses Help Garden: Lessons From the Past

From 1850 to 1900, Paris produced an exceptional amount of food using fine-tuned growing techniques developed over generations of Parisian Mara'chiers. These urban farmers intensively cultivated one-to-two-acre lots. 

They had to: In this 50-year period, Paris grew from 1.2 million to more than two million residents.  As the population ballooned, six percent of the city area— more than 1,500 acres—provided the people with vegetables.
.
Horse manure is an innocuous mix of hay and grass fiber, almost sweet-smelling. The Parisian Mara'chiers (market gardeners) used horse manure to fertilize and supply their city with fresh produce year-round.
.

During his time in Paris, hot-beds were in constant use for the production of early crops. Essentially, a thick layer of moistened, well-compacted manure is buried under about a foot of soil. Decomposition creates heat and warms the soil above. 

.
By using a hotbed in combination with cold frames, the Mara'chiers provided a friendly growing environment to encourage early production. This allowed them to harvest salad crops in the depths of winter and melons and cucumber in early June.
.
Rich, manure-fed soil combined with intercropping enabled the Mara'chiers to achieve four to eight harvests per bed per year.  Between 16 and 30 tonnes of manure were used per acre annually. The diversion of manure from stables and streets to the city’s gardens led to a net increase in soil fertility, even with intensive production.

.
In contrast, today’s industrial agriculture system depletes our soil 10 to 40 times faster than the natural rate of soil formation. As the Mara'chiers knew, food for the masses does not need to equate to degraded soil.

.
They worked their plots by foot on paths of a slight 9 to 12 inches.  Men transformed into human wheelbarrows by donning hand-woven basket backpacks with extensions above the head. They loaded the baskets with manure, walked to the destination, bowed forward, and—perhaps with a little shakeout fell the essential ingredient of their success.
.
Whether growing for yourself or for the market, it helps to be brave and try new things to get the most out of your growing space.  With today’s expanding knowledge and our technology, combined with the increasing demand for local, fresh, organic food, our cities need to step up their growing game. 

.
Over time we have forgotten this fact. We are no longer limited by square footage: vertical growers think in cubic dimensions. Space is not the problem; innovation is our limitation. Studying the Parisian Mara'chiers reminds us that the practice of growing food intensively year-round in a similar climate has been done before—often better then we are doing today. Urban farming has become an international movement.  So, where is the closest horse stable?

.  

<><><><><>

.

What’s in a Name?

Plant Names and Their Scientific Universal Names

Common plant names are often confusing because the same plants might have different common names in different places. Liatris spicata, which we list as gayfeather, is also known as blazing star or button snakeroot.

Common plant names such as blackberry lily, bleeding heart, goatsbeard, and fountain grass offer a glimpse into a plant's personality or appearance.  It can also reveal clues about a plant's origin, such as Ozark sundrops, or it can paint a picture of a flower, such as rose turtlehead.

The Scientific Name
It’s the formal name for the plant. The scientific name is supposed to be the formal name universally worldwide. We try to find the one that is the most consistent with the world and still makes sense.

The scientific name is the generic and the specific name together, with the generic name always first and capitalized and the specific name always second (and uncapitalized). Everywhere in the world you may go, the scientific name is (supposed to be) exactly the same: Grevillea

Genus
a group of closely related species - like your last name, the family name: victoriae

Species
Classically, a group of very closely related individuals that will only breed with each other - like your first name. The full species name is Grevillea victoriae.  It is in the family Proteaceae.

spp.
This abbreviation means several species, while sp. means one species. So, if I say Acer spp., I mean several species of maples:  subsp. nivalis

Variety
Variation of a species, where the individuals have different flower color, or leaf color, or leaf shape, etc.

Cultivar
The cultivar name is always added after a valid scientific name at the genus or species level, is not Latinised, is put in single quotes, and is not italicised:  Grevillea 'Robyn Gordon' 

The Common Name
It is the commonly used name for the plant. For example, names made up by common people. Fitz instead of Fitzgarald. Liz instead of Elizabeth.
Most plants have several names--minimally an English common name and a scientific name, but possibly several common names in each of several languages.  For example, the same plant is called: dandelion (English common name), Taraxacum officinale (scientific name)  dent-de-lion, (French common name), achicoria silvestre (Spanish common name) or maskros (Swedish common name).

Many plants do not have common names. When talking about them, people often use the scientific name, and soon the scientific name is turned into a common name.

<><><><><>

.