We鈥檝e had great gardening weather, haven鈥檛 we! On my morning tour of the garden each day, I see that things are really getting nicely established.
A little bit of trivia: when I was watching the weather network the other day, I heard them refer to 鈥渢he first day of summer鈥�. Hmm. Isn鈥檛 that still coming up? Time for some homework! So I learned that there are really two first days of summer. We are familiar with the 鈥渁stronomical鈥� first day of summer, based on the tilt of the earth, which falls on June 20 this year. Then there is the 鈥渕eteorological鈥� first day of summer on June 1, marking the three month chunk of 鈥渟ummer鈥�. For meteorologists, the year is divided into three month blocks to make it easier to compare weather data between months and seasons. Isn鈥檛 that interesting?
Now, let鈥檚 make a cup of tea and sit down together, because I have something so exciting to tell you! You have heard me mention Marjorie Harris, the First Lady of Canadian gardening, to you many times.聽 I recently had the wonderful privilege of being able to chat with her on the phone, and I want to tell you all the things I learned. Marjorie is a bright, sparkling garden light, full of wisdom and passion for gardening!聽 I wished all of us could have been sitting in the back yard together, sharing tea and gardening stories!
We talked of many things, and there鈥檚 a lot to share, but today we鈥檒l start with planning and planting. I asked Marjorie if she makes actual plans for her garden. 鈥淎bsolutely!鈥� was her enthusiastic reply. 鈥淲e attempt to go away every winter, so I take my notebook. I try to take pictures of the garden every 48 hours in the summer, so then I look at the pictures and say 鈥榯his has to move, this has to go鈥�, and then spring comes and I go out there and ignore everything and make new plans!鈥� Don鈥檛 we all do that to some degree!
Marjorie said that her yard is 鈥渘arrow but complex鈥� with 鈥渕any layers鈥�. 鈥淓very year I choose a pocket of the garden and redevelop it.聽 I make a plant list and realistically decide what I can have in my garden.鈥澛犅� Though the garden is lush and abundant, Marjorie stressed that 鈥渢here is no spot in my garden that is not under my control.鈥� She said that she prefers a 鈥渓imited palette鈥� of color in her garden, based mainly on the different colors of foliage.
When it comes to planters, Marjorie explained that 鈥淭he easiest thing is to try something new in a planter. One structural plant that I love is papyrus 鈥楰ing Tut鈥�. Scale is everything.聽 Great value for your dollar is plectranthus 鈥楳ona Lavender鈥�, which blooms from June to November.鈥�
And in the garden: does she like a well-manicured garden? 鈥淲hat I do is I like all the edges to be really neat, so in that sense I like it manicured.聽 But after that, there is no level the eye can go to where there isn鈥檛 a plant.聽 It鈥檚 organized with composition.鈥�
I鈥檒l share more of our conversation with you next time. Till then, Marjorie invited us all to sign up for her newsletter; visit http://marjorieharris.com to see beautiful photos and gardening information. 聽
Hort club members, just a reminder that our wind-up pot-luck supper is happening on Wednesday, June 15 at 6:00 p.m. This gathering is for members only (and significant other) so for complete details please call Liz at (306) 782-2830.聽 Hope you鈥檒l be able to be at this fun event before we begin our summer break!
Have a great week, savor your garden, and be sure to wear a hat!聽 Visit us at www.yorktonhort.ca
