Hello, gardeners!聽 We have had a wonderful spring so far; have you been taking a tour of your yard each day to see what鈥檚 new?聽 It鈥檚 so beautiful to see those lovely new shoots appearing each day!聽 Let鈥檚 do some 鈥済ardening housekeeping鈥� first thing:聽 the next meeting of the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be on Wednesday, May 20 at 7:00 p.m. at SIGN on North Street. Our guest speaker will be Carol Miller from Windthorst, talking to us about 鈥淗ow To Grow Sprouts All Year Round鈥�. Hope you can be there!
Then on Friday, May 29, plan to attend the Horticultural Society鈥檚 鈥淪pring Plant and Bulb Sale鈥� at the Parkland Mall from 9:30 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. There will be lots of plants and enthusiastic gardeners to answer your questions. I always advise you to come early for best selection, especially if you are looking for certain plants. This is a one day sale, and a great chance to add new plants to your garden inventory! That鈥檚 Friday, May 29.
If you鈥檙e in the delightful process of deciding what kind of flowers to plant this year, let me tell you about a very interesting article that Keith found for me in the Winnipeg Free Press.聽 This fascinating article, by Beth J. Harpaz, talks about an 鈥渁ll-white garden鈥� at the Snug Harbour Cultural Centre and Botanical Garden on Staten Island, New York City. This garden was inspired by the white garden at Sissinghurst Castle in England, but uses different plants suited to their climate.
When I read the article, there were several points made that I thought you and I could use if we decided to incorporate a white garden (or a white flowerbed, or a white planter) into our own garden design. Number one, there are a multitude of plants with white flowers. So thinking about it from our point of view, we could use petunias, bocopa, phlox, geraniums, roses, veronica, alliums, even light foliage with a licorice plant.聽 You can probably think of a dozen more.
Number two, use a mix of size and shapes.聽 So here again, we could use garden principles that you and I have chatted about before: have taller plants, and plants that cascade, and plants that give us a visual variety: the soft round blooms of the petunia next to a spiky spider zinnia or a pom-pom dahlia. When I think back on stunning planters that I have seen, it seems to me that a variety of texture is just as striking as color.
Number three, have your white garden close to the house. Ms. Harpaz points out that white flowers look amazing in the light of early evening and dusk, and for people who are at work all day, this might be the time when they finally have a chance to sit down and enjoy their blooms. Isn鈥檛 that an interesting point?
Another point made was that white is not monochromatic. There are so many shades of white. It would never be boring to choose just this one color palette. If you have done any painting in your home and think you want 鈥渏ust white鈥�, you know what I mean!聽 There are many shades of white to choose from in the plant world, all of them beautiful.
So there鈥檚 another idea we can try: an all-white planting! The idea is intriguing, isn鈥檛 it!
I think that if we have a corner in our yard or on our deck or balcony that needs a hit of light and bright, why not try white? The idea began in 1939 at Sissinghurst in England, and I鈥檓 sure it would be just as lovely in our gardens, right here, right now!
Have a great week, gardeners! Visit us at www.yorktonhort.ca for group info!
