`

June 11th E-NEWS

While the calendar says it’s only the beginning

of June, it feels more like July, Bugs and diseases

are ahead of schedule (oh joy, oh joy!) and plant

sales are on par with other years in early July. But

the interesting part is this; our plants - and the

garden center - look GREAT! Every day this week

we’ve had people (even landscapers from out of

town) comment on how wonderful our plants look

and how helpful our staff is (compared to

elsewhere – even Ontario). So that’s gratifying – it

means we’re doing some things right. Our staff

members work very hard to earn your trust and

loyalty and I thank them for all their hard work.

And I’d also like to thank you, our customers, for

your continued patronage and your encouragement.

It means so much that you take the time to let us

know that you think we’re doing a good job! You’re

all #1 with us!

Fathers’ Day is coming up in a week

and we like to recognize Dads because so much of

what they do goes un-recognized! So for all the

Dads out there, we have a coupon for 50% off

any one tree or shrub (deciduous or evergreen) in

our garden center. If the Dad in your life isn’t a

‘tree or shrub kind of guy’ – there may be

something that would be perfect for him in our

Apple Lane Gift Shop. (This coupon will go into

next week’s Friday AM. By getting the coupon a week

ahead, you get first dibs on all the best trees/shrubs.)

GARDEN TIP: Homemade vs.

Proprietary Products

It continues to surprise me how many people

equate home-made garden solutions with ‘good’

and proprietary products as ‘bad’. I love checking

out the internet as much as anyone to see what is

being suggested to combat various problems in

the garden and some of what I see is good for a

laugh – but I wonder how many people swallow

what they read ‘hook-line-and sinker’. A few

remedies that I’ve tried have worked and become

part of my ‘arsenal’ of remedies like using Castor

Oil to deter voles. But the rest of the vole

‘remedies’ (chewing gum, hair, rose canes, broken

glass, etc. etc. etc.) do not. Most other remedies

either don’t work or are so much work that I

don’t see

FATHERS’ DAY COUPON

50% OFF ANY ONE TREE OR SHRUB - DECIDUOUS OR EVERGREEN

Coupon expires June 20, 2016 and MUST be presented at time

of purchase (or show it to us on your Smart Phone). ONE COUPON

ONLY per household, please - cannot be combined with any other offer.

can’t see the point of bothering with them.

The ‘ides’ (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides,

molluscicides and so on) that are available in

Canadian garden centers have to be registered

with the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency

(PMRA) and registration is a costly and, usually,

lengthy procedure. Most of the products that are

now available to the home gardener (rated

‘Domestic’) are organic and those that aren’t are

deemed to have relatively low toxicity. (Some,

however, are under review and may soon disappear

from the shelves). As licensed Pesticide

Dispensers in the Province of BC, our first

recommendation is always supposed to be an

organic method or product. So it’s surprising to

me that when we do recommend such a product,

there are folks who are horrified, thinking we’re

trying to sell them something dreadfully toxic. I

suppose this just shows how much

misunderstanding and misinformation there still is

regarding pesticides.

Because something is home-made doesn’t

necessarily mean that you’re using an appropriate product, that it’s safe, or that you can’t do any damage. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had

people say ‘But I used dish soap on it’ when

showing me leaves covered in a fungus (dish-soap

has no fungicidal properties), are burnt (too much

dish-soap used in the solution can cause damage)

or are riddled with worm holes (the worms may be

cleaner but not dead)! Yet this isn’t surprising

because dish soap DOES NOT list instructions on

how to use it as an insecticide nor is it registered

as such. Organic insecticidal soap, on the other

hand, DOES INCLUDE instructions on how much

to use, when to use it and what can be controlled

by using the product as per instructions because it

has gone through a rigorous registration process

to make these determinations. Is the process

perfect? No - but it’s the best we’ve got and it’s a

lot more reliable than taking heed of something a

friend of a friend of a friend recommended or

finding an obscure remedy on the internet! (Please

don’t email about your favourite home remedy: I

get plenty already through Facebook and email yet

have rarely found any to be worthwhile or better

than the organic proprietary products currently

available.)

PLANTS OF THE WEEK: Conifers

for the shade

Needled evergreens are commonly used in

landscapes because they provide year-round

colour, are a (relatively) inexpensive investment,

and work in so many situations. Yet many of the

more popular evergreens – junipers, pines, and

spruces - don’t do well in shaded conditions and,

cedar, while more tolerant of shade than the

others, does much better with adequate sunlight.

There are a few evergreens, however, that will grow well in the shade.

TAXUS (Yew): It’s unfortunate that more people

aren’t familiar with this amazing conifer. There is

no other conifer that will thrive in full sun and in

deep shade like the yew! (I have some 25 year old

Taxus x media ‘Densiformis’ under my sugar maples

that have done very well in dense shade.) There is

also no other conifer that can be pruned right back

to the ground to have it grow back as beautiful as

ever. Yews (unlike cedars or junipers) are fabulous

for hedges because they have latent (sleeping)

buds even at the trunk so they will regenerate

when pruned back hard. Yews come in many

different forms from ground-covering varieties

like ‘Emerald Spreader’, mid-height mounded varieties like ‘Tauntonii’, mid-height spreading varieties like ‘Densiformis’ and upright varieties

suitable for hedging like ‘H M Eddie’ and ‘Hicksii’.

We even have a striking gold-needled variety

called ‘Dwarf Bright Gold’ in stock. All of these are

hybrid cultivars produced by crossing the

Japanese yew with the English Yew. (The English

Yew -Taxus baccata - is not hardy enough to

be grown successfully in this area.) Of the

two hedging varieties mentioned, I prefer

the ‘H M Eddie’ because it is more compact

than the ‘Hicksii’ and, being a male cultivar,

does not produce red berries. (The flesh of

the berry is not toxic but the seed is very

toxic as is the foliage but foliage is less

likely to be ingested than an attractive red

berry.) As mentioned, yews lend themselves

to heavy pruning and are the best evergreen

for shaping into topiary.

‘Emerald Spreader’ ‘Tauntonii’

‘Densiformis’ ‘H M Eddie’

‘Dwarf Bright Gold’ Topiary forms of Taxus

Other than the toxicity of the seed inside

the berries there is only one other negative

to using yews in the landscape – they are not

deer resistant. (But Bobbex will work to keep

those #*%+!! critters away.)

TSUGA (Hemlock): There are few

evergreens as beautiful or elegant as the

Hemlock. Tsuga canadensis (Canadian

hemlock) is available in many cultivars with

different forms, growth habits and even

colours. All grow well in shaded areas except

for dark, dry shade. Hemlocks prefer a moist

soil and will grow well in sunny sites provided

the soil is moist and they are not exposed to

drying winds. As will the yews, the variety of

forms available means that you certainly don’t have to

‘settle’ for uninteresting plants in the shaded parts

of your garden. In Eastern Canada, hemlocks are

often used for hedges but I haven’t yet seen them

used that way here.

‘Jeddeloh’ ‘Gentsch White’

‘Golden Splendor’ ‘Pendula’

The Mountain Hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) is a

Western North American native plant that is now

starting to enter commerce so few cultivars are

currently available. The species is a lovely tree that

grows slowly to about 30 feet in cultivation even

though it can get much larger in the wild. . I have one

that is now over 20 years old and is only about 12

feet high. The other native, Tsuga heterophylla

(Western Hemlock), are common along the Coquihalla

Mountain Hemlock Western Hemlock

Highway once you pass the Great Bear Snowshed, but

are not commonly grown as ornamentals

because of their eventual size. There are a

few cultivars but not commonly available and

are not considered as hardy as either the

Canadian or Mountain Hemlock. Hemlocks are

occasionally browsed by deer when favoured

plants are scarce. (Tsuga are NOT the

hemlock famous for poisoning Socrates. That

was the noxious weed Poison Hemlock, Conium

maculatum.)

MICROBIOTA (Russian Cypress) Still languishing in relative obscurity even

though it’s been available for over 20 years,

the Russian (Siberian) cypress deserves to

be better known. Its growth habit is like

that of a spreading juniper but its foliage

looks like that of a fine, feathery cedar. It

makes a great groundcover in shady

conditions where junipers will not thrive, and

is very hardy (Zone 3), functioning well in sun

to part shade. Microbiota needs well-drained

moist soil but does not like wet conditions.

I’ve had a couple in my shade garden for

more than 25 years that are about a foot

high and nine feet wide (but they can grow

up to 12 feet wide). Summer colour is bright

green but that changes to a bronze-purple in

winter and the deer leave them alone.

Russian Cypress Winter colour

In recent years there have been a few

new cultivars introduced into the trade that

are more compact (Microbiota ‘Fuzzball’), not

as far spreading (Microbiota ‘Celtic Pride’) or

have variegated foliage (Microbiota ‘Gold

Spot’).

If you have a shaded area in your

landscape, give consideration to using any of

these excellent evergreens. They provide

year-round colour and are low-maintenance.

All in stock yews, hemlocks and Russian

cypress are 25% off this week.

June 11th – June 17th, 2016

Annual bedding plants, flowers and

vegetables 2”, 4 & 6 packs….45% off

Annuals in 4” and larger pots including

baskets & planters……………..40% off

Shade conifers………………………25% off

TURF: 1000 sq. ft. available @ 3.99 per

(Phone to reserve what you need) 10 sq. ft. roll

And now in:

BC Cherries (LARGE, firm & sweet)

Salmon Arm Strawberries (YUM!)

Happy gardening,

Harriet

HANNA ORCHARDS MARKET

& GARDEN CENTRE

3181318131813181----11111111THTHTHTH Ave. NE., Salmon Arm, BCAve. NE., Salmon Arm, BCAve. NE., Salmon Arm, BCAve. NE., Salmon Arm, BC

Open Mon.Open Mon.Open Mon.Open Mon.----Sat. 8Sat. 8Sat. 8Sat. 8----6666

Sundays: 1Sundays: 1Sundays: 1Sundays: 1----5555

(250) 832 4574 If you are receiving this newsletter in error or would like to have your name removed from our mail-out list, please go back to the weekly email notice and click on UNSUBSCRIBE.

https://www.facebook.com/HannaOrchardsFarmMarketGardenCentre/