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NARAMATA GARDEN CLUB

SPRING NEWSLETTER 2020

April/May 2020 –

Gardening during Covid-19

What’s inside:

A Message from your Head Gardener.......... 2

Executive 2020 ........................................................ 3

Audrey’s April .......................................................... 4

Plant and rake without the ache .......................... 5

Gardening Craft ...................................................... 6

Bonjour de Nicole Verpaelst .............................. 6

Phenology in your Garden ................................... 7

What’s happening in Brenda & Earl’s garden

......................................................................................... 9

Hardening off seedlings ..................................... 11

Garden Zones ....................................................... 12

The daffodil principle .......................................... 13

Soil Measurements: ............................................. 15

Keukenhof video tour .......................................... 16

WELCOME! WHILE WE ARE

STAYING AT HOME TO REDUCE

THE SPREAD OF COVID—19, THIS

NEWSLETTER IS A WAY FOR

MEMBERS OF NARAMATA

GARDEN CLUB TO STAY

TOGETHER AND SHARE OUR

LOVE OF GARDENING WHEN WE

HAVE TO STAY APART.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO

RESUMING OUR MONTHLY

MEETINGS AS SOON AS WE

CAN!

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In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like

dirt.

- Margaret Atwood

A Message from your Head Gardener

Spring can be an exciting time, but in this strange year I expect we’ve

all welcomed the season with extra fervour. Although we’re

observing ‘physical isolation’, I never feel isolated when

I’m working in the garden, enjoying the freshness and

(hopefully) the sunshine. And with the lengthening hours

of daylight I seem to lose track of time even

more readily than usual when I’m gardening!

I want to say a big Thank You to those who

made our Plant Giveaway a success. Thanks to:

~ Brenda, for dividing and donating her abundant perennials last fall,

and everyone who helped at the September work bee to pot up the

divisions.

~ Elizabeth, for heeling in the 44 pots over winter. That’s a big job!

~ Nicole, Sonja, Brenda, Rosalie for digging plants donated by Lois, from

her garden, and potting up divisions. And to Rosalie for keeping the 50

or so plants until we could give them away.

~ Renate for donating over a dozen plants from her garden.

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~ Kim Denis for giving the two boxes of iris, and the thank-you gift of

marinades.

~ Nicole for sharing Cana lilies

~ Everyone who came to take plants, for participating - and for

maintaining social distance.

I have the title of Head Gardener, but really,

I’m more of a Head Learner, as I am just

becoming acquainted with gardening in this most

favoured and lovely part of our country. So I’m

very grateful for the generosity and enthusiasm

with which you, dear member, share your knowledge, questions,

answers, and ideas.

I hope you enjoy our newsletter! Thank you to those who contributed

to it. Heartfelt thanks to Linda, whose brainchild it is, and who has

done the work of assembling it.

Happy Spring!

Myrna

Executive 2020

Head Gardener Myrna Elliott

Treasurer Renate Jackes

Secretary Linda Desilets

Education Coordinator Elizabeth Van Heerden

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AUDREY’S APRIL written on April 13, 2020.

We gardeners are so blessed to spend our days with our hands

in the earth, connected to the eternal cycle of the seasons.

Sitting here in the garden with sunshine on my face, birds flitting about, and daffodils

nodding their cheerful heads in the wind, I am not at all aware the world is in crisis. Here, in

my secluded little world all is well. The violets have bloomed, as they have done every April

for the past twenty-five years and in this time of chaos, I love their predictability. We

gardeners are so blessed to spend our days with our hands in the earth, connected to the

eternal cycle of the seasons.

My days are spent now cleaning out the gardens of a winter’s worth of rubbish, pruning

roses, and moving or dividing perennials such as heuchera, asters, coral bells, hostas and

cranesbill geraniums. We’re also planting the early crops such as green onions, chard,

lettuce and radish. Although lettuce seed can certainly be planted directly into the garden

now, I like getting a little jump on the season so I germinated the seed inside, grew them

under grow-lights in the cellar until they were about an inch tall, and today I will separate

them into little clumps and plant them into the garden. The quail are everywhere and love

nothing more than new greens so I’ll lay some reemay cloth over the whole lot. I’ll need to

secure the edges with dirt, sticks or whatever I’ve got handy, and leave it on until the lettuce

is big enough to no longer be appetizing to the quail.

The first planting of potatoes went in at least a week

ago, and depending on the weather, a second planting is

scheduled for next week. Onions, both red and yellow,

were planted today and more may go in later in the week if

we decide we’ve got room for more. I noticed today that

the peas are all up. I planted them a couple of weeks ago

during a short warm-spell and when the temperature plummeted to -8 one night, I was sure

they would all have frozen. But here they are pushing their tiny green leaves through the soil!

A sure sign of Spring. – Audrey Anderson

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PLANT AND RAKE WITHOUT THE ACHE

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Gardening Craft – Looking for some fun and easy crafts with items you probably

have at home? How about making some colorful garden markers? You just need a

few items from around the house and some craft supplies.

BONJOUR DE NICOLE VERPAELST

Nicole would like to remind us to take care of ourselves and our garden by keeping our

tools sharp and clean.

Sharpening pruning tools makes yard work easier and keeps trees, shrubs and plants

healthy.

Tools should be sharpened and cleaned prior to the

beginning of pruning and cleaned at the end of the day.

Watch this video to see how quickly and easily you can

clean and sharpen your tools.

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PHENOLOGY IN YOUR GARDEN

For centuries gardeners took their cues for planting times from nature - a technique called phenology. It is based on when plant activity, birds and insects first appear each year. Trees, shrubs, and flowers are sensitive to temperature and day length and develop on a schedule based on local conditions. It only makes sense to use these events as indicators of when the weather is right for planting in our gardens.

Since average frost dates can vary slightly each year, observing the plant activity in your area and your garden may be more accurate. For instance, the garden industry uses the average last frost date to mark the beginning of the planting season, whereas the time of the forsythia’s flowering may be a better guide for you as it is determined by our actual weather conditions. In today’s ever-changing climate environment, phenology may be the way to go when looking for the right time for action in your garden.

Here are some of the most common phenology tips for gardeners:

• Annuals - By the time the lilacs are in full bloom it will be safe to plant tender annual flowers, dahlias and squashes

• Beans - Wait for apple trees to bloom before planting bush beans – when the apple blossoms fall plant pole beans

• Beets – plant when dandelions start blooming

• Broccoli - When quince is

blossoming, transplant broccoli

• Cabbage – plant when mock orange is in full bloom

• Carrots - Plant seeds when you see dandelions and daffodils in bloom

• Chard - Half-hardy vegetables can

be planted when the daffodils

blossom

• Corn - When the oak leaves are the size of a squirrel's ear, it's time to plant corn and/or when apple blossoms start to fall

• Cucumbers - Plant when lilac and apple blooms start to fade

• Eggplant - Plant when bearded irises are in bloom

• Lettuce - It's time to sow lettuce seeds when dandelions bloom

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• Melons - When peonies blossom it is safe to plant heat-loving melons, such as cantaloupe

• Onion sets – plant when the

forsythia is in bloom

• Peas – plant when the daffodils start blooming

• Peppers - Plant peppers and eggplant when bearded irises are in bloom

• Potatoes - Look for dandelions to

bloom before planting potatoes

• Spinach - Blooming crocus are your

cue to plant radishes, parsnips, and

spinach

• Squash - Plant when the lilac blooms start to fade

• Tomatoes - plant tomato plants when Lily of the Valley is blooming. Other advice states to plant when daylilies start to bloom

→ Roses - Prune your roses when the forsythia is in bloom

→ A true sign of spring in the Okanagan is the emergence of the Arrowleaf Balsamroot flowers (Balsamorhiza sagittata), also known as the Okanagan Sunflower. Their brilliant yellow colour is spectacular particularly when seeing an entire hillside adorned with the flower. The Arrowleaf Balsamroot flower was used as a valuable food source and is significant to the Syilx-speaking Peoples of the Okanagan Nation as a time marker.

→ The posterior test: with only your underwear (or nothing at all) and go sit on the soil. If you find it uncomfortably cold, so will your tomatoes.

How many of these tips do you use? To use phenology in your own garden, keep a

record of when forsythia and lilac bloom plus other events in your garden. Then you

can see, over a few years, whether the phenology tips above work for you!

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What’s happening in Brenda & Earl’s garden

During the month of April, Brenda and Earl cleaned, pruned and tidied their garden beds. Generally, they feel it is better to wait until outdoor temperatures are warmer and to sow seeds right into prepared garden beds rather than to start seedlings indoors. They advise you to be strong and resist the temptation to sow seeds of heat loving varieties into your garden until the soil has warmed up and spring weather conditions are consistently in the 10° to 13°C range. Seeds planted when conditions are warm enough will catch up and surpass stressed

seedlings which were planted out too early. Don’t be fooled by a long warm weekend – wait until the weather has truly warmed up. The exceptions to this

rule are tomatoes, peppers, basil and eggplant. Their long growing season requires them to be started indoors and planted out when the weather warms sufficiently.

Heading into the month of May, this is what Brenda and Earl plan to do in their garden over the next few weeks: ❖ In the last week of April, if you have not yet planted your lettuce greens,

potatoes and onions, you still have time now. ❖ In the first or second week of May direct sow seeds of beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots

parsnips, radish, spinach, turnips and swiss chard. ❖ In the second, third and fourth-week of May, Earl will get his vegetable garden ready for

his warm crop veggies. He will spread and dig in his compost to prepare the soil. He will then put a large black tarp, which he gets free from the lumber store, over the soil

in his garden. This will help warm the soil for a week or two and give him a jump start on his seeding. When the temperate is right - the soil stays at least 21°C at night - he will peel back half of the tarp and direct seed his beans, corn, cucumber, squash, zucchini, and melons.

❖ Earl leaves the other side of the tarp on the soil and cuts holes into it. Here he will

transplant his plants started indoors - tomatoes, peppers, basil and eggplant. This usually happens between the fourth week of May and the first week of June, depending on our night temperatures. Night temperatures cannot go below 12°C for optimum growth of warm weather crops. He says you can plant out earlier if you like, but he has found it cuts into the fruit production of the plants. For example, you won’t get as many peppers from each plant if you put it out to early, it will grow leaves but less fruit. Cherry tomatoes are the exception to this rule, they seem to do ok when the nighttime temps are around 8° to 10°C.

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❖ Brenda will start direct sowing flower seeds in the middle of May to the end of May, once night time temperatures are around 10°C. She will direct sow zinnias (which don’t like to be transplanted) cosmos, sunflowers, bachelor buttons, marigolds and nasturtiums. She puts out her geraniums at this time too. She

doesn’t start many annuals in the house anymore, she finds direct sowing annual seeds gives her the most success. Just be sure you have prepared the soil to sow these easy to grow flowers in the ground where you want them to grow. Seedlings will pop up fast once both soil and air temperatures have warmed up, and the little plants with their tender and sensitive roots won’t suffer transplanting shock which often retards growth. Brenda does start some perennials inside, if she finds something unusual that she would like to propagate.

Brenda would like to remind garden club members to weed, weed and weed some more. If you are a user of Round-Up – a glyphosate-based herbicide, please apply it to the greenery before the weed starts to flower. In other words, please spray the dandelion leaves before the flower blooms. If you spray the flower, the bright yellow is still a magnet for bees, who then take the glyphosate back to the hive. She lost her hive last year and suspects it was due to herbicide use in the area. An environmentally friendly way to kill weeds is to pour boiling water over them. This will change the enzymes in the weed and make it easy to remove. This works usually in one application of boiling water, but for a weed with a long tap root it will probably need to be done twice. One final word from Brenda – if you had a problem last year with your beets and radishes

where they did not form into a proper size or “bulb up” now is the time (end of April/beginning of May) to mix lime into your soil. If you are using powdered lime, sprinkle onto the planting area and lightly rake in before planting seeds. If using granular lime – it is too late to sprinkle onto the soil – that needs to be done in January or February so it has time to break down before planting season. Now you need to dissolve your granular lime into warm water until it breaks down, then spread the lime-water over your planting area.

Happy gardening from Brenda & Earl

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HARDENING OFF SEEDLINGS

Hardening off is the process of gradually introducing seedlings started indoors to the much harsher conditions outside.

As bright as indoor grow lights may be, none compare to direct sunlight. Plants which are not introduced gently to direct sunshine may show rapid & dramatic signs of shock. The leaves may become bleached out, curled under, or simply fall off. Sudden transplant shock can kill many types of seedlings.

Wind can also cause stress to the stems of seedlings, and combined with sunlight will strip moisture from the soil and leaves. Variations in temperatures - cool nights & hot days, will further stress the delicate young plants.

Heat loving plants like tomatoes, peppers, and basil, need particular care before transplanting, but hardening off is a sensible step to take with ALL seedlings.

It is recommended to harden off seedlings over the course of several days to one week.

Day One: Choose a warm, sunny day, water well and place the pots, flats, or trays out in full shade for the day, bringing them back inside for the evening and overnight.

Day Two: If your plant dried out after the first day, water it well and place outdoors where it will receive morning sun but afternoon shade. Bring indoors for the evening and overnight.

Day Three: Still in their pots or trays and well watered, give the seedlings increased exposure to direct sunlight for several morning hours and a hopefully getting a little bit of wind. Afternoon shade preferred. Leave out overnight if the temperatures are going to be above 10°C.

Day Four: Water well and place in a spot where it will get the sun the plant tag calls for (part-sun/full sun, etc.). Your plant will wilt but don’t panic and avoid the temptation to water. Leave out overnight.

Day 5: Water well in the early morning and let the water soak throughout the container. With wet soil, your plant is now ready to be transplanted to the garden.

Once planted in the garden, water deeply to encourage downward root growth. If you constantly provide only a small amount of water, your plants will search no further than they need to for a drink. This can be dangerous when the hot, dry month summer months roll around. Deep roots create drought tolerant plants. Prepare your plants for the summer by hardening them off. It may delay your planting by a few days but your plants (and you) will be glad you waited.

information compiled from West Coast Seeds & Mark Cullen

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GARDEN ZONES

According to the Canadian Government’s Plant Hardiness Zones:

Naramata Plant hardiness zone is: 6-b to 7-a

Average Frost-Free date: May 1 to May 10

Coldest temperature in our local zone – average:

-23 to -18°C– Zone 6 -18 to -12°C– Zone 7

The most recent Canadian system for determining plant hardiness zones includes minimum temperatures as well as rainfall, frost-free days, and other variables.

The purpose of these zones is to help guide our plant selections. Zone is often the first consideration when choosing a plant at the garden centre - can this perennial survive year-round in my garden? Other growing conditions like sun, soil, and water come next.

Canadian zones range from 0 to 9, where zero is the coldest and 9 is the warmest average conditions.

For example, many clematis vines are suitable for zones 4 to 9. This means they will likely not survive winters below zone 4 temperatures, but there are always exceptions to be found, so keep in mind that it’s not precise - it is a guideline.

Also consider our climate is always shifting and zones will change over time .

Plus, every garden has its own micro-climates.

A wide-open garden in zone 6 may be subject to extreme wind and cooler nights while a zone 6 garden enclosed with walls or other windbreaks may have a warmer micro-climate. There is no data available to account for these exceptions, but you as a gardener will gradually learn how plants fare in your garden. Know your zone, but consider your garden’s micro climate as well.

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Submitted by Sonja Lotz:

The daffodil principle by Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you

must come to see the daffodils before they are over."

I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake

Arrowhead "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little

reluctantly on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there.

When I finally walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy

children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.

"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is

nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive

another inch!"

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother."

"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I

assured her.

"But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm

used to this."

"Carolyn," I said sternly, "Please turn around."

"It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On

the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, “Daffodil

Garden”.

We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I

followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a

corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most

glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a

great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain and its

surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic,

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swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow,

salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different coloured variety was planted in

large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There

were five acres of flowers.

"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn. "Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the

property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept small A-

frame house, modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I

Know You Are Asking", was the headline. The first answer

was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second

answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two

feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I

thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, almost

fifty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her

vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop.

Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the

world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary

magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the

greatest principles of celebration.

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time, often just one baby

step at a time and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When

we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can

accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had

thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb

at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow,"

she said.

She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make

learning, a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is only to ask, "How can I put this

to use today?"

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Use the Daffodil Principle.

Stop waiting...

Until your car or home is paid off

Until you get a new car or home

Until your kids leave home

Until you go back and finish school

Until you clean the house

Until you organise the garage

Until you clean off your desk

Until you lose 10 lbs

Until you gain 10 lbs

Until you get married, or get a divorce

Until you have kids

Until the kids go to school

Until you retire

Until spring, summer, autumn or winter

Until you die...

There is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

So, work like you don't need money. Love like you've never been hurt, and, Dance like no

one's watching.

Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.

Soil Measurements:

How much soil do you need to fill your pots?

12” pot needs about 14 litres of soil

14” pot needs about 17 litres of soil

16” pot needs about 21 litres of soil

20” pot needs about 25 litres of soil

In the garden: 1 yard of soil = 764.5 litres – One yard of soil will cover a 10’ x 10’ area to a

depth of 3 inches deep. To figure out how much soil is needed for your task simply measure

your LENGTH X WIDTH X # of inches deep and divide it by 324.

For one yard of soil in bags you will need 20 - 40 litre bags of soil -or- 24 - 32 litre bags of soil

– or – 40 - 20 litre bags of soil.

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KEUKENHOF VIDEO TOUR

And finally, please enjoy this video of one of the most beautiful spring gardens in the world.

The Keukenhof in the Netherlands is perhaps the most beautiful spring garden in the world.

More than seven million tulips, daffodils and hyacinths fill over 32 hectares with color and fragrance. The

park regularly attracts more than 800,000 tourists from all over the world. This year the garden is

closed due to Covid-19. Instead they have invited us all to visit them by video tour. It looks spectacular!

Note: if the link doesn’t work please copy and paste it into your search engine to watch

Video tour of Keukenhof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iomUN9o4r0