Gardening Life articles from January 2003

Gardening Life archives from January 2003

Introducing orchids: a beginner's guide.
January 1, 2003... Hearty yet exotic, orchids are the Sophia Lorens of the plant world: rare beauties with staying power. In Introducing Orchids: A Beginner's Guide (Whitecap Books, $24), authors Wilma and Brian Rittershausen attempt to demystify that allure,...

People (Floyd Elzinga and Carolyn Elzinga).
January 1, 2003... Although they admit to bouts of creative collaboration, FLOYD and CAROLYN ELZINGA of Beamsville, Ont. have developed their own distinct styles as designers of garden art and accessories. A sculptor whose output has included a giant bale of...

Land art.
January 1, 2003... LAND ART gives a novel twist to the old idea of art in the garden, as this daffodil heart by landscape architect Virginia Burt illustrates. Planted in the grassy expanse of her backyard septic field in Burlington, Ont., it's composed of 450...

What's new (wash station).
January 1, 2003... Cleaning up at the end of the day often means struggling with a mud-covered garden hose or awkwardly placed tap. But this new wall-mounted WASH STATION offers the convenience of a 14-inch (35-cm) basin on a snazzy stainless steel and brass...

How to inoculate bean and pea seeds.
January 1, 2003... Beans, peas (including sweet peas) and other legumes have the distinctive ability to "fix" nitrogen--i.e. convert nitrogen from the air into an easily usable form--through the help of beneficial bacteria called rhizobia, contained in nodules...

Bad bug: imported cabbage worms.
January 1, 2003... IMPORTED CABBAGEWORM (Pieris rapae) PROFILE Common and widespread, the white cabbage butterfly is the adult stage of the imported cabbageworm. Cabbageworms are velvety pale green caterpillars (up to one inch/25 mm long) with a fine yellow...

(Gardening question and answer column).
January 1, 2003... ROOTED IN THE PAST Q WE RECENTLY INHERITED a property in Riviere-du-Loup, Que. consisting of a summer house built in 1866-67 on terrain of about 6,000 square metres, some of which is a rocky, wooded rise behind the house. In 2001, the...

Sowing circle: ... nothing quite matches the thrill of raising glorious blooms from seed.
January 1, 2003... THERE'S NOTHING LIKE a good seed catalogue to transport a snowbound gardener into the future. Ordering seeds and starting them indoors helps fulfil a longing to continue gardening even in the dead of winter. When I was growing up on the...

Coming up roses: put a luxurious new spin on a flower shop classic.
January 1, 2003... AS GERTRUDE STEIN ONCE WROTE, "a rose is a rose is a rose," but the popular long-stemmed flower has never lost its power to inspire and delight. In the dead of winter, its velvety petals and crimson hue offer both a dramatic contrast to the...

Outside in: Jen Reynolds brings the garden indoors to cure the winter blues.
January 1, 2003... 1 TROPICANA Metal watering cans make sturdy vases for lush greens. Thoroughly clean the inside of the can, place it on a coffee table, window ledge or even the floor and fill it with tropical leaves. Pothos, aspidistra, eucalyptus and...

Off season: stay connected to the outdoors with a host of cold-weather must-haves in every price range.
January 1, 2003... WATERING CANS $7 Odla indoor/outdoor watering can. Approximately one-litre capacity with easy pouring handle. Galvanized steel. At Ikea. $20 Metro indoor watering can. Approximately half-litre capacity. Polished stainless steel. At...

To do (for winter).
January 1, 2003... CUT BRANCHES of flowering shrubs such as forsythia, quince and pussy willow to force indoors for a jump on spring. Pick branches with lots of fat flower buds and submerge them in a large pail of cool water overnight. Place them in a vase with...

Victoria's secrets: you may not have B.C.'s cool summers, but you can have its voluptuous handing baskets.
January 1, 2003... I WAS ONLY 15 when I first set eyes on the hanging baskets that line the streets of Victoria, B.C., but the impression they made on me was a lasting one. Since that time, I've been back to Victoria many times and can confirm that its...

Make a splash: two ways to bring water's quicksilver allure indoors.
January 1, 2003... WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE and not a bit too soon. These days, shops seem to be flooded with tabletop fountains, as gardeners and non-gardeners alike discover that there's nothing like the soothing sight and sound of water on stone. But with a...

Gardener of Rideau Hall: Adrienne Clarkson brings her unique vision - and fondness for perennials - to Canada's official home.
January 1, 2003... GOVERNOR GENERAL ADRIENNE CLARKSON points to a small dish on the coffee table in her Rideau Hall office. In it are shiny black seeds the size and shape of buckshot. "From my walk through the garden this morning," she says. The seeds are the...

Top 10 ... most important garden trends for 2003.
January 1, 2003... ONE The architectural adage that less is more has finally come to the garden. Rather than jamming masses of plants together, it's now a matter of taking about five select specimens and using them to make a statement or weaving them...

In concert: a well-composed garden in Oakville, Ontario (of Jennifer and John Guy) embodies six design principles with virtuoso flair.
January 1, 2003... When Jennifer and John Guy began working on their garden in Oakville, Ont. in 1996, it was mainly a featureless lawn 200 feet (60 metres) long and 50 feet (15 metres) wide. But the couple--both transplanted Newfoundlanders and experienced...

Magic mountain: carved out of forest and rock, this spellbinding B.C. garden (of Margaret Charlton and Charlie Sale) grew out of a shared passion for plants.
January 1, 2003... ONLY A 40-MINUTE DRIVE FROM DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER, overlooking Indian Arm, there's a tremendous two-acre garden with native and exotic plants deftly fitted into a West Coast forested setting. The loving labour of Margaret Charlton and Charlie...

Baby talk: tricky to nuture, fun to cook, tiny veggies come through in the crunch.
January 1, 2003... Ever since Adam first took an interest in apples, gardeners have worked with one goal in mind--to bring their vegetable crops to ripe and healthy maturity. In Canada, where frost nips at both ends of the growing season, that has been a...

Confessions of a secret gardener: Chris Szego finds weeds and wonder in equal measure as he surreptitiously restores life to a neglected London garden.
January 1, 2003... I STOLE a garden, once. It was New Year's Day and I had arrived in London, England to study. I spent the next several months in a near-delirium of delight, wandering the city. My schedule was less than rigorous, and I acquainted myself...