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I was chatting with my world-travelling sister today, and gardens came up, naturally. My parents are going to Paris to visit her in a week or so, and she’s been researching gardens for them to tour (yes, it’s a family love affair!). Anyway, she mentioned that the French word caduque has the dual meanings of “deciduous”
and “null and void.” An interesting tidbit that is entirely logical when you think of the winter landscape.
Photography. It seems to go hand-in-hand with being a gardener: this desire to capture the most fleeting of blooms, to record the brilliance that we have wrought from the earth. But we can’t all have expertise in both gardening and photography.
We can, however, afford the work of someone who does. Alicia Bock describes herself as “a self taught photographer and eclectic gardener, who loves recording the passage of time in fading flowers and weathered landscapes.” Her photography (you’re seeing Red Gladiolus #1 above) is gorgeous and affordable – only $50 USD for an 11×14″ print (other sizes, as well as greeting cards, journals, and scrapbooks are also available).
Got bats in your belfry? Lucky you. The much-maligned bat is critical to the health of the environment and our gardens. The Canadian Wildlife Federation says:
Bats are the primary predator of night-flying insects such as moths, beetles, and mosquitoes. A single bat can catch hundreds of insects in just one hour, consuming from 30 to 50 percent of its body weight in insects each night.
A healthy colony of bats can protect gardens and crops from major damage by pest species such as cucumber beetles, moths, cutworm, corn earworm, leafhoppers, and June beetles. As each female moth can lay thousands of eggs, the control of even a few adults has an exponential effect.
Okay, I’m sold. So, what can we do to encourage bats to take up residence in our gardens? Provide them with one (a residence, that is).
Greet Feet sells a bat-chelor pad (love that name!) that holds up to 30 bats and is specifically designed for cooler locations.
Planet Natural has a simple cedar bat house that holds up to 40 bats (pick up a mason bee house while you’re there).
Or, if you’re “handy,” as my mom says, build your own.
Where to locate your bat house
- Temperature is a critical factor in roost selection. In Canada, bat houses should receive at least ten hours of direct sun each day, and more is better.
- Mount bat houses on poles or on the side of a building at least 12 feet (4 metres) above the ground (the higher the better). Houses mounted on trees are more difficult for bats to find and more vulnerable to predators.
- Bats need to drink water every night, so houses located less than a quarter mile (400 metres) from a water source, such as a stream, river, or lake, have the greatest success in attracting bats.
- Bats like a clear swoop zone to get in and out of their roosts, so avoid placing the house in an area where there are a lot of obstacles, such as tree branches.
- Placing two or more houses in one location allows bats to better respond to changes in temperature by allowing them to move between the houses as needed.
- Do not mount houses close to bright lights.
- If after two years your bat house has failed to attract occupants, try moving it to a new location.
(Canadian Wildlife Federation)
Don’t have the space for a bat house? Adopt a bat, and receive “an endearing letter from your bat.” Okaaaaay.
Check out guerillagardening.org, a site dedicated to – you guessed it – guerilla gardening. Run by an English bloke named Richard who seems to do a lot of getting up to no good, the site has a goal of recording 100 acts of guerilla gardening across four continents by September 2006.
Good reading and resources; and and and! You can sign up for a membership card. How exciting!
Warning! Gratuitous, only-vaguely-related-to-gardening (and only then because the photos were taken in my garden) photos follow.
But it’s about time you met Schnoopette, my six-year-old calico. And, I couldn’t help myself! She’s totally cuteoverloading. Look:
*Hmm… what have we here?*
*Let’s give it a try…*
*Crrronche!*
Schnoopette, I love you. Even if you are going to barf on my carpet later.
I’ve read somewhere that in designing a Japanese garden a newbie should start with a field of gravel and slowly place rocks, plants and water; this is supposed to remind one that less is more, that everything hangs in an elegant balance that can be destroyed when one tries to fill space.
I’m really hoping these people are on their way to creating a fantastic Japanese garden. But not holding my breath.
Nevertheless, this yard has inspired the new WTF category. For the bitchy voyeur in all of us.
My WBF (that’s Work Best Friend — I just made that up but I kinda like it) recently bought a house. And it seems my garden obsession is rubbing off on her! I’m so proud. Anyway. The garden needs a complete overhaul, which I’ll be helping with when I have a second. Until then, WBF has decided to tackle the lawn. She bought one of those stand-up weeders and has (and I quote) been “weeding like a woman obsessed.”
Now, WBF is about at the opposite end of the spectrum from me when it comes to lawns. First, I don’t think it would ever cross my mind to actually weed the lawn. However, she’s got thistles and small children, which do not mix well.
So, I was looking into organic weed killers for her, and found an article on using common white vinegar as a weed killer. I’d never heard that before. Before I send WBF out there with a spray bottle, has anyone ever tried this? Does it really work?
I snapped up a few of these earthenware containers on sale at Ikea yesterday for only CDN$6.99 (USD$5.99) including a matching saucer. They’re only frost-resistant but I figure if I keep them from drowning in Vancouver’s winter rains they should be fine. Check your local Ikea – they’ll be selling out quickly.
We went to the Decorate Vancouver “Urban Living Expo” today and met Abby from Kermodi. We saw Kermodi there last year, with their fabulous display of houseplants you’d actually want to own.
That’s right, they sell pre-potted houseplants. But (unless you hate repotting) doesn’t that take the fun out of selecting your tropical and a fun container? Maybe. But they’ve done such a brilliant job of matching plants (like the scilla shown above) with simple, modern containers; something regular readers will know is sadly lacking in my world.
Also, if you’re like me, indoor plants are often neglected in favour of the (outdoor) garden, and frequently get stuck with whatever leftover pot somewhat fits. I’ll be the first to admit: my houseplants are embarrasing. Kermodi’s living works of art have inspired me to save them from death-by-neglect and find them some great containers.
I might be spending my entire summer looking for pots!
Now here’s a worthwhile study. A new Cornell University researcher has found a way to keep paperwhite narcissists from tipping over – by getting them tipsy.
The study finds that a touch of booze keeps certain houseplants from getting too tall by stunting their growth. “Dilute solutions of alcohol — though not beer or wine — are a simple and effective way to reduce stem and leaf growth,” said William Miller, professor of horticulture and director of the Flower Bulb Research Program at Cornell.
“While solutions greater than 10 percent alcohol were toxic, solutions between four and six percent alcohol stunted the paperwhites effectively,” said Miller.
To control stem and leaf growth, he suggests waiting until paperwhites or other daffodil shoots are several inches long to drain the water and replace it with a solution of four to six percent alcohol — hard liquor or rubbing alcohol.
To get a five percent solution from 80-proof liquor, which is 40 percent alcohol (such as gin, vodka, whiskey, rum or tequila), add one part liquor to seven parts water. To use rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol), which is 70 percent alcohol, dilute one part with 10-11 parts water.
Read more here.
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