It’s new! It’s different! It’s a surprise! The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be holding a first-time ever “Iron Gardeners” on Wednesday, May 16 at 7:00 p.m. at SIGN on North Street! What’s it all about? Let’s just say it will be fun, entertaining, educational, and something that will get us all in the mood for planting! Join us; you don’t have to be a member to attend the meetings!
Since planting season is just around the corner, I wanted to share some information with you about planting from a book I recently told you about, “Landscaping For Modern Canadian Living In The Prairie Provinces” by Theodore Onufrijchuk. This small book, printed in 1964, still has timely information about plant care.
When we plant or transplant a plant, we usually don’t think about how delicate and intricate the complete plant mechanism is. It consists of the plant that grows above ground, with leaves that turn the sun’s light into strength for the plant; and below ground, the roots absorb minerals and water from the soil. Each one depends on the other: the amount of roots that develop depends on the leaves that are living on the plant; and the amount of leaves that form depend on the health of the roots. This is easily seen when we neglect to water any of our plants; the leaves do not keep thriving if the roots are suffering for water. Give them a good drink, and the entire plant revives.
During the time we are transplanting plants, we have to be very careful with the roots. They will be supplying our plant with all it needs to grow, and if the roots are damaged, the plant will struggle. The book suggest that we should do transplanting in the evening when it is cooler, not in the middle of a hot spring day. We should gently spread the roots out while planting. As gardeners we have all seen the tightly coiled roots that sometimes happen when we buy bedding plants and slip them out of their trays. Never place that woven tangle directly into the soil! Gently work it apart, then plant it. Your plant will thank you!
It’s nice to review some planting practises as spring approaches. We have such a relatively short growing season that we want our new plants to be able to make the most of it!
I also wanted to tell you: Vesey seeds is once again teaming up with Honey Nut Cheerios and are giving away free bee-friendly flower seeds. Log on to bringbackthebees.ca to order your seeds, and to learn some interesting factoids about the marvellous and amazing bees. For example, the site says that “A honey bee can fly for up to nine kilometers, and as fast as twenty five kilometers per hour.” Imagine! The site also says that “Bees love to live in urban settings where there are short flight paths and a variety of different plants and flowers to sample just as much as they love the country.” Considering this, we have even more incentive to plant “bee-friendly” plants.
And one more thing: a community garden is being re-established in Yorkton. There will be an informational meeting on Thursday, May 10 at 7:00 p.m. at the Yorkton Alliance Church. If you have been looking for a garden plot, don’t miss this meeting to find out all the details. Gardeners will not have to pay a fee for a garden plot. Call Warren at (306) 782-3249 for more information.
Keep up with what’s happening with the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society by visiting us at www.yorktonhort.ca. Have a great week!
