First of all, get out your calendars and mark down Tuesday, August 11, the day of the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society annual “Fruit, Flower, and Vegetable Show”. It begins at 1:00 p.m. and goes till 5:00 p.m. at St. Gerard’s Parish Complex on Third Avenue North. Come in, bring a friend, and browse through a varied and beautiful selection of plants, fruits, veggies, and floral displays, then enjoy tea and dainties and a good visit! It’s a lovely, relaxing way to spend a summer afternoon! Please plan to join us, and remember, bring a friend! That’s Tuesday, August 11.
Our gardens are well under way, but we always look for ideas and think ahead to next year, don’t we! I was lucky enough to visit a stunning garden this past week that gave me so much inspiration for our garden. I’ll tell you about it: this garden is primarily a shade garden, covered by a leafy canopy of beautiful old trees. A wide border of plants hems the perimeter of the yard, and most of them are foliage plants of assorted leaf size, from dainty trailing ivies to the dramatic forest-green sword leaves of many hostas, including a breathtaking “Sum and Substance” hosta that literally made me stop right in my tracks. I believe that there were several flowering plants, but what I noticed most were the pops of red from dragon-wing begonias and a stately canna lily with burgundy leaves and tangerine-red flowers. I realized that one vibrant color against the greens of the foliage plants can make a very strong visual statement.
And of course you know how I admire well-placed tchotchkes in a garden: interesting ornaments or garden structures that draw our eye to, or set off, our garden plants. This garden had many statues, trellises, and other special objects that were as elegant and refined as the gardener herself. Every few steps gave us something special to see. It was a joy to visit this special garden and gardener!
So, lessons learned were that foliage can play a very dramatic role in our plantings; and if we do add color, one color might be all that it takes to make the border sing! If you are keeping your own gardening notebook of what works and what doesn’t, what’s hot and what’s not, make a note for next year that we should look for visually interesting foliage and maybe give one strong color a try.
I’d like to tell you about the SHA (Saskatchewan Horticultural Association) Annual Meeting that our Yorkton Hort group will be hosting in October. This event is open to the public, and will feature a variety of interesting speakers including a demonstration from All About Flowers on fall floral arranging; Don Stein from the Godfrey Dean talking about how to best photograph our gardens; Warren Crossman speaking about his gardening experiences; and Sonja Pawliw telling us about her beautiful Healing Garden. There will also be a banquet with entertainment provided by the effervescent Jackie Guy. If you would like to attend any of these events, you are most welcome! Just log on to www.yorktonhort.ca for full details about the SHA meeting and other Yorkton Hort Society events.
I read a quote by D.H. Lawrence that said “Love is the flower of life”; what a great image! I’d like to wish my friend Sara, a beautiful bride-to-be, a full and rich bouquet of the “flowers of life”; may you have joy, happiness, health and laughter every day of your married life! God bless!
Have a great week, gardeners, and be sure to wear a hat!
