This is a busy week for gardeners! Not only are we out in our yards, planting seeds, seedlings, and containers, but there are a couple events I want to remind you about. The first is a wonderful chance to replenish your garden plants; if you have looked around your garden and taken inventory, here’s the perfect chance to fill in those “garden gaps”: the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society Spring Plant and Bulb Sale, Friday, May 26 from 9:30 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. at the Parkland Mall. You’ll find a great variety of plants at great prices, so don’t miss it! If there is a certain plant you are looking for, you might want to be there when the sale begins and selection is at its best. And, there are also fellow-gardeners there to answer your gardening questions. This is a great sale!
Then, gardeners are invited to a special screening at the Yorkton Film Festival: on Saturday, May 27 at 12:30 at the Gallagher Centre, you can view the film “Sustainable Me”. This film is described like this: “young people in Edmonton are making changes to save their environment. From beekeeping to ride-sharing, they’ve got innovative ways to pitch in for the planet!” It sounds like a great film, one that we can appreciate as gardeners who care for the environment! The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society takes a moment to congratulate the Yorkton Film Festival on their 70th anniversary: bravo! Gardeners, I hope you can make it to the film on the 27th. It’s free and everyone is welcome!
I did some homework this week, and I want to share it with you in case you are planting this same thing! A dear friend of ours gave us a tree lily; I was very excited about this as we saw an outstanding tree lily last year in another dear friend’s garden, and it was stunning! I hope this new lily will be happy in its new home; it would be an exciting addition to our plants!
So in case you are asking “what is a tree lily?” here is the answer: a tree lily is a cross between an Oriental and an Asiatic lily. It is not a tree, but the growth habit is tree-like, because the stems of this amazing plant are thick, and can grow from four to six feet high!
Though they are such unique specimens, they are to be planted as we would plant any other lily: we should look for a spot that has well-drained soil, and if possible full sun, although the plant won’t mind mild partial shade. They like regular watering, but they don’t like to have wet feet, so be careful not to be overly enthusiastic with your watering can! And for this first year, I think we might put an extra layer of leaves over the lily in the fall, just to give it a little extra protection from the cold.
Guess what else I learned: there is also a lily called an “orienpet”, which is a cross between an oriental lily and a trumpet lily, as well as an “asiapet” which is a cross between and Asiatic lily and a trumpet lily! There is always something new to learn in the gardening world!
Speaking of that, have you gone for the gusto and tried at least one new plant this year? I hope so; one of our new plants is a cinnamon basil, which looks very pretty with deep purple-burgundy stems. It looks interesting all on its own, aside from the new flavor for our cooking!
We also got a cerastium, (that has the cute name “mouse-ear chickweed”) purely for the beautiful silvery foliage and delicate white flowers, which will be part of our Canada container.
And speaking of that, please do plant up a special container for Canada’s birthday: it would be great to see gardeners commemorating Canada’s 150!
Have fun planting and a great week: visit us at www.yorktonhort.ca
