The next regular meeting of the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be on Wednesday, May 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sunshine Room at SIGN on North Street; our special guest will be Mr. D’Arcy Schenk, retired horticulturalist from the U of R, speaking to us about “Trees and Shrubs For City Yards”. I know we will learn a lot! There are so many new yards waiting to be landscaped, and so many established yards that might need rejuvenating, so we can all benefit from D’Arcy’s knowledge and experience! Be sure to attend this meeting and “branch” into some new ideas and inspiration!
And don’t forget, on Friday, May 27, we’ll be having our Spring Plant & Bulb Sale, 9:30 a.m. till 5 p.m. at the Parkland Mall. This is a one day sale, and as you experienced plant-shoppers know, be there early in the day for best selection, especially if you are looking for specific plants! There are always eager gardeners on hand to answer any questions you may have, so mark that date down: Friday, May 27 at the Parkland Mall, Yorkton.
One more thing, and you will have to act on this promptly if you are interested: the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society is planning a bus trip to Dauphin on Saturday, June 4, where we’ll visit gardens and greenhouses. Would you like to come along? Members and non-members are welcome; just call Liz at (306) 782-2830 by Wednesday, May 18 if you are interested in this road trip and she can tell you all about it.
Okay, now on to gardening! Make a cup of tea and let’s catch our breath: the last week has shown us a bit of everything in our gardens! We could say: you know you’re a gardener in Saskatchewan if you are wearing a parka and working in your yard! But let’s hope it is onward and upward with the temps now!
Remember how we were chatting about trying at least one new thing in our gardens? We got a new (for us) plant called scabiosa. This one is a perennial, and while we did grow the annual many years ago, I wanted to do some homework on the perennial cousin. Research says that this is an “easy-to-grow” perennial, and will bloom from late spring until frost. They like full sun and well-draining soil, and if you can throw a few handfuls of compost around them, they’ll love you for it!
The plant is beautiful, a compact mound of tight foliage; the blooms are a purply-blue color, and you can see why the scabiosa is also called “the pincushion flower”. The blooms are delightful! Very unique! From what I read, they are not plagued by any pests or diseases, and do not require any special care except to deadhead them to keep them blooming profusely. And looking ahead three or four years, when hopefully the little plants will still be growing abundantly, we may have to divide them, but that is a happy problem and gives us a chance to share with a friend or add the plants to other locations in our gardens.
Best of all, they attract butterflies, which is very important. This year we made a point of planting more flowers in our little garden specifically for the butterflies and bees. I hope you were able to get your Cheerio seeds to help Buzz and his friends, and be part of the movement to plants 35 million wildflowers…but if not, plant some bee-friendly or butterfly-friendly flowers anyway! I was so glad to see bees in our yard already.
So have a great week, keep on planting and enjoying the soul-inspiring serenity of your yard, and be sure to wear a hat!
