The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be holding their first meeting of the fall on Wednesday, September 20 at 7 p.m. in the SIGN building on North Street in Yorkton. Our special guest speaker will be John Tropin, talking to us about “Water Plants and Fish Ponds”. I know many of you have lovely ponds in your yards, or perhaps you are wondering how to get started. John will have great information for us about how to start or maintain this project. With changing weather just around the corner, this is a timely topic to prepare your ponds and plants for winter, so don’t miss it! And remember, you don’t have to be a member to attend the meetings, everyone is welcome.
This is an ideal time to add perennials to our gardens. They still have time to establish themselves before winter, and they are not subjected to the heat stress of summer. I know sometimes we think “the garden is perfect, just the way I want it”, and we think we have nothing more to do. But in reality, that is never the case. Maybe for one brief season it might be, but that’s probably all. That’s why a gardener’s work is never done!
Plants in our gardens are finite: they grow, they flourish, and like people, they grow old and die. We know that our annuals have one brief, shining season to impress us, and then when fall comes, they are gone. Perennials last longer, hopefully many seasons, but still their lives do not go on forever. We never think of perennials growing older, but they do, and at that point they require special care to continue in our gardens. In our own garden, we have a large clump of Siberian iris that was first given to Sweet Pea from my Auntie Frances’ garden. The stunning irises grew for years in Mom’s beautiful garden, and then when we had our own garden, Mom gave us a clump of that iris.
And as they do, the years go by in the blink of an eye, and one day this summer I looked at that clump of iris, now large and starting to hollow out in the middle, and I realized that it had been there for decades, and it was now time to take action to be sure that it will continue on.
The solution to making it look better and grow better is to divide it: but the task of digging that large clump out and breaking it apart is a bit daunting, I have to say! Still, we will have to try, because not only is it a beautiful, elegant iris, but it is connected to so many memories that I really want it to be part of our garden family.
I noticed that same thing with some of our hostas: for years we waited for them to fill in and make a pretty, full bed. They now have done so; but in the next couple years they will have to be split because they are on the verge of looking crowded.
Some perennials only have a lifespan of a few years, so they have to be replaced. Some plants that we may choose are not suitable to our garden or our climate, and their growth may be weak and not up to what they are capable of in better conditions. And as gardeners we know that some plants just don’t make it, despite our best efforts. So there is always a spot in our yards that needs replenishing or refurbishing.
So just in time, the hort society will be holding our Fall Plant and Bulb Sale on Friday, September 22 from 9:30 a.m. till 5 p.m. at the Parkland Mall, Yorkton. This sale is a great chance to get some very nice perennials to add to your collection. There will be gardeners on hand at the sale to answer your questions, so hope to see you there!
Visit us at www.yorktonhort.ca and have a great week!
