YORKTON - Here’s a reminder: please join the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society at their Annual Fruit, Flower and Vegetable Show on Wednesday Aug. 9 from 11 a.m. till 3 p.m. at the Parkland Mall, Yorkton.
Last year we had a great time visiting with gardening friends at the show, we look forward to seeing you all again! Every show is beautiful and unique; we hope to have a nice variety of exhibits in a variety of categories including, flowers, vegetables, flower arrangements, houseplants, and containers. Everyone is welcome, admission is free! Bring a friend!
Recently, we were talking about the red lily beetle. We found a couple of the beetles in our garden, and as a fellow gardener told us, you have to be very quick to catch them! I saw one sneaky culprit on one of our lilies but it managed to disappear as I accidentally brushed the stem. When they fall on the ground they are on their backs, making them almost impossible to see. So please check your lilies, it is obvious this pest is here.
Also, I wanted to give an update about our ninebark. If you recall, we cut our ninebark back drastically this spring. It was about thirty years old, and quite woody and lacking shape. We thought that we will try cutting back, as recommended by another gardening friend, and if that didn’t work the shrub would be pulled out. I am happy to report that it is looking beautiful, very rejuvenated, and now has a very nice form in the garden. Keep it in mind if you have a shrub that needs a bit of revival; before pulling it out, give it one more chance and try cutting it back and see what happens over another season.
A very generous gardening friend gifted us with two ‘Karl Foerster’ grasses. I love this plant; we have had this beautiful specimen in our garden for years, but unfortunately it was in a spot that became the wrong spot because of the growth of a nearby spruce. So we were very grateful to receive these lovely replacements.
If you are looking for a perennial that will be a striking specimen plant in your garden, Karl Foerster is a great candidate! This plant is very hardy for our climate, and we love it because it has four season beauty, even looking lovely through winter snow.
Karl Foerster is an easy-going friend in the garden. It is not fussy about soil and can even tolerate heavier soil. It likes full sun, and if it can receive consistent moisture, it will do very well. There don’t seem to be any diseases or pests that affect this plant. It is a member of plants called ‘feather reed grass’, and while it has strong structure, growing up to four feet high in a dense clump, the seed heads are very delicate, and look beautiful on tall stems above the slender green leaves.
There are even variegated members of the family, such as ‘Overdam’ which has creamy white stripes on the leaves. This plant was one that we had in a container last year, and amazingly it overwintered. It survived but did look a little scruffy earlier in the summer. In fact, a visiting friend chuckled at its appearance, thinking it looked more like a wild grass stuck in a container!
So we became more diligent about watering this plant, and it looks in fine form again, especially as the delicate seed heads are now out.
Adding Karl Foerster to your plant collection will bring your garden a structural beauty and easy care, it’s a great plant!
Thank you to our friends at YTW for their great work each week. Visit the Hort society at www.yorktonhort.ca and have a wonderful week! Be careful of the heat!
