John Sylvester - taking garden pictures

John Sylvester (right) shows a garden club member photos from his latest book, 
Prince Edward Island - Landscape & Light.

The November 2014 meeting of the Garden Club of PEI featured John Sylvester, a PEI photographer who has published a number of books of photos of landscapes and gardens across PEI and Atlantic Canada.  His photos have also graced the covers of gardening magazines such as Canadian Gardening

He showed slides of pictures he has taken all over the world, including Hawaii, Iceland, California, and in national parks and gardens across Canada.

He started by showing us a close-up of a bright orange calendulla from the cover of Canadian Gardening. That issue also featured an article about the garden of our own garden club member Ken MacDonald.  Photos ranged from close-ups to a shot of Ken tending his garden, taken from the vantage point of the garage roof.

John has also done articles and pictures of Roger Yonker's rose garden, Betty Lou Frizzell's fall garden, and Carolyn Aiken's misty morning summer garden.

"In a well-designed garden, a lot of the work of composing a good shot has been done for me," says John.

He also offered tips on taking pictures of everything from tiny individual flowers to huge landscapes:

• Take a variety of images, from close-ups to landscapes, to tell the story of your garden
• Mid-day light is too harsh, creates strong shadows, and washes out colours.   Take photos in early morning or late afternoon or on an overcast or rainy day or in shade, where the light is softer and the colours are more saturated.  The "magic hour" is one hour after sunrise and one hour before sunset.
• If it is too dark, use a screen to bounce the flash onto the subject to get a softer light.
• Some flowers open only in bright sunlight.  If you must take pictures in bright sunshine, wait for a cloud to pass overhead to achieve richer colour.
• Use a tripod to eliminate camera shake - the pictures will be more crisp and clear.  "Setting up a tripod slows you down, and makes you pay more attention to composition."
• If you don't have a tripod, raise the ISO to 400 to 800, and hold the camera very steady
• Always consider the background - is it too busy, distracting the eye from the subject?
• Add raindrops to a flower with a spray bottle
• Use a polarizing filter to remove reflections and saturate colours, achieving a bluer sky
• Fall colours are best photographed on an overcast day - use a polarizing filter
• Use selective focus/depth of field to highlight the subject, allowing other objects to fade into the background:  fstop 2.8-4.0 to isolate individual flowers
• A wide angle lens gives greater depth of field. Use fstop 16 to 22 for an overall view of the garden, which gives a sharp focus to everything.
• Keep track of what is in bloom on PEI - eg. lupins and lady's slipper bloom at the same time in May
• Mosquitos are at their worst when lady's slippers are blooming in the woods!
• Taking pictures in windy conditions is a challenge.  A long exposure give a blurred effect of motion.
• When taking pictures of individual flowers, get down low, and set up a tripod
• To avoid hot spots or reflections, shade your subject with tinfoil or bristol board or a special shade or diffuser
• Or place the shade on the opposite side of the angle of the sun, so that the light bounces off and lights the dark side of the flower.
• A macro lens for taking closeups gives a shallow depth of field - the background will be blurred
• To achieve a starburst effect, shoot up into the sun, partially obscuring the sun eg. with leaves

Check out John Sylvester's beautiful photos at http://www.johnsylvester.com/

Corn Hill Nursery

The October 2014 meeting of the PEI Garden Club featured Bob Osborne from Corn Hill Nursery in New Brunswick.  Bob brought with him a selection of rose buds, all of which he could identify by name and characteristics.

Corn Hill Nursery has been in business for 34 years.  There are 85 acres under cultivation, and it's the largest Canadian plant nursery east of Montreal.  They sell 1,000 varieties of native and imported perennials, shrubs, trees, grasses, vines, small fruits, apples, ferns, and roses, all grown on site. They do their own grafting and propagation.

Corn Hill is also one of five sites across Canada that tests and evaluates new rose introductions as to their form, fragrance, disease resistance, and hardiness.  These roses are varieties bred by Agriculture Canada before it abandoned research on ornamental plants.

At the nursery during mid-June to mid-July, up to 125 varieties of roses are displayed on a stone table so that people can compare them.  Red roses are rarely fragrant.

Some of Bob's favourites

• Camperdown Elm, a beautiful gnarly tree that is common in the yards of the Brighton area of Charlottetown.  
• Olga rhododendron
• Star magnolia 
• hardy grapes  
• Canada Blooms - a new pink rose introduction.  It is the most fragrant rose he has every come across, as well as being long stemmed, and lasts up to 5 days when cut.
• roses that are orange, yellow, multi-coloured with reddish leaves
• The most dependable clematis is the original favourite:  Jackmanii
• rugosa and Explorer roses because they are so hardy
• Canadian Artists is a new series of hardy roses

Roses
The old garden roses like hybrid teas, floribunda and multiflora are repeat bloomers and very showy, but they are tender - not very hardy.  They can almost be considered annuals in our climate.  Cornhill is in zone 4 and he does not sell anything that does not survive there, and none of his roses need winter protection.  We in PEI, which is zone 5b/6a, should have success with his roses.

Plant roses in full sun.  There is no such thing as a rose for the shade.  The more shade, the fewer blossoms the rose will produce, and the leggier the plant.

Pruning
Climbing roses:  prune back old canes to the ground to encourage new growth. Tie canes to the trellis, because they will not actually climb.  In spring, cut back all winter-killed wood to just before a new, outward facing bud.  Also, take out any weak canes, and the oldest ones.

Transplanting
When transplanting a big plant, cut off most of the top growth.  If you don't, the top will collapse because the roots can't support all those leaves.

Grafting
The apples, pears, roses, cherries sold at Corn Hill has all been grafted on site.
New stock is started from fields of plants especially grown to take cuttings from.  Workers start at 5:30 am, because cuttings are full of water and sugar first thing in the morning, and are more likely to be successful.  The cuttings are dipped in rooting hormone and stuck into sand that is directly on the floor of the greenhouse - no plastic pots are used.  They cut off most of the top leaves, or the cutting will collapse.
At the end of November, when the leaves have fallen and the stock is dormant, it is dug up, graded, packaged and put into cold storage at -2 degrees.  In spring, the new plants are planted out, and are ready to harvest at the end of the season.

Campfire

Cedars
Bob talked about the cheap Emerald cedars available at big box stores.  These are dug by machine, and much of the root mass is sheared off.  This is one of the reasons that these trees often die after we plant them.  He recommends black cedars.  His cedars are more expensive, but will be more likely to survive.

Fertilizers
No artificial fertilizers are used.  Instead, the use manure and compost.  Nitrogen sources include alfalfa meal and blood meal.  Bone meal is a source of phosphorus. You need to feed the organisms in the soil, and the excrement from those organisms will feed the plants.

Pesticides
Corn Hill Nurseries uses no artificial pesticides or fungicides.  For fungicides, he uses wettable sulphur or 1 part hydrogen peroxide diluted with 20 parts water plus a few drops of dish soap to help the solution stick to the leaves.  When it breaks down, hydrogen peroxide becomes water and oxygen.  It does not harm the environment.  Hydrogen peroxide applied to the leaves is a preventive measure.  It will not cure an affected plant.  Early June is the best time to apply.

Mail-order vs Corn Hill
Bob says many mail-order plants are just newly rooted cuttings, that will take many years to mature.  His plants are field grown and have good root systems.  His roses are two years old.

Staff
Labour is so expensive, that they have had to cut staff.  Most of the people working there have been there 20 to 33 years.  He says these long-term staff are each worth three new hires, because he does not have to tell them what to do.

Cornhill Nusery is a 3-hour drive from Charlottetown.
For more information, visit www.cornhillnursery.com

Arbor Nursery

The Garden Club of PEI meeting for September 2014 was a tour of Arbor Nursery in Earnscliff.
The nursery is managed by Sheila and Dwight MacIntyre.

Sheila

The nursery has been selling its stock of trees to garden centers and landscapers since 2010.  Recently, the nursery has begun to welcome home gardeners as well.

Arbor Nursery's location close to the south shore of the Island ensures that the trees are acclimatized to the wind, temperature, light and salt spray they will need to withstand to grow on PEI.  The wind causes an increase in the taper of the trees' trunks, which allows greater resistance to breakage.

The trees are grown in unique "grow bags", which allow the root structure of the tree to be kept intact when the tree is dug out and moved after purchase.  When planted in a permanent location, the grow bag must be removed to allow the roots to spread.  The grow bag has been found to be lighter and easier to handle than a pot or burlap and wire basket.  It also allows trees to be removed at any time during the growing season.

Dwight

A wide variety of trees are available, including red oak, English oak, honey and starburst locust, red maples, crimson king maples, amur maples, heartnut, white pine, river birch, and many many more.

Driving directions from Charlottetown:

From Charlottetown, take the Trans Canada Highway East towards Wood Islands. 
Just past Cherry Valley Cove Road, turn right onto Route 270 [McInnis Point Road]. 
Then turn slight left onto Route 268 [China Point Road].
Next turn left onto Penn Point Road and continue to #115.

For more information, call 902-651-3020.
Visit www.arbornursery.ca

SOME GARDENS OF JAPAN - March 19, 2014 meeting

The presentation on 'Gardens of Japan' at the Garden Club of PEI on March 19 included not only national gardens or gardens on imperial palace grounds, but also less 'official' ones such as private gardens, and community or family gardens.

The photos seen by the audience were taken on a trip by the presenter in March 2013. Since Japan has four seasons like in Canada, one can expect different landscapes and natural scenery depending on the season. There is also a large climate difference between the northernmost part of Japan such as Hokkaido Island, and the southernmost part, Kyushu Island, where a subtropical climate can be found on the south coast.

Therefore most areas visited (from Tokyo and Kanazawa in the north to Nagasaki and Kochi in the south) had their deciduous trees still bare in general at the beginning of March, and even the spring bulbs were only starting to show up in most areas except in the south. But as March went on nature gradually woke up, and the best example of this is the 'sakura front'. 

In a few words the Sakura front means that weather forecasters, at that time of the year, will include in their broadcasts the expected time of the blooming of the cherry trees in any given area of the country. As can be expected this will start in the south of Japan first and gradually move up north, hence the word 'front'.

Why such emphasis on blooming cherry trees? The sakura (cherry blossom) holds a very important place in Japanese culture. Not only is it the national flower, but for centuries cherry blossoms have been cited in poetry, illustrated in paintings, more recently used in films, and celebrated for their ephemeral beauty. One way the Japanese celebrate the cherry blossom time is with the 'hanami', i.e. flower viewing. But it's more than that: people are having picnics under blooming cherry trees, and it's almost a national holiday!

Because most of the deciduous trees were bare & there were very few flower species in bloom at the time of that trip, this allowed the opportunity to focus on the general structure and accessories of the Japanese garden, and especially on the tree shapes.

Interested readers who want more information on Japanese Gardens can check the Wikipedia website for an excellent introduction: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_garden . In short, a Japanese garden will create miniature idealized landscapes in an abstract and stylized way (cloud pruning), and is designed for recreation and aesthetic pleasure (nobles, emperors) or for contemplation and meditation (temples, shrines). Sometimes botanical gardens in different parts of the world will have sections displaying plants from other countries, and many will feature a Japanese garden.

Here are some views of the gardens of Japan described in the March 19 presentation (click on any photo to enlarge) :

This (left : Tokyo Imperial Gardens) is a very typical representation of some important features of the Japanese garden : water (can either be a pond, a stream or a waterfall), buildings such as tea houses, and cloud pruning (niwaki) of various species of trees.

Cloud pruning here is performed on Japanese black pines (pinus thunbergii), a tree that is also one of those used for bonsai training. Cloud pruning can be seen as a form of topiary, a kind of living sculpture.

TREE SUPPORT : trees of special significance are sometimes supported by a system of vertical posts and horizontal beams that can be quite elaborate:

On the left, a deciduous tree has a hollow trunk that was filled with various materials and wrapped with ties, then supported vertically in several places.

On the right, a Japanese black pine is supported in many places on his right and left trunks, some of the beams being in the water. Both trees are located in the Kenroku-en Garden in Kanazawa (see below).

SNOW PROTECTION (yukitsuri): the Kenroku-en Garden is an old (1620s) private garden that is now one of the 'Three Great Gardens' of Japan. Located in Kanazawa, where in the winter there is a lot of wet snow, the garden has many trees, bushes and hedges that need snow protection due to that snow. For this, Japanese crew use bamboo poles and ropes usually attached in a tent-like fashion. These structures are installed in the fall and dismantled in the spring. Some examples :

The round hedge on the left has three of those tent structures. And on the right, the tents seem to reach for the sky over the pines they are protecting. Several areas in the garden were protected this way, and in addition to all the permanent tree supports, it provided quite an unusual sight!

MOSS : many of those old gardens don't really have lawns; instead the ground is covered with mosses of different kinds and colors. They are not to be trespassed on - visitors remain on the designed paths. 

GARDEN MAPS AND PLANS : most large gardens provide a good map at the entrance, and often the descriptions are bilingual (Japanese and English):

Brochures (mostly bilingual) are also available most of the time.

SAKURA AND HANAMI : here are some photos (Ueno Park, Tokyo) of this very Japanese-specific element of their culture :

There are dozens of cherry tree varieties grown for ornamental purposes, most with double petals, and sterile. The Sakura time is also an important international touristic attraction in the spring, especially in Ueno Park.


Dozens of mature cherry trees line this central lane of the park, under which people install blue tarps and have a picnic (food and sake), day and night. In spite of the huge crowds the festivities unfold in a rather calm and disciplined fashion.


STONE LANTERNS : stone lanterns are an integral part of any traditional Japanese garden, large or small. They too can be large or small. From left to right : Ueno Park, Tokyo; Sengan-en Garden, Kagoshima (that one was huge); Isahaya Park, Nagasaki.

Other interesting features of Japanese gardens are the use of gravel and sand such as in zen gardens (on the right, Kinkaku-ji Temple, Kyoto), on the grounds of Buddhist temples for example, and which are designed for contemplation and meditation.

PRIVATE GARDENS : as can be expected, many regular citizens in Japan will have cloud-pruned pines, stone lanterns, gravel and rocks in their gardens, even small ones.

 
The owner of this garden (left) in Nagasaki, a retired gentleman, made a clever use of perspective to provide depth to an otherwise narrow space (around 6 m) between his house and his neighbor's (background). The properties are separated by a pruned hedge of pine and this garden displays several meticulously cloud-pruned bushes and trees. Perspective is provided among other things by a cascading of pebbles interspersed with rocks.

COMMUNITY OR FAMILY GARDENS : due to the high density of the population (124 million) and the scarcity of agricultural land, every available space is being used to grow food, usually greens, rice (paddies) or tea (hedges):

Above: family garden in Kagoshima; above right: what in Canada would likely be used as a lawn with perhaps flower beds, between a parking lot and a street, here is rather used as a veggie plot (greens) in the middle of Kyoto; right: community garden in Naruse, Machida, Tokyo, along the Onda River.

 

Even narrow streets with no sidewalks and where a car can barely make it - or lanes - will be lined with rows of flower pots or even pots of greens : a street in Matsudo, east of Tokyo (left); a lane in Tokushima (right).

 

SOME PLANTS FROM JAPAN THAT WE USE IN OUR GARDENS :

Many gardeners are familiar with, among others, the Japanese maple, which leaves turn a bright flame red in the fall; the Japanese iris; the Japanese wisteria, a robust vine with long clusters of fragrant lilac flowers; the Japanese larch; the Japanese cedar; the Japanese (or Chinese) lantern, with red-orange lantern-like papery envelopes that make great dry bouquets; and the hostas, which were imported from Japan.

(article and photos by Denise Motard)

Gardens of the World : Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden, Kaneohe, Hawaii

The Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden is a fairly large (400 acres) and recent (1982) garden established by the US Army Corps of Engineers in Kaneohe as flood protection for that town of about 35,000 people. Kaneohe is part of the City and County of Honolulu on the east shore of the island of Oahu, and is home to a large Marine Corps Base. 

Because of that role as flood protection, the garden includes a large pond whose water is retained by an earth dam, and which attracts various fish and birds, including the endangered Hawaiian coot (photo below). This garden is also a recreation area with various activities such as catch and release fishing, picnicking and camping.

Several collections of plants native to various tropical and subtropical regions of the world can be found there. The trees are still small in most part due to the fairly recent development of the garden. Here are some notable plants found there, first some flowers:

Heliconias (also called lobster claws or false bird-of-paradise) are a family of plants belonging to the order of 'zingiberales', which includes ginger, banana, cardamom and turmeric. With their long hanging spikes of brightly colored and delicately shaped flowers, heliconias are cultivated all over tropical and subtropical parts of the world as ornamentals and for the flower trade. The flowers are an important food source for forest hummingbirds.

The white shrub flower below, Princess or Lady of the Night, is fragrant and from Puerto Rico, and is available from nurseries as an ornamental. The plant is part of the potato family:

Another white flower that MUST be shown here is the plumeria, native to Mexico, Central and South America, but so ubiquitous in Hawaii that it would be easy to believe that they are endemic there. In the Pacific Islands the flowers are used to make leis but also to indicate the relationship status of a woman when worn in her hair, depending on which side (available if on the right, taken if on the left). Due to their fragrance the flowers are also used in perfumery (soaps, incense, etc.)

Switching to orange flowers, here's the Colville's Glory, a tree from the bean family and native from Madagascar. Those trees display large clusters of showy flowers and are used as ornamentals for that reason:

 

And the pods are quite pretty too:

The flowers above are called 'naupaka' in Hawaiian. Eight species are endemic to Hawaii. A closer look (by clicking on the photo) will show the flowers as if they were cut in half. There are legends around why this flower grows this way, one being that 'a woman tears the flower in half after a quarrel with her lover. The gods, angered, turn all naupaka flowers into half flowers and the two lovers remained separated while the man is destined to search in vain for another whole flower.^'

The kukui or candlenut tree (flowers below with a fruit and leaves) has a long history of economic importance to several civilizations, including Hawaii, and because of this it is the tree state. One of those uses is for kukui nut oil. (When hiking on forest trails in Hawaii one can often walk on beds of fallen kukui nuts.)

Now for some interesting fruit - figs are a delicious fruit for humans, but they're also an important food source for many birds and mammals. There are more than 800 species of fig trees, some of which can grow more than 20 m. Here's one below:

 
Gardenia flowers, for those who can grow them in our climate, are very fragrant and a joy to see. During my visit to the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden though, the gardenias were no longer in bloom. Instead, grapefruit-size fruits were adorning the bushes of this Transvaal gardenia (above).

Nature provides a diversified array of defenses to plants to protect them from unwanted predators. Among those there's the spiny palm tree, of which several species exist (below):

Another palm tree with an interesting trunk pattern is the talipot palm tree (from India and Sri Lanka), where the palm stems cross each other around the trunk:

The tree below - a white paperback or cajeput tree (from Australia and New Guinea) is shown for a very specific reason. 

This was the last tree I noticed at the end of my visit & for some reason I decided to tear off a small piece of bark as it seemed to detach easily. The bark piece that was coming off was larger than anticipated, but it's what I found beneath that quickly changed my mind:

For more information on that arthropod please click here. The visible part of that centipede is about the length of my hand (no exaggeration!), and we can see about two-thirds of it, based on the number of leg pairs. The head is hidden. Since then I have not touched ANY tree bark in Hawaii....
On a lighter note, here's the Hawaiian coot mentioned above, a bird of the hen family (as can be seen from its legs) but which is also a good swimmer:

(article and photos by Denise Motard)

Window boxes and containers

Emily Jewell took care of the technical aspects while Barb Jewell made her presentation.

At the February 2014 meeting of the Garden Club of PEI Barb Jewell, of Jewell’s Country Market in Marshfield PE,  spoke about her vast experience in creating window boxes and containers for her customers.  Her family business grows plants and creates containers for sale, does custom planting for residential customers, and also has a number of business customers, including the Delta Hotel in Charlottetown and across the street at the Merchantman Pub. Barb credits the staff of those establishments with helping with the daily tasks of deadheading and watering. 

 

Barb’s job at the greenhouse business includes ordering plants, scheduling and selecting the plants to be used in containers and hanging baskets.  Things get started in the greenhouse during the 12^th week before the last frost – which is the third week in March. 

Some customers come in with their own containers, and Barb will plant them with whatever the customer chooses.  She cautions customers to make sure the containers have proper drainage.  Some people put rocks in the bottom of containers but Barb fills her entire container with good quality soil-less mix.

She says that often the customers will choose the geraniums which are most vividly blooming at the time; however, by the time the customer sees the final planting, Barb has removed the flowers because falling petals which land on the leaves tend to cause botrytis – disease and yellowing. New buds will form quickly, and the planting will soon be full of blooms.

Choosing plants

Before you go to the nursery, make a list of the plants you want.  Do some research on the Internet or look through seed catalogues to get inspired.  Before buying, tip out the plant.  The roots should be white, not brown.

When choosing plants, group together plants with similar needs.  Plants with different needs will not thrive together in a container.  In a formal setting, choose a formal arrangement of plants, such as dracaena, geraniums, and neat trailers.  Plants around a pool should not have petals that blow off easily and end up in the water.  Choose large tropicals like cannas instead.

In late spring, Gerbera daisies are in full bloom and look beautiful.  But by late July, they stop blooming.  If you plant them in containers, make sure you have other plants that will take over and bloom once Gerberas no longer produce flowers.

Growing conditions

When choosing plants for containers, consider where the container will be placed.  A container which gets full sun all day will need different types of plants than one that will be placed in the shade.  Morning sun is not as intense as afternoon sun. 

Plant tags

Plants are sold with a plastic tag that contains a wealth of information.   It will let you know the botanical name, common name, colour of flowers and leaves, when it will bloom, whether it prefers sun or shade, and plant habit (i.e. trailing or mounding).

The tags also come with a label that you can scan with your smart phone.  You can even take a picture of the tag and the plant and create a digital record of the plants you purchase every year.  This will make it easier to choose plants next year.

Soil

When planting containers, plants will perform better if you use fresh soil every year. 

It is very important to use good quality soil-less mix which is a mixture of perlite, peat moss, cocoa fibre, and a chemical wetting agent.  It also contains a small amount of fertilizer.  The brands they use are ASB or Sunshine #4.  This comes in hard, compacted bales that need to be broken up and moistened.  The greenhouse has a machine that automatically breaks up the bales and adds water and makes it much easier to fill containers. 

Water

Watering is the most important job in the greenhouse, because plants dry out fast and can die fast.

Fertilizer

Because plants in containers have a limited amount of soil, and soil-less mix has very few nutrients, fertilizer should be applied twice a week.  20-20-20 slow-release is a good all-purpose fertilizer.  Barb tries to stay away from artificial fertilizers, and recommends making your own compost tea or manure tea to water your plants.  Organic fertilizer does not interfere with the beneficial organisms in the soil that keep roots healthy.
 

Never fertilize when the soil is very dry.  Moisten thoroughly before watering.  If the weather is very warm, flush the plant with straight water to prevent the build-up of mineral salts.

Vegetative vs seed started plants

A plant marked “vegetative” was started from a cutting, not from seed.  Vegetative plants are usually sold individually and are more expensive than those started from seed.  Vegetative plants are usually more vigorous, produce more flowers, and generally perform better.

Jewell’s buys thousands of unrooted cuttings and plants them up.  Their greenhouse has a warm-water misting stem and bottom heat, which provides ideal conditions.

Transplanting

Make sure the transplanting soil and the plant is moist.  When taking the plant out of the container, loosen the roots before transplanting. 

Geraniums

Jewell’s grows geraniums from cuttings and from seed.  About 75% of the geraniums they sell are red.  Vegetative geraniums are more vigorous and more expensive than those started from seed.

Recommended plants

• Proven Winners is a licensed brand that offers plants that are more expensive but are quite successful.

Gaura (above) Karalee Petite Pink

Calliope Dark Red geranium (above) – a cross between ivy and zonal geranium – very vigorous

Rocky Mountain Dark Red geranium(above) – with the proper light, these two should bloom all season

Boston Fern – (above) good for a shady or part-sun location.  They are lush and easy to look after.  Take them inside in the fall.  They are good in hanging baskets.

Lobelia – (above) choose vegetative varieties.  they are more vigorous and will last all season.  

Mounding habit is better than trailing

Coleus – many colours to choose from – some are more sun tolerant than others – check the tag - above is Keystone Copper, which tolerates sun and shade

Bidens (above) – fertilize every week, or it will get tired

Juncus (twisted)

Lantana- good for hot, dry areas

Trixi confetti liners - three different varieties grown together

For more information about Jewell's Country Market, visit http://jewellscountrymarket.com