Franklinia at the Eclipse

I was at Vineland Nurseries a few days ago. This is a specialty nursery - the unusual and different.  There are many varieties of Japanese Maple.  It has all kinds of specialty conifers. I  came upon a large tree in a pot and it turned out to be a Franklinia.  This is a celebrated tree at Longwood as it was identified by the Bartrams - great Philadelphia botanists in the 1700's. It blooms in autumn with white Camellia flowers, so we are looking at the buds in the pictures below. "Philadelphia botanists John and William Bartram first observed the tree growing along the Altamaha River near Fort Barrington in the British colony of Georgia in October 1765. John Bartram recorded "severall very curious shrubs" in his journal entry for October 1, 1765. William Bartram returned several times to the same location on the Altamaha during a collecting trip to the American South, funded by Dr. John Fothergill of London. William Bartram collected F. alatamaha seeds during this extended trip to the South from 1773 through 1776, a journey described in his book Bartram's Travels published in Philadelphia in 1791. William Bartram brought seed back to Philadelphia in 1777 at which time William reported to his father that he had relocated the plant, but this time had been able to retrieve its seeds although it was not until after John's death (1777) that he was able to achieve flowering plants (1781). After several years of study, William Bartram assigned the “rare and elegant flowering shrub” to a new genus Franklinia, named in honor of his father's great friend Benjamin Franklin." What are our plans today for the "day the sun disappears?" Is this a story that will "eclipse" all others?  I look forward to the headlines full of puns.

Bees Come Down

I spotted the first blossom trees in Niagara.  But I have to admit I don't know what kind of blossoms they are.  I am thinking apricots.  I remember in 2012 when we had the mildest of winters, Ii saw apricots blossoms in March, and then there was cold weather so the crop didn't develop. I saw these trees across from the United Mennonite Home in Vineland. I went to Cherry Lane on Victoria Street, to see if there was anything blooming there.  Cherry Lane has quite a distinction.  This is a family where the tenth generation is farming.  But that isn't their fame.  What distinguishes their family is the development of the first red peach - Red Haven.  It's the best known one now. They also have a major processing and cherry brining facility. There's an overview of Niagara fruit growers here. Vineyards are showing the pink but at the ground level - this second picture is at Jordan Station. I think the flowers are a wild/weedy form of lamium.  I have a bit in my garden too. And I checked out my favourite weeping cherry tree on Niagara Street (across from Laura Secord High School) in St. Catharines, and the blossoms are showing pink. Have a Happy Easter and Passover Celebration.

Boston Ivy Days are Finishing

I have the leaf-retaining Red Maple out front.  It will be the last tree to lose its leaves and is still holding on to them. Last week I saw the last of the boston ivy.  I was fascinated by the wall at Vineland Research Station with the long leafless stems about 8 inches long.  They must have adapted to the light conditions and are able to reach out beyond the shade to catch the sun.  The more typical boston ivy habit is shown in the bottom two pictures with the brilliant golds and reds..

Vineland Research Station

I checked out the Vineland Research Station  last week.  There's a nice collection of flowering spring trees, including Paulownia, a warmer climate tree also known as the princess tree and empress tree.  It doesn't look like it will blossom this year, even though it is in the most protected location.  It has huge blossom heads with big flowers so is quite the show in spring.   There are some nice magnolias there, and you can see in the first picture's background the state-of-the-art greenhouses being constructed.  Vineland Research is a research and innovation centre and one of its latest projects is greenhouse technology.  With the construction, there were also some good abstracts on the metal bins and trailers. The same tree from the other direction shows a grove of cherry trees that should be in bloom this week.  More on Vineland Research Station here: http://vinelandresearch.com

Poinsettia Countdown - Who's the Favourite?

Grimsby is very close to the Vineland Research Station and it had its Poinsettia evaluation open house yesterday.  They grow poinsettias for evaluation by the commercial trade to find new and better poinsettias for market.  There are only a few places where the poinsettia trials take place, so it great to be invited to vote on our favourites so that they get a sense of what is popular with the public.

What would make a better poinsettia?  It would be things like: One that grows straight up so that the branches don't break off when you take it out of the plastic sleeve.  One that has lots of coloured petals to make a big show.  One that grows quickly to come to market sooner.  

So there I was with Brian, my brother, who is the lily hybridizer, going from plant to plant looking at the differences and improvements.  I saw so many fellow gardeners too - it was a wonderful event.  

Check out Vineland Research at: 

http://www.vinelandresearch.com

There's a cogeco video at:

http://www.vinelandresearch.com/news/poinsettias-research

Here are some of the highlights:

Niagara's Continuing Blossoms…June Flowers

I walked about my neighbourhood earlier in the week and took some photos of the lilac tree next door.  While it is shaped like a bush, it is the size of a lilac tree - more than 10 feet high.  Here's a multiple exposure of the blossoms.

Then I returned to the Vineland Research Station to check on the Paulownia Tree, also known as Empress Tree, but it isn't going to bloom, given the difficult winter we had.  I got a big surprise, as the Cherry Grove was in full bloom - with the leaves out.  I had seen it 2 weeks ago and there was sporadic blossoms, so I had assumed it was winter damage as well.  

The Vineland Research Station was originally a gift of Moses F. Rittenhouse in 1906, and has been contributing to the development of tender fruit varieties for decades.  It has turned its attention to include the wine and greenhouse industries in the last 10 years.  Today, there's a winery located on site - Foreign Affair.

A Water Garden of Wonder

Niagara seems to be home to some wonderful homes, and this is a special one with a water garden outside the living room window that is on display all year. We were on a garden tour recently (July 2013), and had a great experience at the garden of Terri and Wayne Rubel.  

The garden has been featured in magazines and blogs - Wayne's creative water garden feature is the source of the curiosity.  He has set  a vase filled with water upside-down vase above the pond water line. When he puts some fish food in the vase, the fish swim 'up' to get it.   Here's the wonderful combination of water feature and special feature.