Niagara Gardens - Beth Powell in Canfield

Garden art is a wide-open topic.  There are many styles of garden and possibilities for art in the garden.  Bracebridge's Artful Garden is a showcase of what's possible.  They feature more than 40 artists' work at the end of July.  This is where I first saw Floyd Elzinga's Pinecones. These pictures today are of Beth Powell's Canfield, ON garden.  Canfield is south of Grimsby on the escarpment, about 30 minutes away. There is everything from red wagons to dog houses, groupings of doors, a floating canoe garden and a Florida flamingo-inspired gazebo. And of course, there is much more than what you see here, as this is a large rural property and Beth is an ambitious garden artist. Repurposing is popular garden art style in the rural garden with the the open spaces and more relaxed settings. Beth takes familiar objects and gives them new definition through groupings and plantings. They delight and fascinate, inspire and motivate.  These are views of Beth's garden last year during the Hamilton Open Garden Week.  Beth's private garden is open to the public by appointment - one of those great public gardens in your own back yard.

Painted Ladies Wear Winter Coats

These Painted Lady pictures were taken last year.  You likely know this as there's been no snow so far - there was a fleeting moment in November and it disappeared quickly. This pretty section of Grimsby is composed of narrow lanes with little Victorian Gingerbread cottages all packed in together.  They date back to the late 1800s when first used as summer cottages. If we travel just a little west and south (away from the lake) the charm of the cottages gives way to houses built in the 1920s onwards.  Something I noticed yesterday was how the Grimsby Beach cottage streets are lined with mature trees.  But the other sections close to the Lake are missing this feature. It is too bad, as it creates a a more inviting and pleasant environment. These various home styles come to mind as Grimsby is engaged in building right now. The 5th Wheel truck stop has been sold and will become a condo development.  Nearby, at Casablanca will be the condo development called 'Lake House'.  And in the last week, an old apartment building on Main Street near us was demolished.

Lilycrest Gardens - The Hybridizer's Harvest

Lilycrest Gardens is my brother, Brian Bergman's lily hybridizing field on 5th Street near the QEW in St. Catharines. It is transitioning from its glorious floral display into its crop of hybridized lily seeds.  Here is one of the pretty crosses from previous years.

Wisteria Starting in Niagara...

We haven't left Mother's Day yet.  We found out about Mother's Day in the US. It is very different from Mothering Day in England.  In England it is celebrated far earlier in the year.  From Wikipedia: Mothering Sunday is a holiday celebrated by Catholic and Protestant Christians in some parts of Europe. It falls on the fourth Sunday in Lent (For Orthodox Christians in Europe and elsewhere, the fourth Sunday in Lent remembers St. John of the Ladder). Secularly, it became an occasion for honouring the mothers of children and giving them presents.  During the sixteenth century, people returned to their mother church, the main church or cathedral of the area, for a service to be held on Laetare Sunday. This was either a large local church, or more often the nearest cathedral. Anyone who did this was commonly said to have gone "a-mothering", although whether this term preceded the observance of Mothering Sunday is unclear. In later times, Mothering Sunday became a day when domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother church, usually with their own mothers and other family members. It was often the only time that whole families could gather together, since on other days they were prevented by conflicting working hours, and servants were not given free days on other occasions. By the 1920s the custom of keeping Mothering Sunday had tended to lapse in Ireland and in continental Europe. In 1914, inspired by Anne Jarvis's efforts in the United States, Constance Penswick-Smith created the Mothering Sunday Movement, and in 1921 she wrote a book asking for the revival of the festival; Its widescale revival was through the influence of American and Canadian soldiers serving abroad during World War II ; the traditions of Mothering Sunday, still practised by the Church of England and Church of Ireland were merged with the newly imported traditions and celebrated in the wider Catholic and secular society. UK-based merchants saw the commercial opportunity in the holiday and relentlessly promoted it in the UK; by the 1950s, it was celebrated across all the UK. The Wisteria are showing colour on Yates Street in St. Catharines so will be blooming in the 2 weeks.

Did Mother's Day Start Happy?

Did U.S. Mother's Day Start Happy? We look into history today.  And what do we find? The official holiday’s founder Anna Jarvis boycotted the holiday. Jarvis, a native of West Virginia, organized the first Mother’s Day celebration at a church in Grafton, West Virginia, in 1908 in memory of her own mother, who died three years earlier. She successfully campaigned to have the day adopted nationally, but by the time of her death in 1948, Jarvis had spent most of her personal wealth fighting the holiday she helped conceive. She apparently found the commercialization of Mother’s Day deplorable and sued groups that used the name “Mother’s Day” name to promote consumerism. She even lobbied the government to remove it from the U.S.’ official calendar. “Everything she signed was Anna Jarvis, Founder of Mother's Day. It was who she was," historian Katharine Antolini, author of “Memorializing Motherhood: Anna Jarvis and the Struggle for Control of Mother's Day,” told National Geographic. So much for a Romantic beginning!  Enjoy our day and the Niagara blossoms.  This orchard is on Highway 8 between Vineland and Beamsville.  It is the best white blossom orchard so far.  What makes it so is the distance between the trees and length of the rows so that the convergence happens at the end.  My name for this is "Blossom Heaven".

Spring Lake Effects

Lake Ontario was a dreamy scene on the weekend.  We could not differentiate between the water and the sky, with clouds blurring the horizon.  The boats all seemed the same size whether far or close - there was no depth of field.  I think of this moisture in the air as a Spring Lake Effect.  What happens is that there is constant circulation of off-shore breezes between Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment.  They moderate seasonal temperatures.  In spring this means they slow down spring warming, holding back the development of fruit buds until the danger of late spring frosts has passed. The VQA site says "these lake effects vary considerably with distance from the lakeshore and topography, giving rise to remarkable flavour distinctions between grapes of lakeshore sub-appellations nd those from further inland."

The Winter Garden I wonder what percentage of Canadians have a snow winter?  I guess it is over 95%.  The Winter Garden as portrayed in garden landscape books doesn't look like this.  There are hellebores, cyclamen, the pretty stems of yellow and red dogwood, and various winter-blooming plants.  Heather blooms in abundance in February on the west coast.  Not here - the ground is hard and unforgiving.  There is a  simplicity in the winter landscape.  Trees become the major feature with their trunks and branches.  Our snow-filled winter means a significant contrast between the winter and summer garden.  You can see it with the last photo.

Squirrel House Visit

I visited some of the Squirrel House Gardens images from this past summer, enjoying Elisabeth Hilton's beautiful garden compositions, including this wonderful statue in the garden and the winding path leading the eye out to more garden treasures.

I hope Elisabeth is enjoying warm weather compared to us here in snowy Niagara.

Orchids in Niagara

Niagara's Winter Crop

Niagara's Crops There are acres of greenhouses in Niagara.  Some stretch as far as you can see as you drive along the QEW or the Niagara Stone Road into Niagara-on-the-Lake.   We're looking at the orchid 'crop' growing in the Cosmic Greenhouses, in Beamsville.  I stopped in last week to see if they would allow photography and got a quick tour.  Plant production is efficient and scientific:  The orchids we see for sale in the grocery stores and florists take 19 months to grow from tissue culture sprouts to blooming plants. They start in warm greenhouses below, where they receive water and nutrients on a rigorous schedule.  When large enough, they are moved to the next greenhouse where it is cool.  Cool temperatures are needed to make phalaenopsis (what you see here) spike and bloom. And then they are off to our houses.  While it is great to see in winter, this isn't just a winter crop.  These orchids are grown year round, with the greenhouses heated and cooled to match the growing conditions needed.   Our third picture is at Niagara College in the learning greenhouses of the horticultural program. The usage instructions to students include 'maintaining a clean environment and no food or drink in the greenhouse'.  It looked like a cucumber crop in this special greenhouse, and in the larger greenhouse where we are allowed to walk around, begonia seeds will sprout for this summer's gardens.

Word of the Year 2014 and Jordan Wisteria

What does this Jordan Wisteria have to do with Word of the Year 2014?

I've shown pictures of this wisteria before - it is located on the Main Street in Jordan, the historic village that is home to Cave Springs Winery and the sister hotel and restaurant On the Twenty.  I was preparing some images for a contest where the theme is pergolas and arbours, and this one came to mind.  What is an arbour compared to a pergola?   My google search reveals that an arbour (also arbor) is a "shelter of vines or branches or of latticework covered with climbing shrubs or vines" whereas a pergola is "1: arbor, trellis 2: a structure usually consisting of parallel colonnades supporting an open roof of girders and cross rafters".

Sometimes the answers aren't as straight-forward as we expect.  Whichever way we call this, it is one of the most beautiful sights and smells in Niagara in mid-May.



Which picture do you like best?  Which one to enter in the contest?  Give me your advice.

Now on to the Word of the Year 2014.  As I searched for definitions, the Word of the Year for 2014 popped up a few times. Wikipedia gives me guidance on what this is about at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_the_year

Here are three for 2014:
Oxford Dictionary:  Vape.   It is an abbreviation of vapour or vaporize and it was added to Oxford's Dictionary in August 2014.  It is a verb and means 'to inhale and exhale the vapour produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device'.

Merriam-Wesbster: Culture.  Merriam-Webster chooses the most popular word experienced by the biggest spike in lookups in a year, as in celebrity culture, company culture, pop culture, culture shocks, media culture, etc.

Dictionary.com: Exposure.  This word was chosen in reference to the Ebola virus, widespread theft of personal information, and shocking acts of violence and brutality that dominated the news.  Encapsulating those themes, Dictionary.com chose exposure.

There are so many interesting things to find out every day.  

Niagara Scenes

This is Southbrook Vineyards on the Niagara Stone Road.  As it faces south in an open expanse, it has reflections of the sky all through the day.  This is the reflecting sky at sunset.  It is an imposing  structure - the wall stretches 200 metres long and is periwinkle blue in colour.  It changes in the day's light from the deep blue we see here to a dove grey in bright light.  In front of the building there usually are ponds reflecting the wall and building.  

Jack Diamond is the architect and the building won the 2009 International Architecture Award.  Looking out from the winery, one sees the Skyway that stretches over the Welland Canal. The picture shown here was taken in the spring of 2012 and the flowers in the field are dandelions.  

Lake Ontario South Shoreline Views

You saw the beautiful stretch of sandy beach at Port Dalhousie yesterday. Today we see the shoreline just west of Jordan.  We're facing west in these pictures - you can see the Hamilton escarpment in the background.  It's an expansive view that showcases the Lake and the shoreline.

The shoreline is very similar all along this area - from Martin Road to Tufford Road - the corresponding numbers on yesterday's map would be in the 10 to 14 range.  It is called low shoreline.  The road is right against the shoreline with houses scattered along the north side.  Some of the houses are old cottages from days gone by, and others are modern houses with the lake view, but not the shoreline mansions further west.  The road starts and stops.  It is not continuous along the lake.  I expect this is due to erosion and property ownership. There are small stretches of private lanes and roads and property that doesn't have public access of any kind.   

I've explored this area in the past - looking for orchards overlooking the water.  However, that's not the normal situation - the winds are too strong at the water's edge.  It will be blustery out there today.

Where's the Beach?

Lake Ontario South Shore Beaches

A few weeks ago I was looking for more information on the Charles Daley Park dynamic lagoon.  I came upon the 2009 study of south shore beaches.  I had no idea that there were 58 distinct shoreline areas.  The formal definition is 'reaches'.  These are "a length of shoreline having common physiographic characteristics, shore dynamics, environmental elements and land use."

Our pictures today include Port Dalhousie's lighthouses from the west side - from Lakeside Park.  It is 28 on the map.  At the shore is what remains of the amusement park at Lakeside Park.  All that's left is the antique Carousel which has been beautifully preserved.  One can still ride for 5 cents in the summer.  Lakeside Park has a long, long sandy beach with great views of the sky in both directions.  It seems particularly exposed here.  The day of these pictures there were huge waves beating a frozen shoreline.  In Grimsby there was no ice on the shore yet.

We'll be visiting many of these points on the south shore and see what these different reaches have to offer.

Blue Lilies - Can there ever be?

I gather the genes aren't in a Lilium lily for there to be blue flowers.  I did this one in Photoshop to see what a blue lily might be like.  This lily was at Lilycrest Gardens, my brother, Brian Bergman's hybridizing field in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Lotus - How Beautiful!

I find the Lotus flower to be amazing and magical.  Its centre is what makes it so wonderful - all the stamens around the dinner plate centre, and then petals in beautiful colours.

Here's an interpretation of the last image.

Turn Around and It's All Different

Something I notice in Niagara is how different the weather is from place to place. Yesterday I was in St. Catharines with pretty skies of a sun behind transparent clouds, and when I got back to Grimsby it was stormy clouds crowding the horizon and speeding along.

I was in Niagara Falls a few weeks ago and at Queenston Heights took some pictures of Brock's Monument.  You can see how different the sky and clouds are from these two opposite angles.

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: