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June is for Roses

POOR FOR PARASKAVIDEKATRIPHOBICS GOOD FOR GARDENERS



It is not a good month for paraskavidekatriphobics (fear of Friday 13th) and triskaidekaphobics (those afraid of the number 13 itself). They can find solace, however, in that it is the only such on this year’s calendar. And they’re in good company. Marlene Dietrich was an astrology devotee, loathe to ignore omens, as noted Steven Bach in his biography of the acclaimed entertainer. Ernest Hemingway, on board the Île de France in 1934, wrote of how she refused to join a table where twelve are already seated. A more recent thespian with somewhat similar beliefs is Shirley MacLaine.

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Nevertheless, take it from here, June is the month for gardeners – and roses. Cleopatra, for her first meeting with Antony at Tarsus in Cilicia, 41 B.C., had the entire floor in the saloon of her royal barge covered with rose blooms to the depth of several feet. In Canada two millennia later, Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote poetically, "The night was so very still that one should have been able to hear the whisper of roses in blossom . . .” (Anne of the Island, 1915). Less so, perhaps, was Aunt Sponge who declared, “I look and smell as lovely as a rose!” according to Roald Dahl: James and the Giant Peach (1961), and even less elegantly by Canadian garden writer Wes Porter:
Roses are red, some even blue Lots of weird names, some scentless too
All of which is a sneaky way of announcing that this 21 and 22 June will see the First All Canadian Rose Show. Hosted by the Hamilton Burlington Rose Society and held at the Royal Botanical Gardens Centre, 680 Plains Road East, Burlington, Ontario further details are available at canadianrosesociety.org. All this is very well, but weeds take over where gardeners fail to tend. Natural gardens being a contradiction in terms if not an outright oxymoron, their design and maintenance is, it has been claimed, the extreme height of artistic skill. And, it might be added, at times some basic hard work. “As every modern gardener appreciates, a natural-looking garden can take as much artifice to create and maintain as any more formal layout,” wrote Janet Browne (1996). Fathers Day falls on the 15th June this year. As Nan Robertson observed, “Ever since Eve gave Adam the apple, there has been a misunderstanding between the sexes about gifts.” A father who is not a gardener being yet another contradiction in terms, it is suggested pater familias be turned loose in a garden centre to choose for himself. W.C. Fields, for example, said he always favoured Five Roses. The 21 June is birthday of William Arthur Philip Louis, Prince William (1982) and also the Summer Solstice, time for those gardeners who desire so to renew their pagan roots. Long ago, according to Richters Herb Catalogue 2005 it was thought that fennel hung over a doorway at midsummer would prevent evil spirits from entering the home for the coming year. In the garden, the blooms will attract bees and butterflies. The late irrepressible Harry Secombe informed us a year shy of a half-century ago that “the Druids used the holly leaf for certain unsavoury ritualistic rites.” Before getting carried away and offer incinerated sacrifices at the altar consider it was Zero Mostel who, but a few years later advised that, “The gods will not like it if we send up a smoked virgin.” Soothsaying through use of the entrails of a defunct pigeon might find favour though, especially in Toronto, where they are often considered pests. Dunked ducks similarly out Alberta way, especially by Syncrude. Not all the oracles in Ontario, nay even the very nation, will suffice to deter pests. No, not even legislation decreed by that legal eagle out of Ottawa, now tarrying in Toronto, Dalton McGuinty. Might as well get in practice since, if we can believe Premier McGuinty out of the Central Dovecot a.k.a. Queens Park, in less than a year our gardens will become chemically clean, and pesticides improper. Natural is the way to go. When it comes to weeds, down on the knees, rather like saying your prayers – only the language tends to be a trifle different. Age and other infirmities make even bending, never mind kneeling difficult? Check out rittenhouse.ca for all manner of mechanical weed elimination devices. Fiskars also offers a “deluxe telescopic stand-up weeder” through Canadian Tire that comes with a 25-year warranty. Nice to see Fiskars are that confident in their tools – and that weeds will still be with us a quarter-century hence. Whitefly on the hibiscus? Vacuum them off the plant with a ‘Dust Buster.’ Aphids infesting the roses? Squish them between the fingers – in expiring they release odours that alarm other aphids. Boiling water poured between patio pavers eliminates of ants and weeds. Towards the end of the month or in early July, apply minute parasitical nematodes to lawns to take care of newly hatched white grubs. Can’t find these beneficial bugs locally? Check out natural-insect-control.com for these nematodes and many another nifty natural idea. Over a century ago, Mrs. M. E. Porter advised in her The New World’s Fair Cookbook and Housekeeper’s Companion (Toronto, 1891), “Cayenne pepper blown into the cracks where ants congregate will drive them away. The same remedy is also good for mice.” She probably meant it was bad, not good, for mice. Nevertheless it is interesting to note pest control approaching its full circumference again. One can only wait in breathless anticipation the return by Suzukian acolytes and similarly minded citizens to the practice of the caterpillar-killing cure advocated by the Roman writer Democritus. According to botanist Anthony Huxley (1978), a girl in a delicate condition (“who for the first time obeys her youth’s fixed laws, barefooted and ashamed” as Democritus less bashfully wrote) was to be led three times around the beds, when any caterpillars would instantly fall and die. Those city gardeners whose feet are well off the ground can now get their highs with Toronto Balconies Bloom. The new organization will be more than welcome for our skyscaping brethren who have languished in an association-less wilderness for nigh on three decades. According to a recent announcement in the trade magazine Horticulture Review, Toronto Balconies Bloom has a website ( torontobalconiesbloom.ca) under construction that will provide: A hub for cross-fertilization of ideas and coordination of resources and activities An online gallery of inspiring projects – models, stories, interviews Links to practical assistance – online, telephone, fact sheets, workshops/seminars, tips and deals on supplies. Support/coordination for the initiatives – contests, information forums, research, community engagement, promotion of prototype methods and tools. The city landscape includes acres of untapped growing space on its balconies. It’s a pleasure to learn the deficit is due to be corrected. But June, yes, the very month for all things floricultural, down and up, and for which we can always rely upon Sir William Schwenck Gilbert of Gilbert and Sullivan fame to epitomize in Ruddigore (1887).
Oh, happy the flowers That blossom in June, And happy the bowers That gain by the boon . . . Oh, happy the blossom That blooms on the lea,
Likewise the opossum that sits on a tree . . .


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Wes Porter -- Bio and Archives

Wes Porter is a horticultural consultant and writer based in Toronto. Wes has over 40 years of experience in both temperate and tropical horticulture from three continents.


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