Those that have to mow lawns after dog owners have failed to clean up after their pets can hardly be blamed for erecting signs discouraging such antisocial activities. But residents around Main Square in Toronto were recently bemused by a sign reading, “Please keep dogs off grass.”
Given the appreciation of a certain segment of the population for ‘grass’ of a different nature, questions were raised as to whether this meant to keep canines off cannabis. Close by were observed other signs asking people not to feed a mysterious bird called a ‘pidgeon.’ Perhaps that noted in Taipei, Taiwan by Catalina Magnusson and submitted to
The Daily Telegraph will suffice though. It read: “Please leash your dog. If nature calls, please scoop it up.” However, the best sign ever seen with regard to the problem read, “This lawn does not flush – please drain your dog elsewhere.” Its location will not be divulged.
Diversion No. 1
Canada can finally boast of an
Amorphophallus titanum, or Titan Arum, demonstrating its odiferous presence. The world’s mightiest inflorescence has finally bloomed at the Niagara Parks Floral Showhouse in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
A thick bark mulch suppresses weeds and enhances garden appearance. But it is robbing the surrounding plants of nutrients, according to research cited by Greg Hill, owner of Maple Hill Tree Services in Streetsville, Ontario. Quoted by Sean James in Landscape
Trades magazine, Hill emphasizes that disease-free wood chips, composted for “multiple years”, is a preferable mulching material.
Meanwhile in the veggie patch it is time to plant out tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants along with perhaps okra and yard-long beans. Why not earlier when every supermarket seems to be selling the plants? Simply because air and soil temperatures both have to be warm enough, above 20ºC, to avoid transplant shock and to assure pollination.
Diversion No. 2
A daily glass of pomegranate juice for a fortnight produced a surge of testosterone, which increases sexual desire in both men and women, according to Edinburgh researchers. The study, by researchers from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, involved 58 volunteers aged between 21 and 64 [Source:
Daily Mail]. Unfortunately a U.S. judge is not in agreement.
June is strawberry month. Finally we can relish the homegrown fruit and leave those California-raised supermarket offerings to the wood carvers. According to Rebecca Rupp, Bernard le Bovier de Fontanelle, French writer and gourmand, attributed his longevity to strawberries. He died in 1757, a month short of his 100th birthday.
But did Bernard have to raise the fruit himself? Was he confronted in his pursuit of edible excellence by even more problems than are caused by Parliament? Alas, the mild winter brings predictions of a pest proliferation. Ontario turfgrass expert Pam Charbonneau reports increased white grub infestations. Later will come bluegrass weevil, bluegrass billbug, turfgrass ataenius, not forgetting the dreaded hairy chinch bug. Then in fall will time for leatherjackets, the larvae of crane flies or daddy longlegs. And all these are mainly lawn problems.
Diversion No. 3
Thirty-six-year-old alleged comic Russell Brand was spotted as he walked through Hollywood carrying red roses, which he tossed over the road as he went. Russell was as usual exiting a Hollywood yoga class, according to the
Daily Mail.
The Bible is credited with being the first to use the phrase,
“A thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7). Plants with thorns, hooks and prickles can be planted under windows and alongside entranceways to discourage those of a larcenous nature. In sunny locations on well-drained soil, these can even include cactus such as prickly pear, Opuntia, which has been successfully overwintered outside as far north as Thunder Bay, Ontario. Several other lower-growing cacti are in fact native to Canada, including at least one that thrives on the Prairies.
Last month the federal minister of finance found time to press a button at the mint in Winnipeg that sent the last one-cent pieces clattering down the chutes. What has this got to do with gardening, you may well ask? Why, have you never heard the wise old horticultural advice to take care of your peonies and your dahlias will take care of themselves? A nickel for your thoughts.
Diversion No. 4
Readers, rejoice! Gardening is the only hobby where costs aren’t growing. A review of leisure spending found that, while the costs of 10 out of 11 activities studied had risen more quickly than inflation, the price of gardening had not – at least in Britain [Source:
Daily Mail]
Biochar, or charcoal produced at high temperatures in a reduced oxygen atmosphere, is valuable soil amendment that is coming into increasing prominence. But as Jeff Fitlow of Rice University, Texas, recently warned that it must be produced at temperatures of 450ºC or higher. In fact lower temperatures can cause it to be detrimental. The findings by a team led by Rice University biogeochemist Caroline Masiello, published in the
Journal of Biomass and Energy, confirm what had been revealed in recent years in Australia: not all biochar is created equal.
Finally, a decision on whether to simplify timekeeping by abolishing leap seconds has been postponed until 2015, we learn from
New Scientist magazine. Some astronomers criticized the plan, which would have created a discrepancy between the time and the Earth’s orientation relative to the stars. The next leap second will occur on 30 June – and allows us that much more time for gardening.
