WhatFinger


Wes Porter

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.

Most Recent Articles by Wes Porter:


January Gardening

According to the late Ogden Nash, the best place to face the notorious New England winter was “at the bottom of Florida.” Alas, the Poetess of the Prairies, Sarah Binks, never had that option. On the family farm outside Willows, Saskatchewan, she penned: A long, quiet winter with plenty of snow, And plenty of barley; it’s eighty below; Barley in the heater, salt pork in the pantry –How nice you never feel cold in this country.
- Sunday, January 10, 2010

February Gardening

Lyricist Alan Jay Lerner was renowned for catching the very essence of problems facing humanity. The late Lee Marvin opined in Lerner’s Paint Your Wagon how:
They muddy up the winter And civilize it, into a place Too uncivilized Even for snow.
- Sunday, January 3, 2010

Clean Air Kits

Surprises come in many sizes. What rolled out of its mailing box first looked like a tennis ball on diet – or perhaps a golf ball over-indulging in carbs. But the leaflet with it from the Britt Lawson at McKenzie inquired: “Have you grown your clean air today?”
- Monday, September 28, 2009

The Return of the Giant Hogweed

Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegassianum), also known south of the border as the cartwheel flower, resembles in appearance an outsized Queen Anne’s-lace. Unfortunately, it is much less benign. In fact, it is downright dangerous. After being collected in Russia’s Caucasian Mountains in the 19th century, it escaped from English country “natural” gardens with devastating effect.
- Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Oh, no! Not Frankenflowers!

It had to come. We wish it hadn’t. But there’s one in every crowd. Last month we wrote of testing new shrubs from the Proven Winners stable. Blue Chip Buddleia, Blue Chiffon Hibiscus, Let’s Dance Moonlight Hydrangea and Lilac Bloomerang all proved impressive, survived under harsh conditions and, over a year, appeared reliable. Just the thing for the average homeowner, you’d think.
- Tuesday, September 15, 2009

What Went Wrong?

After what has masqueraded as summer, we all might sympathize with Tim Entwisle, who heads Australia’s Sydney Royal Botanic Garden. He says the Land of Oz needs five or six seasons to suit its climate. Australia should “unhook” itself from the “arbitrary” four seasons it inherited from Britain says the scientist. Entwisle suggests ‘sprummer’ between spring and summer along with ‘spriner’ for early spring. How about ‘frizzer’ for the period proceeding spring here in the land of milk and maple syrup?
- Tuesday, September 8, 2009

September Gardening

Garden centres are displaying colourful illustrations of bulbs in bloom over bins filled with the same. Don’t be deceived by bargain prices. The simple rule has it that the bigger the bulb, the better the flower next spring. The big box stores are far too fond of pathetic packages of the bulb equivalent of shrunken heads.
- Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Meteorological Matters: Rain on St. Swithin’s Day

Winchester, the ancient capital of Wessex in south-central England is a beautiful city. Or was before the Forces of Mamon took over. However, turn away from the city centre and its hubbub into the cloistered quiet of Winchester Cathedral. Sheltered in its magnificent calm are the remains of many that were once mortal.
- Monday, July 6, 2009

July Gardening

Plants are intelligent, says Marcos Bruckeridge of the University of São Paulo’s botany department. He told an interviewer from New Scientist: “We put our brains to work for them, to look after them and water them. So who dominates who? Man or plant?”
- Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Slapping on the Mustard

United States President Barack Obama recently enjoyed a hamburger in a local restaurant. He didn’t enjoy the publicity though when it was revealed he ordered Dijon from France and not American mustard. And what then is English mustard?
- Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Highrise Horticulture

We are constantly approached on this subject. Frankly, it is almost always all talk, no action. However, recently there seems to have been a small break in any otherwise cloudy vista and highrise horticulture or ‘skyscaping’ is finding a growing number of enthusiasts. The mainstream media often uses the term ‘roof garden’ interchangeably for either just this or, more often, the ‘green roof’ planted for environmental reasons rather than occupant use. The two are not the same.
- Monday, June 15, 2009

Timing of Tomatoes

Tomatoes are in the same botanical family as peppers and eggplants, Solanaceae. Like them, they originated in considerably warmer climates than our own. Thanks to this, their tolerance of cold soil and air temperatures are low. And this spring has been a cold and wet one.
- Monday, June 8, 2009

June Gardening

The chances of finding someone who actually knows something in a Canadian Tire is as remote as a Canadian team ever winning the Stanley Cup,” claimed Roy MacGregor, writing in The Globe and Mail. Novice and even experienced gardeners might feel the same way when visiting the various big box stores alleged ‘garden centres.’
- Tuesday, June 2, 2009

June Gardening

“The chances of finding someone who actually knows something in a Canadian Tire is as remote as a Canadian team ever winning the Stanley Cup,” claimed Roy McGregor, writing in The Globe and Mail. Novice and even experienced gardeners might feel the same way when visiting the various big box stores alleged ‘garden centres.’
- Monday, June 1, 2009

Silly Seed Claims

Sure, the city vegetable patch has been elevated mightily in the local media. So has the amount of questionable information presented.
- Sunday, May 31, 2009

Tulips Came from Turkey

After being sheltered in Ottawa during the Second World War while their country was under the heel of the Nazis, the Dutch royal family demonstrated their appreciation by presenting Canada’s capital city with a gift of tulips. Ian Fleming, the English writer who created James Bond, called Ottawa a grey city. He can’t have visited during tulip time. Every May Ottawa comes alive with – no exaggeration – millions of bulbs. Indeed, gardens everywhere from coast to coast are aglow with brilliantly coloured tulips. And almost every one of the bulbs that produced them came from the Netherlands.
- Monday, May 25, 2009

The Home Renovation Tax Credit Includes Landscaping

Revenue Canada isn’t exactly advertising it widely, but the Home Renovation Tax Credit can be claimed against landscaping expenses. The catch? The 15 per cent credit may only be claimed on costs over $1,000 and it is limited to a maximum of $10,000. Since Rev Can’s offer ends 10 February next year, it effectively limits landscaping to the present season over most of the country. Still, 15 per cent could equal as much as $1,500, making for good reason to upgrade the home surroundings.
- Monday, May 18, 2009

Raising your own vegetables, herbs and fruit

Ready to join the growing numbers of wannabe food raising home farmers? After all if Michelle Obama can do it, why can’t you? This is her very first veggie garden too. And get this – it is all-organic, just like that Governor General Adrienne Clarkson established in 2001 at Rideau Hall, her Ottawa digs on Sussex Drive. It cost $2,483 and the assistance of the National Capital Commission.
- Monday, May 11, 2009

May Gardening

May Day, celebrated on the first day of the month in many Western European countries, dates back to at least Roman times. Bona Dea, the "good goddess," was celebrated on 1st May to assure fertility of both earth and women.
- Monday, May 4, 2009

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