January, 2008

The garden looks best in winter, one could say.

As I write this there is a rare winter fog over BEHL acres here in Stouffville. It is a layered fog, with the land lying quietly below. The 1830’s cabin to the south of the house is barely visible. It is a fog sandwich. With the spruce-tops poking out of the fog like a tooth pick, clad in green frilly foliage.

A club sandwich.

And when I walked out for the paper at the end of our lane I felt this incredible calm in the air. You could hear yourself breathe.

There is no summertime riot of colour, no insects causing a stir and the air would be as odourless as can be, had I not started a fire in our wood burning stove early this morning.

The only sign of life are the birds – of which we have plenty! Wrens, finches, juncos, jays, cardinals and morning doves by the dozen.

I know that this will sound like an advertisement, so be it. As my wife Mary likes to remind me every time I pay her a compliment, “Why should I believe you – you are in sales.” But the birds on our property come for the buffet that I provide at our 11 feeding stations. It is one of the perks of living in the country – to feed the birds to your hearts content and the limits of your budget.

I have been feeding our fine feathered friends the Mark’s Choice bird seed that we developed over the past year at Home Hardware. I have never ever had birds in this number and variety.

We developed this product scientifically, by looking over the list of ’20 most attractive seeds to song birds’ according to the North American Wildlife Service. We wanted to make a seed mix that would include the top 10 seeds most attractive to a wide range of birds……. Made sense, right? We eliminated 2 of the seeds as they were simply cost prohibitive [nice to have a bag of bird seed with your name on it, but not if no one will buy it!] We replaced those two with #11 and 12 on the list.

Then we ‘field tested’ it for a long time and in a variety of places, changing the quantity of each seed type until we were convinced that we indeed had a mix that would attract birds to beat the band.

It is now one of the best selling items in the Mark’s Choice line up of products, which numbers over 100 items [all exclusive to Home Hardware].

Seems that people who have used it have had the same experience …….and bingo – repeat customers!!

End of commercial.

Speaking of birds, nephew Geoff was over on Christmas day. Our 13 year old soccer playing intellect is an enthusiastic birder. So it came as no surprise that he just about jumped out of his skin when he saw a hawk hovering over the field at the back of our house. He jumped into his winter coat and boots when he saw the same hawk land on the Honey Locust tree in the garden…. With zoom-lensed-camera in hand he crept through the standing perennials and evergreens and took a shoot at it. What a magnificent bird! I include the photo of our Sharp Shinned Hawk for your enjoyment.

Too bad about the mice that he enjoys hunting down and gobbling up.

Time to look forward to the New Year. There is much on my schedule for late winter and spring and I am looking forward to it all – please look over the list below and plan on joining me. Winnipeg is on the agenda for Sat. Jan. 12 – if you are in the area, the Kitchen, Bath & Renovation Show is open to all, at the Winnipeg Convention Centre. I will be speaking at 7pm on Saturday, January 12th. Visit www.kitchenandbathshow.com for more information. January 17th takes me to Lakeview Golf Gourse for an evening with The Applewood Garden Club. This event, titled 'An Evening with Mark Cullen', is to raise funds for the Healing Garden and the Butterfly Garden at Trillium Health Centre's two locations. Tickets are available by calling Bev Thompson at 905-279-1655 or Arlene Jamieson at 905-566-1645. Hope to see you there.

I will be giving a new version of my presentation ‘Tips, Techniques and Trends in the Canadian Garden”. I will expand on the issue of ‘the ecological gardener’, plus lots of garden design tips and a few short highlights from some the great gardens in Canada and Europe that I have visited in recent times.

I am really looking forward to the 2008 edition of Canada Blooms – the Flower and Garden Festival that occurs Wed. March 12 to 16 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. There is new, creative energy injected into this edition of Canada’s largest annual flower and garden show. Attendance will be up, I am sure, given our plans to make the show even more interesting for gardeners and garden lovers [people who don’t or can’t garden but love the results just the same.]

Some highlights:

* The Gardening Life Entrance Garden - an entrance to beat all entrances!!

* Ecotopia - a living, breathing example of how we will garden in the future.

* Themed days - Wednesday - Garden Travel Day, Thursday - Plant Day, Friday - Design Day, Saturday - Ecology Day, Sunday - City of Toronto Day featuring a showcase of great urban gardens, design and guest speakers.

Go to www.canadablooms.com for more information.

Speaking of speakers, I will be speaking on the Wednesday at 12 noon [Mark's Favourite Gardens of Europe & Canada] and Thursday at 2pm [The Ecological Garden Primer] On the Saturday I will broadcast my radio show on CFRB 1010 live from 10am to 1pm [you can hear it any Saturday if you are out of town on www.cfrb.com.

The most useful information of all.... the Gardening Life Garden Tours. This is your chance to see the greatest indoor garden show in Canada for yourself, providing that you live in or near one of the departure locations in Ontario. My friends Marjorie Harris and Caren Watkins from Gardening Life have teamed up with me to meet you there and enjoy a 1/2 hour tour of the garden highlights. You will arrive by luxury bus, be given your entrance ticket without a line up and after you spend a full day enjoying yourself, you will receive a gift bag of goodies from Gardening Life and Home Hardware valued at $50 or more.

All of this for $78.

For more information go to www.gardeninglife.ca and click on 'VIP Canada Blooms Tours'.

I expect that these tours will sell out quickly - which is why I mention them now. I look forward to seeing you there.

Meantime, the natural, raw beauty of the winter garden holds my interest, mostly because I can dream about the new gardening season ahead. Dream away my friends: the spade awaits!

Yours,

Mark Cullen
Merchant of Beauty

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In This Issue:

Where to Find Me this Month

Gardening Life Bus Tours to Canada Blooms

Seed Catalogues - My Favourites and Many More

Amaryllis Care

February Gardening Events

Predictions for 2008

  Saturday, January 12th at the Kitchen, Bath & Renovation Show in Winnipeg. I will be speaking at 7:00pm at the Winnipeg Convention Centre. This event is open to everyone and I look forward to seeing you there. Visit www.kitchenandbathshow.com for more information.

  Thursday, January 17th at the Lakeview Golf Course clubhouse. This event is hosted by the Applewood Garden Club and all proceeds will go to the Healing Garden and the Butterfly Garden at Trillium Health Centre's two locations. Tickets are available by calling Bev Thompson at 905-279-1655 or Arlene Jamieson at 905-566-1645.

I will be personally guiding VIP tours through Canada Blooms on March 12, 13 and 14, 2008. Gardening Life is arranging VIP bus tours to the show departing from St. Catherines, Hamilton, Burlington, Mississauga, Midland, Orillia, Barrie, Newmarket, Richmond Hill, Bowmanville, Oshawa, Pickering, Ajax and Scarborough (scheduled locations are subject to change based on number of passengers). Each VIP ticket holder will be entitled to a behind the scenes tour for 1/2 hour before the show opens in the morning. I will guide you through my favourite gardens and highlight 2 or 3 displays that feature the latest in plant material, long flowering plants and the environmentally friendly side of gardening. Along with the tour, you will receive return transportation via deluxe highway motorcoach, full day pass and show guide, and a gift bag featuring Mark's Choice items courtesy of Home Hardware, a subscription to Gardening Life plus much more (bag value over $50.00). Tickets are $78.00 gst included. Visit www.gardeninglife.ca for more information or call Getaway Tours to book your seat (1-877-668-2286 in the GTA, golden horseshoe area) (1-888-833-2628 in Midland, Orillia and Barrie).

At this time of year I like to sit down with a collection of my favourite seed catalogues. They are full of inspiration for a snowy day indoors. The following is a list of the catalogues I look for every year.

  Botanus Inc. This company is based in Langley, BC and offers both spring and fall catalogues. Visit www.botanus.com to order your free catalogue featuring specialty bulbs, perennials and roses.

  Brecks. Featuring bulbs direct to you from Holland. The website showcases bulbs, garden tips, tools and helpful advice. Visit www.brecksbulbs.ca for a free catalogue.

  Dominion Seed House. 2,000 gardening products and hundreds of flowers & vegetables are available. www.dominion-seed-house.com

  Early's Farm & Garden Centre Inc. in Saskatoon. I had the pleasure of visiting Early's on my cross-Canada tour last summer. This year marks their 100th anniversary. Catalogues are $2 which is refundable on your first order. www.earlysgarden.com

  Halifax Seed Company. A great source for vegetables, flowers, turf, roses and gardening supplies. For a free catalogue visit www.halifaxseed.com

  Holes Greenhouse & Gardens Ltd. in St. Albert, Alberta. The website is just as great as the free catalogue. www.holesonline.com

  Ontario Seed Company. Their free catalogue features lots of vegetables, herbs, annual and perennial seeds. www.oscseeds.com

  Richters. A unique location with more than 800 medicinal, culinary and aromatic herbs and plants. www.richters.com for a free catalogue.

  Stokes Seeds Ltd. This is one of the first catalogues I look for each year. For flower, vegetable and herb seeds this is a great resource. View the catalogue on-line or order a free copy. www.stokeseeds.com

  Veseys Seeds Ltd. in Charlottetown, PEI. Canada's largest mail-order gardening company. Vegetable and flower seeds, cuttings, roses, shrubs and more. www.veseys.com

Once your Amaryllis has finished blooming it requires some attention. Cut the flower stalk back to about 2" in height. Allow the leaves to continue to grow and water when the soil feels dry. This will allow the leaves to produce energy which the bulb will store for future blooms. In the spring you can plant your Amaryllis (and the pot) in your garden. Find a location with partial shade and water during periods of drought. Fertilize regularly with a high phosphate liquid plant fertilizer. In late September bring the pot indoors and cut back the foliage. Dry the bulb for 2 weeks at 65 degrees F and then store for about 10 weeks in a cool, dry, dark place. At the end of this storage period you will need to repot your Amaryllis bulb in fresh potting mix and start the cycle again.

Get the Jump on Spring

Saturday, February 16, 2008
10am to 4pm
Toronto Botanical Garden
Admission is Free!

Join me! A horticultural open house showcasing horticultural societies, garden clubs, environmental organizations, nurseries and garden stores from across Ontario. I will broadcast The Garden Show live on 1010 CFRB from 10am to 11am in the Floral Hall. I will also be giving a free lecture at 11:30am in Studio 1. If you are in the Toronto area, please stop by for a visit. For more information visit www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca.

Green Roof Conference

Thursday, February 21, 2008
8am to 6pm
Toronto Botanical Garden
Register before January 15 for an early bird rate.

The Green Roof Conference is targeted to the professional designer, horticulturist, building construction professional, engineer, urban planner and keen homeowner. Content will cover design, plants, biodiversity and technical considerations. More info can be found at www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca.

A couple of weeks ago I sent out a request to my friends in the horticultural field. I asked them to think about the coming year and offer their predictions for the 2008 gardening season. I will share some of their responses with you now.

Marjorie Harris
"2008 is going to be the year of the sustainable garden: working with nature not against it (going organic), working with what you've got rather than warping it into something it isn't (dry sites will have dry gardens). We gardeners learn more all the time."

Denis Flanagan
"2008 Think green..for rural properties I see an explosion for composting outhouses...as long as that's not literally speaking!!

2008 Mark's the year for Queen Elizabeth to be the longest reigning monarch to oversee the gardens at Windsor Castle.

2008 Red Japanese maples will be 'out of fashion'."

Peter Guinane
"I am going to make an easy prediction, the media has raised awareness of conservation. More and more of our customers are asking for or are receptive to our suggestions for less grass, more native planting, cisterns for water conservation etc. We are putting green roofs on homes, garages, and sheds. The technology has advanced so that not only do they look good, but they save money for heating and cooling, and increase the life expectancy of the roof."

Tony DiGiovanni
"My prediction is that the environmental benefits of plant material will become more recognized by the public. 

The Project Evergreen mission to raise awareness for the economic, environmental and life style benefits of gardens, landscapes and green- spaces and the significance of those who enhance their environment will be embraced and collectively promoted by all sectors of the green industry. 

Landscape Ontario is currently looking at a partnership with Natural Geographic Society "Preserve our Planet- What you do counts" campaign.  At this point the NG messages are based on reducing our individual carbon footprint.  We will try to promote a "growing" perspective to their conservation communication. "

Cle Newhook
"My prediction for 2008 is that just about anybody selling any product or service will be laying claim to being "green " and if possible "the greenest of all"."

Margaret Bennet-Alder
"It will be the wettest gardening season on record!"

Susan Antler
"With the ever so many doom & gloom predictions about our environment, I believe that, as we head into 2008, we will be using gardening as a way to show how much we care and what can be done to make things better. Rain barrels, solar panels and compost bins will increasingly become standard garden features while native plantings, trees and vegetable gardens will be used to enhance local habitat and food supplies for beings of all kinds. Gardening has always been an expression of hope and now, more than ever, we are going to use it to help turn our world into a more meaningful shade of green."

Karen York
"What I see or would like to see in 08 is a greater awareness of the garden as soundscape: water features are naturals, but consider gravel paths that offer a lovely crunch; large-leafed plants such as cannas that resound with the pattering of raindrops; ornamental grasses that sway and rustle; wind harps that produce natural harmonics; and of course, flowers that draw lots of buzzing bees."

Larry Parr
"I predict that time challenged consumers will continue to seek the plant that requires low maintenance (usually meaning no maintenance) that will grow in the poorest conditions and bloom spring through fall and won’t find it.

I predict that our gardens will be visited by the usual array of earwigs, slugs and some of their insect friends as well as stubborn weeds all wanting to share in the fruits of our labour.

I predict the weather will be too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry causing some plants not to perform as well as we hoped.

I predict that if even one guest to our home, a neighbour or even a passer-by comments on some aspect of our garden that they enjoy or we take a minute to admire our own efforts, all of the above don’t matter."

Gerald Boot
“the green industry is growing greener”

"With the emphasis on the environment the consumer is becoming more aware of the benefits that planting can bring.

As an industry LO has struck an environment committee which has every commodity group looking at being better stewards of the environment in which we live and work, e.g. reduce emissions, waste and water"

For more information, refer to Mark's best selling gardening books — or tune into CanadaAM every Wednesday morning at 8:45am on CTV. If you have a specific question, simply search Mark's Library at www.markcullen.com or listen to The Garden Show on CFRB every Saturday 10am to 11am.