March, 2008

As I write this on the last day of Feb. [in a leap year – it is a FREE! Day!] it is hard to believe that just two nights ago we had our coldest night of the winter.

Big deal, I say.

It is March and we know what that means…. I am going to be the first one at the car dealer again this year to get my snow tires off. I figure that will bring on the last snow fall in my area for the year and spring will arrive that much sooner.

Everything is falling in place for a fantastic spring – the Successful Gardening Show begins March 6 th- the first sure sign of spring. [go to www.successwithgardening for more info.]

I will be there with CFRB on Sat. March 8 th with The Garden Show and speaking at 12:30, presenting The Canadian Garden Primer, An organic approach.

The following week is the biggest garden festival in the Canada – Canada Blooms at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Wed. March 12 to 16 th [www.canadablooms.com].

I am on the board for Canada Blooms and can guarantee that you will not be disappointed in the show. I believe that it will be our best ever – with a special garden for kids, designated themes for each day [Wednesday - Garden Travel Day, Thursday - Plant Day, Friday - Design Day, Saturday - Ecology Day, Sunday - City of Toronto Day], $10 million worth of plants, landscape materials and labour will be invested in the 47 feature gardens and about an acre and a half of merchandise, much of it unique to the show.

Here is where you will find me at Canada Blooms:

  Wednesday, March 12 at 12 noon – speaking about My Favourite Gardens of Europe and Canada in Speakers' Series room 718.

  Thursday, March 13 at 2pm - speaking about The Ecological Garden Primer in Speakers' Series room 718.

  Friday, March 14 - in the OSCIA booth sharing information about the Environmental Farm Plan and signing copies of my books.

  Saturday, March 15 - I broadcast The Garden Show live on Newstalk 1010 CFRB.

March is a month when gardeners get very restless. Our anticipation of the warm soil, the smell of emerging plants and the sound of returning song birds get our juices flowing. And sometimes Mother Nature does not cooperate with the appropriate weather. It can be a frustrating month: that is why hosing down the driveway on that first sunny weekend when the temp climbs over 15 degrees C. can feel like a trip to Florida.

If this is you that I am describing, I'm right there with you.

So, to relieve the stress without actually going south [which is not such a bad idea – it is just not possible for all of us] I have the following to recommend:

  Start your vegetable seeds and slow germinating flower seeds indoors. A sunny window works great. See below for more info.

  Purchase your tuberous begonias and canna lily bulbs this month and start them indoors. The begonias will root best in a seeding tray full of damp peat moss on the top of your fridge, where the low ambient heat that comes up the back of it will kick-start your begonia tubers into putting down roots.

  The canna lily bulbs are best started directly in one gallon sized pots in a sunny window.

  Bring home some colour – it’s Easter! Yes, Easter is early this year – another reason to celebrate the spring season ahead of us. I recommend that you bring home some of the new cyclamen plants that are so gorgeous [hybridizers have been very busy masterminding new colour and colour combinations]. Cyclamen last a long time indoors too.

  Near the end of the month you can start taking some of the winter protection off of your evergreens and removing the soil that you used to cover up your roses. Not so if you live on the Prairies however: I would recommend that you leave this job another couple of weeks [more on this next month.]

  It is March break this month – consider getting your kids involved in some indoor gardening projects like the seed starting, making seed tapes [using folded over toilet paper] and starting an avocado pit indoors. If you live in the Toronto area sign your kids up for the March Break gardening programs at www.torontobotanicalgarden.com.

    
Before and after.
             Our backyard in winter.                  Our backyard in 4 more months.
Worth the wait, don't you think?

I plan on finishing up my winter reading in the next few weeks. Catch up on the gardening magazines that I have next to the Lazyboy. Lord knows, when spring weather arrives in earnest I will not want to be stuck indoors reading or watching anything.

As an avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan I can only say "Thank you” for not making it to the play offs. Man, this is great. Now I can enjoy the last game against Ottawa on April 5 th and then settle in for a long, busy gardening season outdoors content in the knowledge that I don’t have to take time to sit in front of the tube while there is important gardening to do.

Enjoy the golf fellas. We’ll see you in October – those of you that are still on the team.

Yours,

Merchant of Beauty,

Mark

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In This Issue:

Where to Find Me this Month

Welcome Leslie Garrett to The Garden Show

VIP Tours at Canada Blooms

Time to Sow

The Heart & Stroke Foundation

  Saturday, March 8th. at the Successful Gardening Show. I will be speaking about The Canadian Garden Primer, An Organic Approach at 12:30 pm. For more information visit www.successwithgardening.

  Wednesday, March 12th at Canada Blooms. I will be speaking about My Favourite Gardens of Europe and Canada at noon in Speakers' Series room 718. Visit www.canadablooms.com for more information.

  Thursday, March 13th at Canada Blooms. I will be speaking about The Ecological Garden Primer at 2:00 pm in Speakers' Series room 718.

  Wednesday & Thursday (March 13 - 14) at Canada Blooms. I will be personally guiding VIP tours. 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. 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).

The Garden Show Saturday mornings 10 am to 11 am is getting greener with the addition of a new feature on how ot make your home environmentally friendly with award winning journalist Leslie Garrett. She joins Mark every Saturday morning at 10:40 am with "Green Tips" - how to make your home and lifestyle more environmentally responsible.

Leslie developed The Virtuous Consumer, a syndicated column about socially and environmentally responsible choices, that appears regularly in newspapers throughout North America. Her book, The Virtuous Consumer: Your Essential Shopping Guide for a Better, Kinder, Healthier World covers everything a concerned consumer needs to know to live green. Leslie is the "green" correspondent for the A Channel's Morning Show. Visit Leslie at www.virtuousconsumer.com and listen to The Garden Show Saturday mornings for Leslie Garrett's tips on living green at 10:40 am on Newstalk 1010 CFRB.

Canada Blooms is the premium garden festival in the country and it is just around the corner. This is your last chance to get in on it on a luxury bus. Here is a deal that is hard to say no to. I would be delighted for you to join me …. or Marjorie Harris or Caren Watkins – all on behalf of Gardening Life magazine – any morning of Canada Blooms – Wed. March 12 through Sun. March 16 th. You will board a luxury coach, get driven right to the festival, plus admission, a tour of the highlights of the show and receive a gift bag from Gardening Life and Home Hardware. All for only $78. A $150 value for only $78! Call 1-877-668-2286 or log on to www.gardeninglife.ca to sign up. But do it now….. buses are filling up for the best garden festival in the country – it’s Flower Power at Canada Blooms! I’ll see you there!

March is the month to get sowing. Seed orders are arriving in the mail and the seed racks at the garden centres are filled with a great selection. Don't forget about the seeds you collected from your garden last year. Growing plants from seed is both rewarding and economical.

Always check the date on the package before you buy. The sell-by date is equally important for seeds as the items you purchase from your grocery store, and guarantees freshness and successful germination. On the reverse side of each package you will find complete growing advice, including the number of days you can expect to maturity and whether to plant in sun or shade.

Sowing seeds can be as simple or sophisticated as you choose. A sunny window can provide sufficient light or you may opt for supplemental grow lights. Plastic-domed mini greenhouses with cell pack inserts are available at most garden centres. The humidity dome helps to seal in moisture and encourages germination. Indoor lighting systems, heating coils and self-watering equipment are available for those looking for a more advanced approach.

Light weight potting mixes, like Green Earth Seed Starting Mix, promote optimum growth.Seed starting mixes contain sphagnum peat moss and perlite or vermiculite. They have great water retention and drain well.

Peat pellets are another option. They are made from compressed sphagnum peat moss and have a mesh cover. Add water to these pellets and they expand. You can use peat pellets to sow seeds or to root cuttings.

I recommend that you purchase No-Damp® while shopping for your seeds and supplies. No-Damp® will protect against damping off. This is a fungus disease which infects young seedlings when there is a lack of air circulation and excessive watering.

Plant starter fertilizer from Plant-Prod helps all plants develop a strong root system. It has a high concentration of phosphorous, 10-52-10, for strong and rapid root growth in seedlings.

Some plants require up to four months of growth before being planted in the garden. Geraniums are slow-growing and require at least this long to prepare for the outdoors. However, the majority of seeds are ready to be transplanted outdoors in 6 to 12 weeks from the date they are sown. Seed packets will often recommend when to start seeds indoors. The package will also list the number of days necessary for the plant to reach maturity. For more information on sowing seeds please visit my Library.

This year I will be writing a monthly column for The Heart & Stroke Foundation's website. These articles can be found on their 'Features' page on the 1st of each month. Sign up for the Heart and Stroke monthly newsletter and learn how to live a heart-friendly life!

I Love to Dig!

It’s March – the perfect time to start preparing your garden for the spring and summer. It’s also an enjoyable way to fill your daily need for physical activity, which is good for your heart.

I had the privilege of growing up with gardening. My Dad, Len Cullen, had a passion for it that almost defies description. He was, after all, the only person that I know of that kissed evergreens – all of the time! And without apology. He also deeply loved the soil.

One day when we were strolling along a path, my father, walking with his favourite ‘D’ handled spade and me, just trying to keep up the pace of both the conversation and the walk. On most occasions, our conversations revolved almost exclusively around our gardening business. And so it came as a great surprise to me on this particular day when he stopped abruptly during our stroll, mid-stride. He bent down, took a stance that I had seen thousands of times before, and he began to dig – right in the middle of the dirt path, one spadeful, two and three. Then he moved the dirt back into the new hole with the spade.

He slowly straightened his back, hand on the base of his spine for support. Slightly out of breath, he said, “I love to dig.” Then he paused, “I love to dig.” Then he looked me square in the eye and exclaimed, in case I hadn’t heard him, “I love to dig, Mark!”

Read the entire article, starting March 1st, at www.heartandstroke.ca/canadablooms.

(Reprinted with permission of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Want to receive heart-healthy recipes, nutrition and physical activity tips to your inbox every month? Then subscribe to Healthline, the Heart and Stroke Foundation's free monthly e-newsletter today.)

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.