President's Message
By Jean Barna
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Moving Forward. Staying Calm. Patiently Adapting. We are heading into another transition where more time will be spent inside our homes peering out at how nature adapts to the cooling winds and shorter days. There will be more time to follow and develop other pursuits. One of these will be to get back into some kind of routine with our meeting schedule by visiting with each other on-line via Zoom. Our plan is to offer members the opportunity to re-connect with us in a new format. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. By November, our hope is that everyone will have renewed their membership, and even invited a friend to join, so they won’t miss out. If you haven’t renewed, then you won’t have access to ‘zoom in’ with us. Our first speaker, on Thursday, October 15th at 7:00 pm, will be Frank Misek sharing his knowledge about planting spring bulbs followed by a Q&A session. I’m really looking forward to this and hope to see you there.
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What's Blooming in October
By Rebecca Kelly
Display of Mums at Atwater Market
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October is not exactly top-of-mind as being a knock-out month for blooms in the garden, but on a visit to the Montreal Botanical Gardens (MBG) a few years ago, David and I were indeed knocked out by the many plants that were blooming in profusion! It was pretty nippy - single digit temperatures prevailed - and we were bundled up in hat, gloves and snugly coats, but the cold didn't stop the flowers.
Here is a selection to inspire any gardener:
Monkshood (Aconitum) species are famous for their late blooming periods. They go well into late October, and their intense colour and unique appearance make them welcome additions to the garden. Site next to Hydrangea ...
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Pollinator Garden - Plant Profile
By Maureen Williams
Solidago flexicaulis |
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Zig Zag is an apt description for this unusual goldenrod. Native to eastern North America from the Maritimes to North Dakota and south to Georgia: it seems happy in Kingston at the Pollinator Garden and surrounding my telephone pole. Also called broadleaf goldenrod, stems are flexible, leaves are sharply pointed and flowers are delicate yellow clusters appearing at multiple stem ends. It is a late blooming magnet for pollinators. Plants will spread by rhizomes to form a compact clump and it will also self seed, though not as widespread as other goldenrods.
Goldenrod is wrongly accused of causing hay fever and for that reason has not become popular commercially. Some species ...
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Be part of our first Zoom Meeting
Thursday, October 15th at 7:00 p.m.
Join in with our guest Frank Misek for a
Spring Bulb discussion followed by a Q&A session.
Registration required by October 14th
Not comfortable asking questions in a group?
Submit your questions in advance using the link below.
Even if you've planted bulbs for years, we still want to hear from you.
You must have a tip or two to share.
Learn, Grow, Share
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Membership Renewal
By Denise Owsianicki
September was renewal time for all members. To date, about a third of our members have renewed. Many people renewed their membership at the plant sale on September 27th, and we also welcomed five brand new members in September. We do value your membership and hope that you will continue as well.
The meeting format may not look the same for the next few months, however we are planning some interesting activities and presentations, and The Columbine is being issued more frequently to help us keep in touch with you. Only members who have renewed will continue to receive The Columbine by email and have access to the new Zoom Meetings that we are working on.
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Stepping Stone Workshops
By Denise Owsianicki
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Along with a small group of members, Jean and I facilitated two workshops making patio stones out of a cement mixture, using rhubarb, canna, elephant hosta, and bergenia leaves as molds. In the second workshop we also made planters by soaking towels in a cement/sand mixture using tall pails as forms.
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It's Preserving Time
By Penelope Battey-Pratt
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Here are two of the very best recipes I’ve ever come across for using up all those extra tomatoes in the garden. This Chilli Sauce (Prize Fruit Sauce) recipe comes from the Five Roses Cookbook, twenty-fourth edition from Lake of the Woods Milling Company, Montreal.
*Ingredients: 30 large ripe tomatoes; 6 onions; 6 pears; 6 peaches ...
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Fall To-Do List
By David Kelly
Photo: Maureen Williams
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As fall is closing in around us, the garden tasks to be completed before the first heavy frost are starting to mount up. Here is a list of tasks that I plan to work through:
- Collect fallen leaves for shredding and apply as winter mulch once ground has frozen
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Gardener's Journal
Gardening Kingston Members tell their stories.
Learn along with them.
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Penelope's Story
Being something of a scientist by inclination, I thought it might be fun to create some new varieties of plants on my own. We have very early blooming yellow daylilies in our home garden as well as some yellow late bloomers. I wondered if I could create a new yellow daylily that blooms mid-season by crossing ...
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Your Story
Do you have a story to tell about your garden? Share something you've learned or some project your working on, so that we can all grow together. Contact me at columbine.editor@gmail.com
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