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Vancouver - February 26, 2024

What a gift to have someone as experienced as Dave Goulson, award-winning entomologist, conservationist, and biology professor write this important book on how to become aware of the world of insects all around us. I am now intrigued by how important insects are to all of nature, including ourselves. As a boy growing up in Shropshire, England, Goulson brought some caterpillars home from the school playground. When they transformed into cinnabar moths, his path opened out before him: “This seemed like magic to me—and still does. I was hooked” (p. 1).

Vancouver - December 10, 2023

“The autumn leaves” was one of my mother’s favourite songs. Whenever it came on the radio, she would sing along romantically. So I decided to look at some leaves this autumn. Here is the first group from A to G by scientific name to keep genera together. (My next article in the new year will look at some leaves from H to S.) The leaves are not in alphabetical order, but in order of complication, that is from simple leaves without teeth, leaves with teeth, leaves with lobes, to compound leaves.

Vancouver - October 31, 2023

Where are the colours! They are everywhere.
Whether we are looking at fall colours from a distance or close-up, fall’s palette is truly magical, a blend of blue mountains and waters, summer and winter greens, gentle reds, and fading browns.

Victoria - October 15, 2023
Mixing it up:  Saturday, January 21, 2023 

We had a wonderful time!

Here's an overview of our day of learning and chatting about gardening, when five local speakers offered us possibilities for our changing climate. Practical possibilities, to create resilient gardens, employing sustainable practices. 

Your garden is an ecosystem | Gord Baird

Victoria - October 4, 2023
Some things to think about when buying new plants and planning your garden!

The extremes due to climate change are now with us, and for BC in the summer of 2023, it was heat and drought resulting in major wildfires.  The FireSmart BC website contains a wealth of information on what organizations and individuals can do in response to this increase in fire ris

Vancouver - September 25, 2023

I study trees, dendrology, as a tree enthusiast. I am particularly interested in the features of different tree species and how helpful these features are for identifying one tree species from another. So, when I went to France for the first half of September to be with beloved family, I could not drop my fascination with trees and plants with a “Je ne comprends pas.”

Vancouver - August 19, 2023

Most trees have blossomed by now, though a handful more blossom each month, mostly because they are ornamentals and come from somewhere else. And some shrubs are still in bloom. Mostly though, I was looking at herbaceous plants growing from tubers, bulb-like corms, and perennial roots; some are considered noxious invasive plants, according to the Invasive Species Council of BC. 

Vancouver - June 26, 2023

Roses, roses everywhere, but ne’er a scent of fragrance.

How did it happen that roses have become more and more beautiful while all the while becoming less and less fragrant? Perhaps we have to go back to the heirloom varieties. Everywhere, roses are blooming and climbing—tea roses, floribunda roses, prickly roses such as Rosa rogusa, hybrids, and the occasional species or cultivar with the faintest of whiffs of the essence of rose. Seeing this bush of single-petalled roses in early June put me in a rosy mood. 

Vancouver - May 28, 2023

Do we have enough terms for green? Spring green. Lime green. Mint green. Olive green. Sage green. Forest green. Chartreuse. Moss green. Sea green. Pea green. We need them right now, because our delayed spring has suddenly burst into the greens of summer.

And whites. And pinks. And reds. And purples. And yellows.

Victoria - May 21, 2023


The Basics About Scotch Broom for Gardeners.

From the Broombusters Invasive Plant Society

Okanagan - April 26, 2023

This week's question is all about container gardening on a sunny patio of a condo tower. The answer includes recommendations for sun-tolerant plants, as well as tips for planting and maintaining a container garden in an exposed environment.

 

Okanagan - April 19, 2023

This week's question is all about brown needles on a yew hedge.

Question

I have a hedge of yews along the edge of our swimming pool.  Unfortunately, a landscaper planted them and I know that they are sitting in a lot of rock and very little soil as we live in Wilden but now, after 10 years, they were just starting to gain some height. 

Okanagan - April 14, 2023

This week's gardening question is all about dying brassica seedlings.

Question

I have a brassica conundrum that I am hoping you can solve. 

I have, for years, struggled to grow brassica seedlings indoors. The seeds sprout just fine, get to about 2" high, then the leaves go pale, shrivel up and die. The stalk is fine, it is the leaves that die. 

Kale, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage are all equally affected. This has been going on for at least 5 years. I've tried different soils, pots, lights, watering conditions, everything I can think of. 

Vancouver - March 20, 2023

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills

When all at once I saw a crowd.

A host, of golden daffodils

Vancouver - March 1, 2023

When I walked on rainy, cloudy, windy, grey, and/or snowy days in Vancouver this February, I relied on bare branches, peeling bark, bunches of berries, and popping buds to provide myself with botanical interest.  

Victoria - February 23, 2023

Congratulations to Victoria Master Gardener Linda Cross, recipient of the MGABC Golden Trowel Award for 2022.

Vancouver - January 26, 2023

Were it not for the introduction of plants from around the world—from China, Japan, and Korea in East Asia; from the Himalayas; and from Europe—Vancouver’s plants would look rather drab in January. After all, a young ginkgo tree I saw (below)was showing only promise in its stubby spurs.

Vancouver - January 12, 2023

NEW! Sustainable Gardening Tip Sheet HERE 

NEW! Mason Bee Tip Sheet HERE

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND ADDITIONAL TIPS ON SUSTAINABLE GARDENING, GO TO: 

• David Suzuki Foundation Gardening Tips for Beginners

Vancouver - January 8, 2023

Above: Native Bumblebee in annual Alyssum - a terrific easy-to-grow-from-seed plant for beneficial insects 

A wealth of Info based on the most commonly asked questions to Vancouver Master Gardeners is contained in these pages by clicking here . 

Most of these answers relate to the Pacific Northwest Area

Thompson Shuswap - December 11, 2022

URBAN TREES SERIES

Ginkgo biloba ‘Saratoga’

Thompson Shuswap - December 1, 2022

URBAN TREES SERIES

Sorbus decorus

Thompson Shuswap - December 1, 2022

URBAN TREES SERIES

Acer griseum

Thompson Shuswap - November 16, 2022

 URBAN TREES SERIES

Malis ‘Thunderchild’

MATURE HEIGHT                  15 to 20 feet (4 to 5 metres)

MATURE SPREAD                   12 to 15 feet (3 to 5 metres)

Thompson Shuswap - November 12, 2022

URBAN TREES SERIES

Amelanchier alnifolia

MATURE HEIGHT                  12 to 15 feet (4 to 5 metres)

MATURE SPREAD                    6 feet (2 metres)

LIFESPAN                                    20-25 years

Thompson Shuswap - November 3, 2022

URBAN TREES SERIES

Chionanthus virginicus

MATURE HEIGHT                  15 feet (5 metres)

MATURE SPREAD                   15 feet (5 metres)