Gardening

The clang of the chimes —

and the call of the garden

This moming the wind seems to be getting up
in earnest, and already the power has gone off.
The wind-chimes normally make a gentle tune
but now they are beginning to clang like church
bells warning of danger. The tarpaulin over the
picnic table was flapping wildly until I went out
and tied a rope around its middle.

While out there I put a lot of wood against the
door where we can get at it easily. This all done
while being watched by ‘‘himself” who has a
nasty cold. He didn’t offer any advice, either —
which made the job go more quickly. But I’m sure
I saw a grin on his face as I struggled to get the
Tope around a tarpaulin that had a mind of its own,
determined to fly off over the fence if I relaxed for
so much as a second.

While outside I noticed a couple of stray
geranium branches lying on the soil. Out of
curiosity I tried to lift them, only to find that both
had rooted. It seemed cruel to leave them to die if
it should turn really cold, soI gota couple of pots,
the trowel and some soil, planted them and moved
them inside.

Talking about planting things, I forgot to tell
you that about the middle of November, while
buying some potting soil, I saw some Sturdy wall
flowers for sale, so, having no sales resistance
when it comes to plants, I bought ... how many? I
thought I had got 18 plants, but, maybe it has only
been 12.

They sat on the edge of the front porch from
then until Dec. 31st, when I finally got busy and
planted them — pouring a liberal splash of
rooting compound in tepid water around them
afterwards — and offering a small prayer that they
would still grow. I came inside feeling pleased to
have it done, and said, ‘Jim, do you remember
how many pots of those wall flowers I bought?”
and he said firmly, “Three, with six plants in
each.”

I groaned. I’d only planted two, so out I went to
look for strays. They were there all right, hidden
by an overgrown juniper, so they got their turn on
Jan. 1.

Arthur Ames has done it again. This week he
cut a two and a half pound crisp, white cauli

flower from his vegetable garden — this a full
month ahead of those he grew last winter. He also ©
harvested a three and a half pound parsnip, which
to my undisguised envy is considerably bigger
than any we have in the garden. I rather hoped it
was hollow in the middle (I have a mean streak!)
but no such luck.

I saw a really tall ormamental fig tree in a home
this Christmas season (ficus benjamina). Its
Owner was concemed that it was losing a lot of
leaves, and asked if I would have any idea why, so
Thad a good look, and at the same time, a probing
feel of the surrounding soil.

Tt was as dry as a cork in an empty bottle. When
I suggested it might benefit from a good soaking
the owner said, “But I give it at least a gallon of
water a week.” As the owner was my daughter I
was able to say, “Honey, in that sized pot four
gallons would be more like it, and it probably is in
the wrong place (right by the front door, which”
seems to be open as much as it is closed).

She was somewhat miffed at me, as the tree
does look lovely in the entranceway. But this
particular fig is a bit demanding — it shouldn’t be
in a draft, likes a steady supply of water (but not a
soaking soil), regular light fertilizing, lots of light,
and it hates to be moved.

My favorite gardening book says, though, that if
it loses its leaves when moved, it will, almost
certainly, grow a new set. If it were my ficus I’d
move it and replace it with another member of the
fig family, one called fiddleleaf (pandurata) which
is much easier-going, gets tall and imposing in
time, and may be kept bush-like if you remove the
central growing tip.

One catalogue that I have found very interesting
this year is the one called Territorial Seeds,
devoted mostly to the growing of vegetables with
particular emphasis on vegetables that will do
well here on the Pacific coast.

This is a very plain catalogue, with no pictures,
but lots of gardening hints. It’s available free if
you write Territorial Seeds, P.O. Box 46225,
Station G, 3760 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver,
B.C. V6R 4G5.

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I can’t believe it. I ate pizza with my
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Sharing the faith

Representatives from various
faiths will speak on the spiritual
education of children during an
open house for World Religion
Day Sunday. |

The open house will be held in |
the Central Saanich Cultural
Centre, room B, 1225 Clarke
Road, from 1 to 4 p.m.

Following the presentations, par-

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__‘|f you own a commercial vessel, including a fishing When activated in an emergency, the 408 MHz EPIRB

ore i mits a specially coded signal‘allowing-us to: pinpoint —
Wy vessel, 20 metres (65 feet) or more in length, please e pecially a's : “4
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The 406 MHz Emergency Position Indicating Radio In addition, this signal allows us to identify your

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, For information on how to acquire and register an
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Garde cétiére
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Canadian
Coast Guard

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