Po eee Deed EL ah ain ne

It’s Spring

TheReview

Wednesday, March 21,1990 — Cll

Spring daffodils

JIM LANG photo

What kind of shrub, Helen?

QUESTION: What shrub
would you recommend I grow in a
Chinese egg pot? It is situated on
a deck where it will get only
afternoon sun.

If you intend to fill the whole
pot with soil, you will have to fill it
possibly one quarter deep with
stones to provide drainage. Keep in
mind that you will needa fork-lift
to move it!

The advantage here is that your

pot will support a fairly large |

shrub.

My caller had already decided
that she would place a smaller pot
inside her Chinese egg pot, sup-
porting it with a drain tile, or
something similar. This will, of
course, mean she will have to
make do with a smaller bush.

A list of shrubs that might be
pleasing in a Chinese pot (keeping
in mind its slightly mustard-brown
color), to be evergreen, might be
choysia ternata (Mexican orange).
Now this plant will get much too
large in time, but could be grown
for several years even in the five-
gallon interior pot, and much lon-
ger if you were to use the onginal
and much larger container. Choy-
sia has fragrant white blossoms
which flower in clusters in the
centre of a rosette of shiny green
leaves.

When it becomes root-bound it

‘could be moved out into the open

garden, or if this isn’t possible,
given to a friend who has room for
it.

Shrubs that love the shade (hydrangeas)

One of the most successful
shrubs that may be grown on the
north side of a house, or fence, is
the hydrangea. One variety of
hydrangea is even a climber, this
one called hydrangea petiolaris
which is slow to get established,
but once growing will climb trees
or fences supported by aerial root-
lets. It has white flowers.

Then there is hydrangea panicu- _
lata which may grow as large as a
small tree, but in our garden where
it has a lot of competition from
other trees, it has remained rela-
tively small. It has attractive pani-

The bulbs
you plant
in spring

Spring flowering bulbs, and
how to care for them when they
finish blossoming, tying foliage,
removing spent blooms, fertilizing
for next year’s flowers.

Bulbs to be planted in spring.
Anemonie, ranunculus, dahlias,
eladiola, tigridia, iris, agapanthus,
lilies, alltum, colchicum (autumn
crocus)

A wild flower garden might
contain all the old flower seeds
you have been hoarding all these
years. Possibly not many of them
will germinate, but even if only a
few do, you are that much better
off! You can buy tins of mixed

cles of white flowers which, as the
season goes on, turn a pale pink.

Everyone iS titi: with the
more common hydrangea, having
either white, pink, red or blue
colored flowers, or sometimes a
combination of red, purple and
pink.

hydrangea with only blue flowers,
pour your fertilizer-aluminum sul-
phate mixture all around your

shrub.
If you want an only pink flower-

ing hydrangea make up a mixture
of hydrated lime, (one-half cup to a
gallon of water) add some liquid
fertilizer and pour this around the

As the name suggests, hydrangeas
need an abundance of water during
dry spells

The latter coloring is the result
of pouring on one side of your
hydrangea only, a combination of
water to which you have added
liquid fertilizer, and one table-
spoon of aluminum sulphate per
gallon of water. If you want a

soil under your shrub.

As the name suggests hydran-
geas need an abundance of water
during dry spells in the summer,
and, please, the addition of as
much well-rotted cow manure as
you can spare each spring.

Specializing in

Bl errus

LANDSCAPING

Lawn/Garden Maintenance

CALL US FOR:

Euonymus is another possibility.
One variety has dark green leaves
splashed with yellow and looks as
if it 1s Standing in sunshine, even
on the rainiest day. No flowers on
this one. Something that might not
appeal to everyone, but to me
seems appropriate, might be dwarf
bamboo, which, again, is ever-
green, and very graceful, but
doesn’t flower.

Perhaps mahonia might be
appealing? This is a domesticated
version of what is locally known
as Oregon grape. It has vivid
yellow panicles of flowers in very
early spring, edible blue berries in
July (which make a tasty tart jelly
delicious with chicken, pork and
venison), brilliant fall coloring,
and prickly leaves which really
mean business if you get too close!

Berberis 1s another small shrub
with thorny stems, not all of them
are evergreen, so ask about this,
but all of them have showy yellow
or orange flowers, and a wonderful
show of red berries in the fall.

Although the Yucca plant isn’t a
shrub, it would make a very hand-
some picture in an egg pot. It has
large, spiky-grey-green leaves, and
when it flowers, a very tall stem
supports a series of lovely creamy
blossoms.

I wonder about the California
lilac (Ceonothus) for such a pot.
Do ask for the one that stays
reasonably small. . . it has small
bright green leaves, is inclined to
trail down, and has beautiful blue,
slightly fragrant flowers.

Perhaps you might be tempted
by a shrub, not evergreen, but
decorated during the winter with
marvelous violet-blue berries.

This one is called Callicarpa...a
most unusual plant.

A shrub of which I am very
fond, and “himself” can’t abide, is
senecio . . . the one with the
grey-green leaves, and yellow
daisy-like flowers:

I know that one could plant
several heathers, or even fill the
pot with trailing nasturtiums,
lobelia, tagetes, dwarf dahlias, ctc.,
but the lady asked for shrubs, so
that’s what you get . . . shrubs!

Poweraking - Lawn ¢
Dethatching from...

15

(incl: fert.)

Improve the Appearance &
Decrease Weeding of
your Shrub Beds!
Fine Quality
BARK MULCH
INSTALLED

YEARLY FERTILIZING PACKAGES
FOR LAWNS AVAILABLE
SPRINKLER REPAIRS & ADDITIONS

QUALITY ASSURED
FREE ESTIMATES

655-1179

Tired of dragging

Install an underground sprinkler system.
We can do the total job or just the trenching.

WILTON  Tenching Service:

hoses around?.

Ko WAMWODS

*Sprinklers, Drainage,
Water Lines, Electrical

SERVICES
ae

659-1441

Where’d you
say you got
the shuttle
painted
Dear?

G COAST
/ Ib ISLAND
3 PAINTING

4

_.. Now
he asks.

° HOME - BUSINESS"

_ » YACHTS
"+ AIRCRAFT

Lawns, Seed or Sod
Pruning/Trimming

Lawn Cutting/Edging
Weed/Moss Conirol
Power Raking & Aerating

“NOW” is the time for spring clean-up
and we can help you. Call for free estimate.

381-6492

wild flower seed, of course. One
thing that I would be tempted by
are lupin seeds, scattered freely in
wild areas. I’m sure many of you
will have travelled up Island in
spring and seen the blue lupins
growing along the edges of the
highway. I sometimes wonder who
it was that had the imagination to
scatter lupin seeds along the road-
sides . . . modern day Johnny
Appleseeds for sure!

CERTIFIED DESIGN CONSULTANTS

- INTERIOR/EXTERIOR PAINTING & SPRAYING
SPECIALTY FINISHES » LACQUERS

+ FINE WOODWORK - APPLIANCES

« WALL COVERINGS

Have a blast
this spring!

655-1117