Gardening “The kiss of the sun for pardon, The song of the birds for mirth, One ts nearer God's heart in a garden Than anywhere else on earth’ Dorothy Frances Gurney 1858 - 1932 The request for help in finding the whole of the above brought the most wonderful response. We must have had more than two dozen phone calls. I Say we, because the day The Review came out I took off for Nanaimo, but not before Amber Hubble had called to give me THE poem. “himself” stayed home. He had other things to attend to, but he ended up spending a good part of the day answering the phone. I wondered why he gave me such a wounded look when I came in, but he soon straightened that out by snorting, “Well you sure picked a great day to leave me on my own. There must have been a thousand phone calls and all of them were for you!” ‘Well you sure picked a great day to leave me on my own. There must have been a thousand phone calls and all of fhem were for youl’ I am so grateful to those of you who called, both about the poem and about the hops. I’ve always said gardeners are the world’s nicest people, and this is just one more example of the way they help one another. “himself would never admit it, of course, but I know he enjoyed the calls, and I’ve even come in and caught him in mid-stream offering gardening advice. So much of it has been dead accurate that I realize he must have been paying attention all these years when he has pretended to be bored stiff. Another thing that occurs to me is that everyone seemed to know that poem but me. Evidently, according to many callers, it was a favorite quotation engraved on sundials, and one woman told me that three generations of her family have Lots of callers but no Helen home used it, one on a sampler hung above a bed, another on a sundial (or was it a plaque?) and finally her daughter had spent hours working it in needlepoint. This whole episode I find somehow reassuring. It’s good to discover something so heart warming in what often seems a cold, uncaring, miserably unhappy world. The question about hop growing also brought a tremendous response, very gratifying for Mr. Ewan who wanted to buy either vines, rooted Cuttings or seeds. I have been in contact with him and he is now well on the way to getting his hops, and I have learned a lot about the history of hop growing (and beer making) on the Peninsula. Really very interesting, and there will be more on this in a later column, promise! _ Meanwhile, Dorothy Scott, in response to a question about starting gloxinia tubers. Plant your bulb no more than one-inch deep in a rich loose mix, watering sparingly until full growth starts. Always water from the bottom, or avoid getting water on the leaves, but I’m sure you know about the watering. Talking just for a minute about tubers, I bought one begonia for a hanging basket when we came home from holiday, and nearly died of shock. It cost $3.50, and wasn’t even a large one. One we had in a basket last year, that was marvelously successful, grew a tuber four inches in diameter. When it sprouts I may divide it up, although when I think about the size basket it would make if left whole, it may get to stay in one piece. Last chance to spray your fruit trees with dormant spray. In fact this is the ideal time, just as the leaf buds are about to open. Caterpillars never seem to hatch untl there are tiny leaves to provide them with food. You might do your roses as well with any remaining spray, even if they have begun to leaf out. The sulfur may singe some of the leaves, but the roses will recover, and anything that helps prevent rose problems has go to be worthwhile. To end on a happy note, an ode submitted by Ethyl Mollet tickled me, and here it is: “The seeds I sow Don’t seem to grow. I'm sorely disenchanted! But oh, what luck I have With stuff I never even planted!” Volunteers will canvas door to door in Sidney, Central Saanich and North Saanich April 2 to 21 to raise funds for the Canadian Can- cer Society. “The goals of the 1990 cam- paign are to inform as many peo- ple as possible on the Saanich Peninsula about cancer prevention and early detection and to generate funds for the Cancer Society’s patient services, research and edu- TheReview Wednesday, March 28,1990 __ Ajo nn | Cancer campaign cation programs,” said Bill Draper, fund-raising chairman for the Saanich Peninsula unit, Cana- dian Cancer Society. “Close to one in every two patients diagnosed with cancer will be alive five years after treat- ment, Draper said. “That figure has improved dra- matically in the past 50 years — in the 1940s less than one in five cancer patients survived.” Outdoors show features notable local participants All sorts of Peninsula people will be at the 1990 Vancouver Island Outdoors Show, at the Esquimalt Sports Centre April 5- 8. Sidney’s world champion wind- surfer Richard Myerscough will give demonstrations on a compu- terized windsurfing simulator Renowned fishing guide and researcher Charlie White, also from Sidney, will talk about his research and set up visitors on a | salmon simulator. And explorer Gareth Wood will discuss the Antarctic and its ine- @) SIDNEY FLORIST = Flowers, the treat that’s sweet. And no calories! i 656-3313 2499 Beacon Ave., » Sidney, B.C. g es <, _ Sidney -( NY y7 aE Setvice Saas Above THe Self H Specially trained tax % entitled. Come to H&R vitable future. . Over 80 exhibitors will be at the four-day third annual show. - DON’T FACE THE NEW: TAX LAWS ALONE! With the sweeping changes in the tax laws, many Canadians are confused as to how their income tax returns will be affected. At H&R Block, we have the answers. Our preparers will always find you every deduction and credit to which you are Block this year—we'll get you the biggest refund you have coming. 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