'Grainger's Humanity'

The first year a plant is hybridized and grown you never really can tell how well it will hold up.  Last year 'Grainger's Humanity' was created, and with the dark green leaves and semi-double blood-red blooms, it has great contrast value.  Over the winter months in the greenhouse, more and more people were pointing it out to me so I produced more in very limited number to trial this summer.  Well, it has held up exceptionally well.  It is a true dwarf, grows thick, and blooms profusely.  As crazy as it seems, it is not easy to get a dwarf/miniature variety with blood-red strong blooms, so this variety will hopefully spread across the country in time because I sure do enjoy it.

With the much needed rain, please make sure to check your stems and petioles for black mildew spots.  Some varieties like 'Dolly Varden' and 'Boths's Beauty' are always susceptible, but check them all.  Use a sulphur-based fungicide (Safers makes one) and lightly scrub the fungus spots off with paper towel piece that have been wet first with the fungicide.  I never cross contaminate by using small cut squares of the paper towel and throwing them out after each specimen.  Also, remove any leaves with brown botritus spots if they appear in this wet weather.  A stitch in time saves nine.

'Barbara Hines' & The Return of Rain!

'Barbara Hines' is one of the most beautiful blooming pelargoniums around.  The massive buds of pink and white cluster together in heavy bundles set against a fairly typical green foliage.  When I got my first specimen it was slow to grow as sin...I am now confident that it was paralyzed somehow (perhaps a pest like the root mealy), but cuttings after cuttings has my current stock healthy and vigorous, and I find this to be a strong grower.

Here in Southern Ontario we have had one hot, DRY summer so far.  The lawns everywhere are yellow, and only the most devoted gardeners have kept their gardens lush through frequent watering.  I have let my lawn go dormant which looks sad, but I have not had to cut it in a month!  I am also hoping the perennial weeds die, and the "dormant" turf wakes up with a greater resilience and once again becomes a thick green carpet.  Ha.  Even I dont buy this line.  I am in for a lot of work trying to get this lawn back to normal.

Today it has finally rained significantly, and even though I normally hate excessive rainfalls, I am enjoying the break in watering.  I think I have stated before that I dont let most of my pelargonium collection get rained one heavily...so last night I tarped, shuffled, and moved trays and trays of plants knowing this storm was coming.  It paid off too as the big Ontario show is in a month, and I want some perfect specimens free from any fungal problems.  Dont forget to come check out the big show at the Toronto Botanical Gardens this August 21st, 2011.

I have noticed that grasshoppers are much earlier this year, and combined with a dry hot summer this is not good.  As I recall, swarming conditions favour this.  I cant imagine saving my collections from a swarm of locusts.  What a nightmare situation!

'Richard Key' & The Summer Heat

'Richard Key' is a golden leaved pelargonium with a distinctive dark bronze zoned leaf.  The flowers are mauve, full, and complement the foliage very well.  This variety sprawls, and is likely best planted where it can cascade.  Keeping a specimen well shaped will be going against it's nature of growth.

Well the heat and humidity has hit southern Ontario.  We have not had much rain for quite a while now, and the expected downpour last night did not add up to much.  Everyone is letting their lawns go dormant, including myself.  I have not done this before and may regret doing so, but seeing as it has been so dry, and there is more than enough watering to be done with the collections and gardens, something has to give.  My fear is that the weeds will overtake the grass even more than they have already.  The worst always seems to be the grass in the boulevard...the strip between the sidewalk and the road.  What a dried up mess!  I should plant a massive amount of geraniums in there next year...I bet they would do better.  As always, the Mrs Quilter plants that went into the garden beds look awesome.  If you haven't tried sacrificing extras into the garden beds before, I highly suggest it.  As good as our fertilizers are, plants seem to find the cure-all trace elements in the garden soil and grow exceptionally well.  Just goes to show that we have a lot to learn yet about plant physiology.