Canada's National flower

White Trillium
(Trilliium grandiflorum) Ontario chose the trillium as its provincial flower in 1937. This white flower grows in the forest in the springtime. It is called the trillium because it has three petals and three leaves. The “tri-“ part of trillium means three.
The trillium is also the logo of the Ontario government. Its white blossom is associated with peace and hope.
Did you know?
Trilliums are sometimes called “Wake Robins” because they appear at the same time robins return for spring.

Famous quotes

“The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small piece of land.”
― Abraham Lincoln

“A garden should make you feel you've entered privileged space -- a place not just set apart but reverberant -- and it seems to me that, to achieve this, the gardener must put some kind of twist on the existing landscape, turn its prose into something nearer poetry.”
― Michael Pollan, Second Nature: A Gardener's Education

“When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot manifest, strength cannot fight, wealth becomes useless, and intelligence cannot be applied.”
― Herophilus


“The many great gardens of the world, of literature and poetry, of painting and music, of religion and architecture, all make the point as clear as possible: The soul cannot thrive in the absence of a garden. If you don't want paradise, you are not human; and if you are not human, you don't have a soul.”
― Thomas More

 “Gardens are not made by singing 'Oh, how beautiful!' and sitting in the shade.”
― Rudyard Kipling, Complete Verse

For more quotes go to the website shown below.
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/gardening

Why garden?

Why garden? Many people think that gardening is a waste of time. I strongly disagree about this, gardening is more than just what it might appear. To me gardening is fun, peaceful and can be quite relaxing. Seeing the accomplishments and improvements of your garden over time are quite rewarding!! If you take care of your garden it makes it that much more rewarding. Its something that you can do anytime of the day, something to do on the weekends. Not only does gardens improve the look of your house but its a popular thing and can be for any age levels.

Shrubs

With so many different types of shrubs available, choosing a shrub for your yard takes more than just deciding on a color. You need to take many factors into account, such as climate, soil preference, sunlight, size, shape and surrounding foliage. Some shrubs need lots of sun and some need a well-draining soil. Some shrubs grow very fast and need space between them. Some shrubs produce flowers or berries. Some are evergreen and some are deciduous.

Evergreen Shrubs

Evergreen shrubs retain their leaves all year. Evergreens are the choice of most landscapers because they make useful hedges that can be trimmed to the desired shape and height, and many are attractive specimen plants as accents. Evergreens do best when planted in climates that are not extremely sunny or windy. Evergreen shrubs include azalea, boxwood, privet, holly, arborvitae and many others.

 

Dogwood Shrubs

Dogwood shrubs make good property borders; their dense growth blocks out wind. Dogwoods do best when planted in full sun, but can thrive in partial shade. They have showy and attractive stems and flowers ideal for birds and wildlife to feast on. Dogwoods prefer moist soil and need plenty of water. Varieties include Ivory Halo, Huron, Red Twig and Kelsey.

Hydrangea Shrubs

Hydrangea shrubs have a long blooming period, which makes them popular with gardeners. The plant produces large flower clusters in blue, pink or white. The large oval leaves have a slightly heart-shaped appearance. The lobed leaves resemble an oak leaf. Hydrangeas are deciduous; that is, they lose their leaves in winter. Hydrangea shrubs include Pink Diamond, Princess Beatrix and Nikko Blue.

Juniper Shrubs

Juniper shrubs grow low and some make an ideal ground cover. A few varieties produce berries. The leaves vary from dark to light green and blue-green to silver-blue. Be careful not to prick your fingers on the needle-like leaves. Junipers are evergreens that prefer full sun. They are drought tolerant and can be damaged by over-watering. Varieties include Andorra, Bar Harbor, Golden Pfitzer and Blue Rug.

For more information
read more at: Types of Shrubs | Garden Guides http://www.gardenguides.com/67822-types-shrubs.html#ixzz2WFLN2hqP

Gardening Tips, hints, tricks and facts

Hey, here are some interesting tips, hints, tricks and facts and  to help you with your garden.

50 Tips, Hints, Tricks and Facts for Natural Gardening

1. Pest management begins with healthy soil. It produces healthy plants, which are better able to withstand disease and insect damage.
2. Organic fertilizers are safer than chemicals. Chemical fertilizers may, in time, build up salts.
3. Apply compost to your garden about two to four weeks before you plant, giving the compost time to integrate and stabilize within the soil.
4. New beds need soil amendments and double digging for that extra starting kick.
5. Soak finished compost in water to "brew" compost "tea," a nutrient-rich liquid that can be used for foliar feeding or for watering plants in your garden, backyard, or houseplants.
6. Specimen plants which need a warmer climate zone than you have do well in sheltered, south-facing walls. The wall acts as a solar collector, absorbing heat during the day and releasing it at night, creating a small zone that is warmer than the rest of the garden.
7. Begin deep watering your trees and shrubs in the spring if you don't get a soaking rain every 10 - 14 days.
8. Outdoor potted plants and baskets are the only plants that need daily water on the hottest, driest days of the summer.
9. Once a seed sprouts it must be kept watered. If it dries out, it dies. If seeds are lightly covered with soil, they may need to be gently sprinkled with water once or twice a day to keep them moist.
10. When planting in clay soil, cover seeds with vermiculite instead of clay. Clay absorbs heat and may bake the seeds and stop germination. Clay also forms a top crust, forming a barrier for the young seedlings.
11. Throw a handful of finished compost in the hole for a flower or vegetable transplant before transplanting. The compost gives the transplant a bit of an extra boost that lasts throughout the season.
12. Check moisture in container plants often with your fingers. Potting soil is often lightweight and dries out quickly.
13. Short on space but like vining vegetables? Train your squash, melons, and cucumbers onto a vertical trellis. Support the fruiting vines gently and thoroughly.
14. Watering is necessary when transplanting, but be careful not to over water.
15. Water your gardens and plants in the early morning or dusk to save water. Watering during the heat of the day burns plants and increases evaporation and loss of water.
16. Picking off flowers frequently encourages most annuals to flower more abundantly.
17. To continue blooming, container plants need large amounts of nutrients and water. Since water tends to wash out the nutrients, use finished compost or a good organic fertilizer as top-dressing.
18. Whenever possible use natural and organic fertilizers such as compost. Chemicals build up toxicity in soil, which leaches into drinking water.
19. Botanical insecticides are plant derivatives, and can be more toxic than some synthetics. They are, however, better in the long run because they break down rapidly and do not accumulate in the food chain as synthetics do.
20. Morning sun is more beneficial than afternoon sun.
21. Fertilize before a rain whenever possible.
22. Transplant seedlings to larger containers after they have grown 2 pairs of leaves.
23. Don't use garden soil as potting soil in containers. Its quality and texture is variable; it may drain poorly or be too loose and drain too quickly. It is also more likely to contain diseases, weed seeds and insects.
24. When choosing plants for your yard or garden, analyze your specific sunlight, soil, and climate first. Choose plants accordingly.
25. Water well before and after applying mulch to give your landscaping a good beginning.
26. Use a color wheel to find neighbors and opposites. Begin with a color wheel to design a beautiful, purposeful garden. Avoid simply throwing colors together but put a little time into planning.
27. Soak bare root plants in water for several hours to prepare them for planting after their dehydration.
28. Prepare beds for annuals and small plants by working in plenty of organic material, layer mulch on top, then gently stick the transplants through mulch to the appropriate depth.
29. Garden hydrangeas' color can be manipulated with the soil pH. Pink and red hydrangeas turn blue and purple in acid soils, while blue hydrangeas turn pink in alkaline soils.
30. Late spring and early summer is the best time to side-dress with compost your rapidly growing plants. Gently scratch the compost into the soil, taking care to start it about an inch away from the stem.
31. Do not fertilize during the fall or the winter.
32. In general, thinner leaved plants need more water to stay alive, thicker leaved plants need less.
33. Beneficial insects are attracted to your garden by coreopsis, feverfew, and sweet alyssum.
34. Egg cartons make excellent seed starters. Punch a hole in the bottom for drainage, fill with potting soil, plant your seeds and watch them flourish!
35. Cinnamon makes an excellent natural fungicide. Mix in your potting soil when planting seeds to prevent damping off of the seedlings.
36. Compost is not a fertilizer. It builds up organic matter in the soil.
37. Coffee grounds make excellent mulch around acid-loving plants.
38. The longer the growing season, the more compost is needed in the soil. A longer growing season requires more nutrients and organic matter in the soil.
39. Mulch prevents weeds.
40. Use newspapers as weed barriers when creating a new bed. They are printed with soy ink and decompose nicely, and are simple to lay out again when decomposed. Don't use slick colored advertisements or colored pages .
41. A five percent increase in organic material quadruples the soil's ability to store water. This is especially important information in dry climates.
42. Make compost tea by mixing equal parts compost and water and let it sit. Pour this liquid directly onto the soil around healthy, growing plants. Dilute this to 4 parts water to 1 part compost for use on smaller seedlings. Any compost that hasn't gone into solution can be used to make more tea or used in your garden.
43. Test any old seed you have stored by germinating it between moist paper towels. This saves precious time and effort.
44. Gently brush your hands across your tiny seedlings several times a day. This stimulates them to grow slightly slower, resulting in stronger, sturdier stems.
45. Control powdery mildew with milk. Dilute 1 part milk in 9 parts water and spray on the plants.
46. Cleanliness is absolutely necessary in gardens and greenhouses, especially when starting seeds. Clean your flats or pots with warm soapy water and sterilize before reusing.
47. Avoid using railroad ties in or around your vegetable garden; the chemicals used as preservatives are now thought to be toxic and harmful.
48. Caffeine is a natural herbicide. Tea and coffee grounds make excellent compost, but don't add too much.
49. Keep dirt out from under your fingernails by scratching a bar of soap before beginning. When you're finished, wash your hands thoroughly. The soap will wash cleanly out of your nails.
50. Less than 2 percent of the insects in the world are harmful. Most are beneficial.

 

For more information check out this website: http://www.greenhousecatalog.com/natural-gardening

 

Helpful garden tips and advice!!

Here are some helpful tips

1. Let all your planning ahead be for your plants; 
a year ahead for annuals, two years ahead for the biennials, an indefinite number of years ahead 
for the trees. — Christopher Lloyd

2. Walk through your garden to scout for insects and diseasesat least once per week; caught early, problems are easier to treat. — Stephen Westcott-Gratton

3. Try to get a plant in the right place the first time around. Given the proper conditions, the plant will be happy and you’ll save yourself a lot of transplanting work.
— Karen York

4. Never plant trees that will become large with age too close to your 
house. — Stephen Westcott-Gratton

5. Consider your garden private territory. Critics are not welcome! Be honest about 
what you want, and don’t be concerned with what others may 
see. If you like woody plants, design a four-season shrub border. Besotted with peonies? Make 
a peony walk. Grow plenty of what you love; you don’t need an excuse 
for excess. Are there ever too 
many rose petals? — Judith Adam

6. Set your lawn mower blades at 7.5 centimetres or higher, and allow your 
lawn to go dormant during periods of drought. — Stephen Westcott-Gratton

7. Light in a garden is a quarter of the battle. Another quarter is the soil of the garden. A third quarter is the skill and care of the gardener. The fourth quarter is luck. Indeed, one might 
say that these were the four Ls of gardening, in the following order of importance: Loam, Light, Love and Luck. — Beverley Nichols

8. Don’t be afraid of change. Gardens, and gardeners, are always evolving. It’s part of the process 
so step in boldly and revamp that rockery, yank out those overgrown shrubs or transform that border into a veggie garden, a pond, 
a knot garden—wherever your imagination takes you. — Karen York

9. Always spend five minutes doing some warm up stretches and bends before undertaking strenuous garden work, and never do one task for too long at a time. — Stephen Westcott-Gratton

10. Climbers are among the most useful plants in any garden. They take up little ground space, and they can be employed for many purposes: to clothe a boring fence, to scramble over a dead tree, to frame an archway, to drape a wall, to disguise a shed, or to climb lightly onto a pergola. They demand comparatively little attention, once they have taken hold of their support, maybe a yearly pruning or a kindly rescue if they have come adrift in a gale. — Vita Sackville-West

Garden Quotes

Rain, Roses, Trees

God Almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures.
Francis Bacon

God, Human, Garden

A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.
Gertrude Jekyll

Trust, Patience, Teacher

A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.
D. Elton Trueblood

Life, Human, Start

Gardening is how I relax. It's another form of creating and playing with colors.
Oscar de la Renta

Another, Playing, Relax

Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.
May Sarton

Nature, Patience, Help

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul.
Alfred Austin

Nature, Heart, Soul

The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies.
Gertrude Jekyll

Rain, Roses, Trees

God Almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures.
Francis Bacon

God, Human, Garden

A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.
Gertrude Jekyll

Trust, Patience, Teacher

A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.
D. Elton Trueblood

Life, Human, Start

Gardening is how I relax. It's another form of creating and playing with colors.
Oscar de la Renta

Another, Playing, Relax

Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.
May Sarton

Nature, Patience, Help

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul.
Alfred Austin

Nature, Heart, Soul

The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies.
Gertrude Jekyll

 1. Gardening is an instrument of grace" (May Sarton).

2. "You are the kind of FRIEND who would overlook my broken fence to admire my flowers."

3. "The less help you have in a garden the more yours it is".

4. "We come from the earth.
We return to the earth.
And in between we garden."