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Page 26 The th OSCAR - OUR 37 YEAR MAY 2010 NOTES FROM THE GARDEN CLUB By Colin Ashford The April meeting of Old Ottawa South Garden Club had its largest attendance this season. The attraction: Suzanne Patry of Whitehouse Perennials giving an entertaining talk on shade gardening. Not only did Suzanne arrive with a colourful PowerPoint presentation, she also brought along two- or threedozen shade plants—many already in bloom. Suzanne claims that Whitehouse Perennials is “…a Sanguinarea canadensis multiplex Photo by Suzanne Patry Made in the Shade—Life Beyond Hostas hobby that got a little out of hand…”. The nursery now boasts 1000 varieties of lilies and 400 varieties of hostas. Whitehouse Perennials is located just outside of Almonte; directions can be found on the nursery’s web site: www.whitehouserperennials. Hellebores—the Stars of the Spring Garden Photo by Suzanne Patry com Shade in gardens is an issue of particular interest to the gardeners of Old Ottawa South due to the large number of mature trees in the area. Some gardeners see shade in the garden somewhat negatively, but Suzanne reminded them of the aphorism, “Don’t moan over what you can’t grow, learn to rejoice over what you can grow”. Defining shade as “muted light”, Suzanne went on to list the advantages of shade gardens: cooler to work in; they require less watering and weeding; are less prone to An Intriguing Collection of Heucheras Photo by Suzanne Patry disease and insect problems; and, best of all, shade gardens look good for the whole of the season. Trees not only cause shade in gardens (although the effect can be mitigated by removing the lower limbs of the trees), but also compete for moisture and nutrients in the soil. Suzanne cautioned against trying to build up a plant bed around a mature tree (and especially including a retaining wall), because the build-up of soil can suffocate the tree roots. Rather she recommended planting large plants in holes lined with layers of newspaper or in nursery containers between the roots of the tree and watering them in heavily until they are established. Starting a bed in a shady garden requires removing the current ground cover either by digging it out and optionally lining the hole with heavy plastic or by suffocating the weeds with a thick Cont’d on next page
The th MAY 2010 OSCAR - OUR 37 YEAR Page 27 By Arthur McGregor I write this from Fredericton, New Brunswick on the last week of a wonderful Celtic Rathskallion’s tour of the Maritimes. We started in Cape Breton and have played Dartmouth, Halifax, Lower Sackville, Kentville, and Middleton in Nova Scotia and five shows in the Saint John/ Fredericton area. The weather has been wonderful, the schools have been welcoming, my tour buddy is perfect and the traveling has been excellent. Four more shows and we’re on our way home. We had to leave Elvis, the poodle, with friends so we’ll be happy to see each other soon. Playing music for kids is a real joy for me. We play to primary grades (kindergarten to grade 6) and it never ceases to amaze me how well our show is received. We play songs from the east coast tradition, Mary Mac, Lukey’s Boat and others and, though these are truly old chestnuts, I feel honoured to introduce these songs to kids who don’t know them. Which brings me to my theme for the month: A Good Song! There’s nothing like a song that speaks to you. I have a treasury of songs in my life that have all touched me at particular times. The Folklore Centre’s first songbook, Coast to Coast Fever, was my first attempt to put some of my favourite Canadian songs in a book and, thirty years later, every song in the book still resonates with me. Songs are often like smells; they bring back memories of situations, emotions, experiences and locations. Some songwriters, like Ian Tamblyn and Chris MacLean, have written songs that have helped me through good and bad times. They’ve been part of the soundtrack of my life. A good song lives forever. Even if it’s not sung or heard often, it has a life of it’s own that remains suspended in time until someone sings it. When you listen to an ‘oldies’ radio station, you realize how powerful a good song can be. The Beatles, John Fogarty, Carol King and hundreds of others have created such a body of work that you can listen 24/7 to only the old stuff, though not all of it is ‘good’! With the realization that hundreds of new songs are written every day in every country of the world, in every Garden Club ... Cont’d from previous page covering of newspaper or leaves. A liner will not only keep tree roots out, but will also keep moisture in; depending on the level of moisture retention, this approach can form the basis of a bog garden. In either case, top-dressing a shade bed is required every three years or so. One of most challenging of shade gardens is a dry one. Suzanne recommended being realistic on what could be achieved in a dry, shady garden and offered the following advice: choose groundcover that will look attractive all season; use small planting holes; water regularly during a dry spell, and replenish the organic material every year. Another interesting approach is to grow shade plants in containers either plunged into the ground or sitting on the surface of the ground. In terms of selecting material to plant in a shade garden, hostas immediately come to mind (and there is a seeming infinite number of varieties described on www. hostalibrary.org), but there are many other plant varieties that thrive in the shade. Our native plant, Actea rubra has a lovely red flower and will survive a good deal of shade; other native plants include Sanguinarea canadensis multiplex (with its beautiful white double-flower), Trilliums, and Hepaticas. Tiarellas, Songs Are Meant To Be Sung! with their long-blooming fragrant flowers add variety and colour to a shade garden, and Pulmonarias have attractive foliage and flowers and do well in dry shade. However the stars of the shady garden in springtime are the Hellebores. Heucheras boast a variety of leaf shapes, colours, and sizes and some have wonderful flowers; they also work well in containers. Arisaemas have one of the most bizarre flowers in the plant kingdom, but are great fun to grow. Other plants recommended by Suzanne included ferns, Astrantia, Ligularias, and grasses such as Hakonechlaoa macra. Maintenance of a shade garden is fairly straightforward and includes: cleaning up all debris in the spring; applying fresh mulch annually; trimming damaged leaves and spent flowers; and controlling slugs. This was the final meeting of the Garden Club for the 2009/10 season, but we will be rounding out the season with our annual spring perennial exchange entitled “Good Plants, Good Deals”. The plant exchange starts at 10.00 am on Saturday 8th May, 2010 in Brewer Park near the shelter at the children’s playground. Bring potted and labelled perennial plants to exchange at 9.30 am. Tell OSCAR Readers about your travel or your interests. Send text and photos to oscar@oldottawasouth.ca language, using scales that visit every note in human experience, you can’t help but feel humbled at the power of a song. Once a month, the Folklore Centre hosts Writer’s Bloc, an afternoon of local songwriters sharing, trading, helping each other create. Recently, the Spirit of Rasputin’s Song-along, run by members of Writer’s Bloc, presented over 40 songwriters at the Elmdale, a record number. What constitutes a great song? Well, a catchy melody certainly grabs the attention but lots of catchy melodies are flying around. Pop music, that is music that’s designed to be popular and then disappear, often has melodies that stick in your mind but they are quickly replaced by a new tune on the block. A great set of lyrics often completes the requirements for a great song, but, unless brilliant lyrics are coupled with a good tune, it’s just a good piece of poetry and, with the popularity of poetry (that word ‘pop’ is the common denominator), many folks won’t spend the time on the lyrics. But a great melody and very smart lyrics are essential in the ‘great song’. James Gordon wrote a great line that has stayed with me for years: It’s a deep dark continent between what I said and what I meant, it’s as big as an elephant, that space between us when I try to talk to you’. (I hope that the words are mostly correct. Check out James’ music at jamesgordon.ca). So, what’s the key behind a great song? I think it’s context; where you heard it, what state you were in (emotionally, not geographically), how you heard it. I remember exactly where I was when I heard ‘Ruby Tuesday’ for the first time: in a car with my parents on the way to Italy in the 60’s. I remember hearing Sneezy Waters sing “A good love, is like a good song, it grows on you till it’s so strong, it’ll never leave you”: it was Roosters Coffee House at Carleton University in 1972. There’s a truckload of them for me. They rattle around in my mind like bumper cars at the Carp Fair. Every now and again, one jumps up and catches me. And, every now and again, I hear a new one. That’s really the beauty of the song; they never stop coming. Sing one. To book an OSCAR ad call Gayle 730-1058 oscarads@oldottawasouth.ca
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Page 5 and 6: MAY 2010 OSCA PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Page 7 and 8: MAY 2010 CITY COUNCILLOR’S REPORT
Page 9 and 10: MAY 2010 By William Burr The restau
Page 11 and 12: MAY 2010 17th Ottawa (Southminster)
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Page 15 and 16: MAY 2010 The OSCAR - OUR 37 th YEAR
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