Articles

“Can plants really communicate?” It was April 6 and I, Nina Shoroplova, was leading a tree walk. The person asking me was one of the participants. He looked closely at me, a Vancouver Master Gardener, as I answered.

An Interview with Josh Thompson of Plan Bee Native Plants 

The plant names in Josh’s photos below may be viewed by clicking on the first photo, which then starts the slideshow  

Jen: I am here at Plan Bee Native Plants Nursery in Langley with owner Josh Thompson. Josh, can you tell me what inspired you to start a native plant nursery?

By now, if you have saved any leaves that fell from your trees last fall, they will be mulch around your precious perennials or your tree trunks or your hard-hit-by-this-winter’s-freezing-spells evergreen shrubs, shrubs that may have given up the ghost. Luckily for me, the leaves I saved from November 2023 are not mulch, but instead are scans in my computer. Granted the leaf images are a little blurry here and there, but they’re still identifiable.

What a gift to have someone as experienced as Dave Goulson, award-winning entomologist, conservationist, and biology professor write this important book on how to become aware of the world of insects all around us. I am now intrigued by how important insects are to all of nature, including ourselves. As a boy growing up in Shropshire, England, Goulson brought some caterpillars home from the school playground. When they transformed into cinnabar moths, his path opened out before him: “This seemed like magic to me—and still does. I was hooked” (p. 1).

“The autumn leaves” was one of my mother’s favourite songs. Whenever it came on the radio, she would sing along romantically. So I decided to look at some leaves this autumn. Here is the first group from A to G by scientific name to keep genera together. (My next article in the new year will look at some leaves from H to S.) The leaves are not in alphabetical order, but in order of complication, that is from simple leaves without teeth, leaves with teeth, leaves with lobes, to compound leaves.

Where are the colours! They are everywhere.
Whether we are looking at fall colours from a distance or close-up, fall’s palette is truly magical, a blend of blue mountains and waters, summer and winter greens, gentle reds, and fading browns.

The extremes due to climate change are now with us, and for BC in the summer of 2023, it was heat and drought resulting in major wildfires.  The FireSmart BC website contains a wealth of information on what organizations and individuals can do in response to this increase in fire ris

I study trees, dendrology, as a tree enthusiast. I am particularly interested in the features of different tree species and how helpful these features are for identifying one tree species from another. So, when I went to France for the first half of September to be with beloved family, I could not drop my fascination with trees and plants with a “Je ne comprends pas.”

Most trees have blossomed by now, though a handful more blossom each month, mostly because they are ornamentals and come from somewhere else. And some shrubs are still in bloom. Mostly though, I was looking at herbaceous plants growing from tubers, bulb-like corms, and perennial roots; some are considered noxious invasive plants, according to the Invasive Species Council of BC. 

Roses, roses everywhere, but ne’er a scent of fragrance.

How did it happen that roses have become more and more beautiful while all the while becoming less and less fragrant? Perhaps we have to go back to the heirloom varieties. Everywhere, roses are blooming and climbing—tea roses, floribunda roses, prickly roses such as Rosa rogusa, hybrids, and the occasional species or cultivar with the faintest of whiffs of the essence of rose. Seeing this bush of single-petalled roses in early June put me in a rosy mood. 

Do we have enough terms for green? Spring green. Lime green. Mint green. Olive green. Sage green. Forest green. Chartreuse. Moss green. Sea green. Pea green. We need them right now, because our delayed spring has suddenly burst into the greens of summer.

And whites. And pinks. And reds. And purples. And yellows.

The Basics About Scotch Broom for Gardeners.

From the Broombusters Invasive Plant Society

This week's question is all about container gardening on a sunny patio of a condo tower. The answer includes recommendations for sun-tolerant plants, as well as tips for planting and maintaining a container garden in an exposed environment.

This week's question is all about brown needles on a yew hedge.

I have a hedge of yews along the edge of our swimming pool.  Unfortunately, a landscaper planted them and I know that they are sitting in a lot of rock and very little soil as we live in Wilden but now, after 10 years, they were just starting to gain some height. 

This week's gardening question is all about dying brassica seedlings.

I have a brassica conundrum that I am hoping you can solve. 

I have, for years, struggled to grow brassica seedlings indoors. The seeds sprout just fine, get to about 2" high, then the leaves go pale, shrivel up and die. The stalk is fine, it is the leaves that die. 

Kale, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage are all equally affected. This has been going on for at least 5 years. I've tried different soils, pots, lights, watering conditions, everything I can think of. 

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills

When all at once I saw a crowd.

A host, of golden daffodils

When I walked on rainy, cloudy, windy, grey, and/or snowy days in Vancouver this February, I relied on bare branches, peeling bark, bunches of berries, and popping buds to provide myself with botanical interest.  

Congratulations to Victoria Master Gardener Linda Cross, recipient of the MGABC Golden Trowel Award for 2022.

Were it not for the introduction of plants from around the world—from China, Japan, and Korea in East Asia; from the Himalayas; and from Europe—Vancouver’s plants would look rather drab in January. After all, a young ginkgo tree I saw (below)was showing only promise in its stubby spurs.

NEW! Sustainable Gardening Tip Sheet HERE 

NEW! Mason Bee Tip Sheet HERE

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND ADDITIONAL TIPS ON SUSTAINABLE GARDENING, GO TO: 

• David Suzuki Foundation Gardening Tips for Beginners

Above: Native Bumblebee in annual Alyssum - a terrific easy-to-grow-from-seed plant for beneficial insects 

A wealth of Info based on the most commonly asked questions to Vancouver Master Gardeners is contained in these pages by clicking here . 

Most of these answers relate to the Pacific Northwest Area

URBAN TREES SERIES

Ginkgo biloba ‘Saratoga’

URBAN TREES SERIES

Sorbus decorus

URBAN TREES SERIES

Acer griseum