“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit” – Nelson Henderson “But how much fun we are having imagining them in their full glory” – A combination of Anne of Green Gables (fictitious character) and yours truly.
Ah … the life of a true gardener, always thinking, always planning. I bet all of you are now deep into seed catalogs and gardening books, and have a headful of plans and ideas. How about one more? How about a winter garden?The winter garden
As we sit there by the window and admire the pretty frost patterns on the pane, our gazes wander beyond. What most of us now see is a dull winter garden, a flat accumulation of snow and few little ugly brown stubs sticking out where our magnificent perennials and annuals used to grace the expanse. I am, of course, describing my own garden, but my daily promenades in the neighbourhood with Rosie* reveal much of the same views. A well-planned garden offers structure and background. In all seasons, this structure enhances the view and gives it depth. Let us start planning next winter garden with the hope of putting it to execution in early spring, before we get carried away by the awesome sight of the spring and summer blossoms. Let us start with a few evergreens of the dwarf varieties – balsam fir, yew, blue colorado spruce. Let us add some interesting shrubs, such as boxwood, which is easy to prune and shape, dogwood for its yellow or red stems, a hydrangea or two with its balls of pretty blossoms to adorn the snow bank, and a few colourful berry-producing bushes. Add to the mix some ornamental grasses and voilà – an interesting winter view. All you need to do now is get paper and pencil and start doodling. For added dimension, why not cut out coloured shapes and paste them onto your paper and make, so to speak, a model of your imagined garden. Let your imagination roam as much as you want – it costs nothing for now and no salesman is pressuring you, and you are not distracted by all the planting to do and the grass to mow. And, if spring and summer come and go, and you still have not designed and planted a winter garden, take heart, you can do wonders with shapes and forms. One of the most interesting gardens I occasionnally see in its winter glory is rather simple. I wish I had created it myself. In this interesting garden, some of the rose bushes have been covered with cones, but others are protected by an accumulation of leaves, anchored down by twigs and branches, and covering it all is a conical twig structure normally used for climbing plants. In the main flower bed, four magnificent large spruce trees have been potted for the holiday season, one of which has been decorated with clear lights. In another corner of the garden, a large blue garden ball and a chair skeleton await the visitor’s gaze. To enhance the symmetry of the whole thing, the twig structures are displayed in each corner, while the spruce are close together but asymmetrically placed. Simple but interesting. The Survey Last fall, Doreen Murphy initiated a survey touching on several aspects of our Society’s activities and invited us all to participate. Doreen spent considerable time compiling all your answers and submitted the results to the Executive. Your suggestions and comments were all excellent and helpful. Thanks to all who replied, your Executive and committees are now more knowledgeable of your wishes and preferences and have taken into consideration many of your suggestions. In fact, so many were received, that for certain suggested topics, several years will be needed to get enough speakers to speak on all topics. New subjects were introduced – some that we had not touched on yet – such as garden installations, fences, paving stones and walls. I can’t wait for some topics to be addressed: companion planting, low maintenance garden, woodland gardens, low water requirement gardens, etc. What a program to look forward to! Many members have voiced their opinion on the Society’s events; they were all valuable opinions and your Executive have made note of them. Thank you. Looking backward and forward Once again this past year, with your help, your Society’s Executive and Program Committee have been hard at work to offer our members a good program, good activities and an incentive to continue playing in our gardens and continue beautifying our surroundings. In 2006 we again visited marvellous gardens, took notes and came home trying to copy plans and ideas. Once again, the visitors were overwhelmed by the patience and good nature of all showing their gardens. Let us hope you will be the first to sign up this year. We should have a contest for that too! Anne Brohan will soon be passing the clipboard around. Another event that is good to reserve early is the day trip. Again, Mary-Jill Quinlan will be hard at work finding the ideal spots for the day trip. Please sign up. 2006 has seen the passing of two active long-standing members of the Society. We will miss them dearly. We also had to say goodbye to Diane Malo who, for the most part of these past 10 years, took charge of countless activities and flew from one to the other, always making it effortless for all of us. Thank you Diane, you will be greatly missed. 2007 is already full of promising new volunteers to take over and give their all to the Society. We welcome Doreen Murphy who has already done a tremendous job on the survey, the Program and seems to have efficiency and energy to spare; Tom Kingsbury who will take over the Plant Sale; Anne Brohan who has taken on the organization of the garden tour. To them all, our greatest support and appreciation. And to all volunteers past and present, our greatest appreciation. As has now become customary, a great many members have renewed their membership early; 76 members are eligible for the early-bird prize which will be drawn at the January 24th meeting. - Editor's note: Inge Hazel won a beautiful white orchid. A great program for the year, a beautiful website to visit, friendships to come to, all in the good spirit of happy gardening, that is what is in store for our 2007 PCHS. Until next time, Jacqueline Bouchard* Rosie – the darling new family mutt who could easily pass for a skunk.
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