On Wednesday, October 4th, we welcomed a new plant into the Gardens. It originated as a cutting taken from the original in Haida Gwaii in 1964 by Jim Kinghorn, who was at the time a Forester with the Canadian Forest Service. His daughter Sharon and son Russ donated it to the Gardens.

 

It is now located in a lovely setting below the Native Plant Garden, where it should feel right at home!

 

A special thanks to Sharon and Russ; Harold Perepalkin (Sunrise Machinery) for digging up the spruce from Sharon's backyard and transporting it here; Ernest Swanson, a Haida artist; and Vicki Sanders, Saanich Municipal Councillor.

 

It is an honour to have an important part of BC history in the Gardens at HCP.

 

Saturday, September 30, was the date of our annual Fall Plant Sale. It was well attended as usual.

 

HCP Plant Sales are always worth attending, not just for the unusual plants, but also for the access to garden knowledge you get from chatting to our volunteers, students and staff.

 

Setting up the display is time consuming, all plants having to be put in alphabetical order. An availability list is put on our website ahead of time. Thanks Deb, volunteers and students for assisting with this!

 

The 25% off the prices of all plants continues until the end of October.

The annual HARVEST FESTIVAL is a fun and educational event for families. This year we will be featuring face painting, yarn bombing, pumpkin carving, slug races, and exhibits featuring species at risk. Spaces are limited so please register early to avoid disappointment.  

 

 

Date: Saturday October 28, 2017

Time: 9:30 am - 11:30 am

Ages: Suited to children 3+ years of age (All children must be accompanied by an adult)  

Cost: $15/family   

Pre-register by phoning HCP at 250-479-6162

The HCP applied for a grant through the Aviva Community Fund to upgrade our lawn maintenance equipment from gas-powered to rechargeable battery-powered equipment. Part of our grant application also includes the construction of two solar-powered sheds: one to charge up the equipment and one to pump groundwater for irrigation at the Urban Garden. These changes at HCP present an opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint and share a passion for environmental stewardship with students, volunteers, members, and visitors. Implementing these changes would go a long way to improve the sustainability of HCP, and we are asking for your support to make it happen. Anyone registered with the Aviva Community Fund can vote for ideas during the Voting Round which begins TODAY October 10, 2017 at 12:00 noon Eastern Standard Time (ET) and ends on October 19, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (ET).

Here is the link to our idea page: https://www.avivacommunityfund.org/voting/project/view/17-214 and here is the page to register with the Aviva Community Fund: 

 

Once registered, you can vote up to 18 times! Please vote often, and help spread the word! The process to vote takes approximately 20 seconds! 

Robyn H. was the only person to identify our September Whatzit challenge! It is, in fact, something commonly called a "Firecracker vine" or "Spanish flag." On doing a bit of checking, we find that there's apparently a difference of opinion as to whether it's an Ipomoea lobata or a Mina lobata. However, everyone agrees that it's a member of the Convolvulaceae family and a native of Brazil. And, as far as the hummingbirds are concerned, this half-hardy annual vine is a real winner!

 

PRO D DAY JMG Camps at HCP

 

It's been a busy summer for our volunteers at the HCP.  The Volunteer Appreciation Barbecue held this September was a perfect opportunity for volunteers and staff to come together and celebrate some of their highlights and achievements. There are enough achievements to fill an entire newsletter, but we will share just a small sampling of highlights with you below. 

 

This Summer the Ethnobotany volunteers focused their energies on creating the new Waterfont Ethnobotany Trail. The first step was to prepare the site for heavy equipment work. Many people generously donated their time to the project, including HCP volunteers, Red Leaf volunteers from Japan and staff from Carreiro the Studio in Victoria.  The groups second major effort was to create a creek system that deals with drainage from several up-slope gardens and serves as a water source. We hope that visitors to the Gardens will enjoy discovering this new trail and see how it evolves in the Spring and Summer next year. Many thanks go to Aline  Fowlow who donated funds toward the work on the trail in memory of her late husband Norman.

 

The Veggie Garden volunteers are harvesting some fantastic edibles this year. Their garden is a joy to visit and is a great way to get ideas on what to plant in our own food gardens. This year, the group reports that their Lemon Cucumbers and Chard did exceptionally well. Their 3 Sisters crop of Corn, Beans and Squash also produced a good harvest. We were not surprised when their Wala Wala onions took a first prize at the Saanich Fair this year! 

 

Our Construction Crew tackled some big projects this Summer. This group loves a challenge! Their newest member Robert Korsten jumped right in to get things done. The group replaced  shingles on the Library Cottage this Summer and are working on replacing the stairs leading to our portable classroom. We are confident that they will somehow squeeze in another project or two before the Winter arrives. 

 

We appreciate each and every volunteer, their positive attitudes and infectious enthusiasm! It has been a good and productive Summer at The Gardens!

 

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank to Butchart Gardens, Victoria Butterfly Gardens, Russell`s Nursery and Garden Works for their generous door prize donations for our volunteer appreciation BBQ.

 

 

If you happen to have asparagus growing in your garden, do you know how to control the asparagus beetles? Well, according to the Manual of Injurious Insects and Methods of Prevention by E. A. Ormerod (published in 1890), all you have to do is go to the section "Food Crops," where you will find that "Asparagus" is the first crop listed (because it starts with "A," of course) . Under "Prevention and Remedies" we can then read the following: " Dipping the infested shoots in a mixture of half a pound of soft soap, a quarter of a pound of flower of sulphur, and about the same quantity of soot, well mixed together in a pail of warm water. . ."

 

There are further instructions re "application" but, moving on quickly to "C," we find listed the cabbage aphis (Cabbage Green Fly), otherwise known as Aphis brassica. We are then told that drenching the infested plants with soap suds is practicable as it kills the young Aphides. However, "Syringing with an infusion of tobacco mixed with limewater has been found very useful and the following mixture is also stated to be serviceable: Four ounces of quassia boiled for ten minutes in a gallon of water, and a piece of soft soap about four ounces in weight then added; and the mixture syringed over the plants."

 

Wireworms get a number of pages. Treatments here vary according to the crop being under attack. For instance, "soot and also guano have been found to stop the mischief in bad attacks on oats. The soot was applied at the rate of sixteen bushels per acre, the guano at the rate of two hundredweight, 'all in a pouring rain.' "

 

This will probably be sufficient evidence to convince readers that there's more than enough information in some older books to keep us challenged and bemused for some time - far more interesting that just getting the latest facts and figures off the internet! And when we're browsing older books, we may even discover that some now-forgotten methods of controlling infestations and diseases of plants are worth further consideration. Do come in to our HCP library for a browse one day, whether or not there's a "pouring rain!"

 

Library Hours: 

Wednesday - 9:00 to 12:00

Saturday - 10:00 to 1:00