The weather, always a topic for comment or complaint, has been a highlight in conversations over the past two weeks. Expressions of delight abound at the bright sunshine, birthed from the wet, dark chill of a long winter and early spring.
The delicious warmth has, at last, thawed our bones — and brought out the wildlife. Early one morning I ambled down the driveway to retrieve the Times Colonist and found four deer grazing on a small patch of boulevard that I’d over-seeded and spread with a thin layer of nitrogen-rich fish compost.
All that fresh greenery proved a powerful attractant. May that oasis of green keep them content enough not to attempt a leap over the fence and into the apple trees and roses.
News has travelled fast through the neighbourhood that the quail are back, charming as ever with their characteristically quiet watchfulness and family cohesion — qualities that command from onlookers a certain fascination, and respect.
Their route is the same as in previous years — across the road to the next door neighbour’s front yard, through the fence to my driveway, across the front garden and up the side to a back corner. At that point a “scout” flies to the fence top and signals when it’s safe to proceed.
I find it immensely amusing to watch the birds cross the road and driveway, places where no vegetation blurs the view of their peculiar mode of locomotion, as though their bodies, stately and still, moved on motorized wheels.
The quail are more than welcome as a gentle presence in the garden.
Cynthia. Filling the view from my kitchen-sink window in May is Cynthia — broadly full-bodied, imposing in pink and green. Cynthia is the first shrub I planted in this garden, decades ago. Every year since then, the rhododendron adorns itself in huge trusses of pink flowers that attract hordes of bees.
Even more impressive is Cynthia the second, made from a rooted “layer” from the original plant, in the front garden. It’s grown to at least five metres high, well beyond pruning.
Layering. Most home gardeners have observed a low-slung branch on a shrub producing roots where it has made contact with the ground. That’s how simple layering is done.
Intentional layering of shrubs, climbers and perennials such as pinks as well as heathers, and herbs (sage, thyme, trailing rosemary) is done basically in the same way.
Find a healthy, flexible shoot growing close to the ground (or that can be easily lowered to ground level). Remove the lower leaves on the shoot and bend it down into a shallow trench that has been lightly amended with planting mix. Firm the denuded shoot into the soil, leaving the leafy tip exposed and, if necessary, secure it with a brick or rock. Mark the site with a label or stake.
A shrub branch layered in spring (my preferred time for making a layer) will usually have rooted by the following spring. A light tug will tell whether roots are holding the layer in place. Layering is a no-risk method of propagation: A layered stem remains attached to the parent plant and continues to be sustained by it while the buried stem is rooting.
GARDEN EVENTS
Orchid meeting. The Victoria Orchid Society will meet on Monday, May 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Gordon Head United Church Hall, 4201 Tyndall Ave. Alexey Tretyakov will speak about “Orchid Nutrition” — what orchids need to grow and bloom well.
Rose meeting. The Mid Island Rose Society will meet on Monday, May 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the North Nanaimo Library, 6250 Hammond Bay Rd., Nanaimo. Information at 250-390-2805.
HCP events. The Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, 505 Quayle Rd. in Saanich, is offering the following events. To register for workshops call 250-479-6162. Details at hcp.ca.
• Picnic in the Gardens, Wednesday, May 30, 5 to 8 p.m. This is the first in a series of four picnic evenings. Admission is by donation.
• Herbal Medicine Making Workshop, Sunday, June 3, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Learn about different types of medicinal products made from herbs and how to make them. HCP members $60, others $65.
• Willow Chair Workshop, Sunday, June 3, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Make and take home your own bent willow rustic chair. All tools provided. Members $250, others $275.
