Dear Helen: Where can I find seeds or plants next year of the Tidal Wave Silver and Evening Scentsation petunias you wrote about and pictured in a recent column?
L.M.
I’ve not seen plants of either petunia at garden centres. The cost of the seeds, which would translate into expensive transplants, might be the reason. And Evening Scentsation is a newly introduced variety this year.
I’ve found both petunias easy to raise from seeds. All the seeds I’ve bought, of both varieties, have been pelleted, which makes them easy to handle.
Stokes Seeds lists both Tidal Wave Silver and Evening Scentsation, in packets of 20 seeds. Because each plant spreads broadly to 75 centimetres across or more, not many of us need or want 20 plants.
Lindenberg Seeds sells packets of 12 Tidal Wave Silver seeds at a reasonable price. William Dam Seeds sells eight-seed packets of Evening Scentsation, also at a reasonable cost.
Dear Helen: What are the crocus-like flowers I’ve seen blooming early in the fall in years past? Some have small blooms, like early spring crocuses; others are like giant versions of a crocus. When and where can the bulbs be purchased?
F.B.
The outsized flowers are colchicums, the small ones fall-flowering crocuses.
Both bloom in August to October, depending on the season and variety. Both grow from corms, purchased in late summer and planted right away. The corms appear in garden centres any time after mid-August, when shipping from wholesale suppliers begins.
Planting corms of both flowers in low-growing ground covers helps to keep the blooms clean and pretty even in rainy weather, which otherwise can render the flowers mud-splashed and dishevelled.
Colchicum corms are large, and poisonous. Take care not to leave them within the reach of children.
Dear Helen: A mystery squash plant appeared in our garden this year. We’re not sure what it is, though the squashes on it are ornamental. Can you identify them from the photo I’ve sent? We were hoping they are edible.
L.J.
Your squashes look most like Delicata (sweet dumpling) squash, characterized by ridged fruits with dark green striping on a cream background. The shape can be oblong to rounded, depending on the variety.
Your two squashes show both shapes, presumably on the one plant, suggesting that the plant might be the result of seeds produced by cross-pollination between squash types in last year’s garden.
Delicata varieties will cross with Butternut varieties, even from garden to garden. To prevent crossing, they need to be separated by as great a distance as possible.
If your squashes are most like Delicata, the flesh should be sweet, but if the plant is the result of a cross, there is no way of telling what the eating quality will be like.
Garden events
Dahlia meeting. The Victoria Dahlia Society will meet on Thursday, Sept. 6, at 7 p.m. in a member’s garden at 5025 Santa Clara Ave. The evening will feature a parlour show of the most perfect dahlias from members’ gardens. Visitors are welcome.
Cactus show and sale. The Victoria Cactus & Succulent Society is holding a Fall Show and Sale on Saturday, Sept. 8, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Tillicum Centre Mall.
Garden show. The View Royal Garden Club is hosting its Fall Garden Show of seasonal flowers, vegetables and fruits on Saturday, Sept. 8, from 1 to 3 p.m. in Wheeley Hall, 500 Admirals Rd. (behind Esquimalt United Church). Admission of $5 includes refreshments and door prize tickets. There will be a sale of plants and garden items.
Abkhazi plant sale. The Friends of Abkhazi Garden Society are hosting a plant sale on Sunday, Sept. 9, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Abkhazi Garden, 1964 Fairfield Rd. Fall is an ideal time to rethink the garden and add new plants. Come and find some treasures. Most have been propagated from plants in the garden. They include ferns, shade perennials and unique garden gems. Cash and cheques only. Proceeds will be used in Abkhazi Garden projects. friendsofabkhazi.ca.
Mixing it up conference. Registration is open now for Victoria Master Gardener Association’s Beauty & the Beast conference on Feb. 2, 2019, with Dr Glynn Percival, U.K. – Those Lurking Beneath; Janis Matson, Vancouver – Mood: Colour, Light and Sound; Claudia Copley, Victoria – The Good, the Bad and the Merely Ugly; Paul Hervey-Brookes, U.K. – Plants: RHS Award of Garden Merit. Information and registration at mixingitup.org Last day for Early Bird price is Oct. 14. This event sells out early.
