We had an excellent presentation from Brian Minter at our last meeting. He treated us to some wonderful information including sumptuous photos of many new varietals and stunning plant combinations. Many of the new plants that are being developed today are much more resistant to extreme weather, particularly sun and heat.
The photos of the container combinations shown below are from Brian’s presentation (there were many more!) and were taken during his recent trip to Chicago, where he visited the trial gardens at Chicago Botanic Garden (and many of the garden centres there). Coleus, fibrous begonias, rex begonia, ipomoea, caladium, tradescantia and other tropicals were featured prominently.
In addition to the excellent presentation, Brian again shared his breadth of knowledge by answering questions on a variety of subjects. A few interesting, and perhaps not well known, tidbits he shared include:
• A hardy citrus that thrives in the cold winter of the Fraser Valley is the Flying Dragon (Citrus trifoliata ‘Flying Dragon’) orange tree. It’s grown for its tasty skin, rather than its flesh. For more information, see: Citrus trifoliata 'Flying Dragon' (Flying Dragon Orange Tree, Hardy Orange Tree, Trifoliate Orange) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
• Brian noted that his favourite strawberry to grow is from Ball Horticulture called Berry’s Hill Montana—it is grown from seed! Unfortunately, finding this seed has proven difficult as Ball Horticulture doesn’t sell directly to the public and no Canadian distributors could be found.
• Brian’s favourite raspberry is the Tulameen raspberry (Rubus idaeus ‘Tulameen’). It appears that this raspberry is available at many Canadian nurseries.
• Brian advised that painting fruit tree trunks with a ring of white latex paint is an organic control to prevent pest damage—the bugs are uncomfortable being more visible to predators against the white paint. For further information, see: How and Why to Paint Fruit Tree Trunks - Summers Acres and
Paint fruit tree trunks to protect against pests & winter damage | Fruit Growers News
• Micronutrients added to your fertilizer make a huge difference to plant nutrition.
• Adding lime to the soil around your fruit trees in January is greatly beneficial.
Once again, a big thank you to Brian Minter for sharing is vast knowledge and enthusiasm with us!
submitted by: Lorna Doucette