Mar 14 - 2025 - Pussy Willows are here

 

Pussy Willows are ready.  The farm where Brian has his lily hybridizing field produces pussy willows as one of the flower crops.  There's a lot of work in pussy willows.  There are standards for length of stem and buds. That means a lot of sawing in the shed during February and March.  This year, Mark, the owner, has mostly retired so the bulk of the pussy willow crop is someone else's work this year. That's the case with the peonies as well.  Little do we know how much work goes into making a single-stem flower for the florist store. The garden centres are starting to open.  Sunshine Express, one of the largest in Niagara,  opened this week.  It is full of little pot plants still sprouting.  It has a large wholesale pot flower trade, especially in the fall with the Chrysanthemums.  You never see them blooming.  Lines of green pots full off flower buds as far as you can see, and then they are gone.  We don't get to see the colour display.     Here's a spring picture - ice on the pussy willows. This is from a few years ago.

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Mar 7 2023 - Maple Syrup is good for you

 

I saw that headline recently.  Here it is:  "pure maple syrup is not only high in antioxidants, but every spoonful offers nutrients like riboflavin, zinc, magnesium, calcium and potassium."   So woodpeckers know something!  But what about bears who love honey?  "Real Maple Syrup has significantly more calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese than honey. These minerals do great work for your body including things like cell formation, maintaining healthy red blood cells, and immune support." But wait!  Is it a case of all those  healthy syrups and sweetners going onto the wrong foods?  How to explain that it is expected that obese adults are expected to outnumber those who are not overweight by 2040?  Too many pancakes or waffles or french toast with maple syrup?  Or what? With the UK numbers projected to be that 71% of people will be overweight by 2040, shouldn't we have some answers to "Why do so many of us get so fat?" Scientific American looks at the question and answers with our current-thinking: a disorder of the energy balance.  The article says this has never been tested as it is too difficult and expensive to do correctly. This article pursues the question of the role of hormones (insulin) in stimulating fat accumulation.  And the sugars of note are sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup.  This hypothesis of obesity implies that the ongoing worldwide epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes (which stems to a great extent from insulin resistance) are largely driven by the grains and sugars in our diets. And that was the premise of the Aitkins Diet - eat as much saturated fat as you want, just don't eat carbohydrates. Isn't that the keto diet as well? The keto diet is known to help those with diabetes.  The full article is HERE.  It seems to me that the scientific and medical communities are still trying to figure out how we get fat and how to get unfat.  I bet that won't happen by 2040.  Especially with the recipes that follow the articles - bacon-wrapped salmon followed by the "meatza" - a paleo pizza - with a ground beef and pork crust.   Yikes! On to our photo of the day - it is pussy willow time.  I've brought home 200 stems, and realize there are more pots this year than last year at the two places where I do the decorative pots.  Back for more! Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Mar 18 2022 - Giant Jumping Worms

 

I got to thinking about how green Ireland is. Ireland receives easterly trade winds across the Atlantic Ocean.  The name for this phenomenon - an atmospheric lake.  It transports moisture from the Mexico Gulf to the Irish shores to deliver all that misty moisture that constantly keeps things green. Our Garden Alerts have begun.  They are like weather alerts, but don't have the flashing red banners on the Weather Network.   We are under notice that there's an invasive worm called the giant jumping worm. Did you know that earth worms are an invasive species and are consuming the forest floor faster than it can replenish itself for native species.  That accounts for some of the dwindling Trillium woods we used to enjoy. The latest is the giant jumping worm. Their distinction is their means of self-defence - writhing like a snake and ejecting a piece of their tail.  They can jump out of a bowl, so generally give us the creeps.  They live at the surface among the leaves and eats the fallen organic material right at the surface.  So they are ruining the top soil where plants live and seedlings get started.  How to spot them? The place to start to look is potted plants and gardening and landscaping materials in the spring for their little cocoons.  They've been spotted in the GTA and as far west as Windsor. Another invader this year with cocoons is the box tree moth. It eats boxwood plant leaves.  It has decimated boxwood plants in Europe - the home of topiary gardens.  The sign they are on your plants is webbing among chewed leaves.  There has previously been sightings in St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Here are Box Tree Moth Tips Box Tree Moth can be a significant pest if left unmanaged. Spread the word about box tree moth to your local horticultural networking group and encourage others to monitor boxwood for this pest. However, box tree moth can be easily controlled if it is sprayed at the right time. You can still have confidence in planting boxwood in your landscapes. Continue to monitor boxwood plants for signs of active larval stages, especially during the periods of May 30 to June 15, July 15 to Aug. 10 and Sept. 1 to 15. Avoid transplanting boxwood plants from residential gardens within the GTA. Always plant healthy, pest-free, nursery grown boxwood. When removing plants (or clippings): first place a black plastic bag over the plant, cut the main stem at ground level and carefully contain the entire plant inside the bag, tying it off securely. Where air temperatures are 20 C or greater, place bagged plant in the sun for two days to kill any box tree moth inside. (Or bury or burn bagged infested plants, where permitted). That's our Garden Alert of the Week!  It is pussy willow season.  You will see them for sale at florists and garden centres.  I get to purchase mine from the grower Mark Houtby - where Brian has his Lilycrest Gardens hybridizing field.

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