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May 11, 2003
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Parkdale Plant Sale and New Fence
Yesterday was a very plant-filled day. In the morning I got up and walked over to the Parkdale Horticultural Society's Annual Plant Sale. Food Share was also having a sale that morning but I was too lazy to travel across town so I stuck with the one close to home. As usual I bought a ton of plants. This year I'm planning to make an alpine trough so I bought three over-priced but adorably miniature plants for that. I also bought a wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) from a grower. In the sale area I spent an additional $65.00! That doesn't seem like much but you get a lot for that price at these sales because most plants are between 2 and 4 dollars! Here's my list:
Coral Bells (Heuchera 'Cappuccino')
Rudbeckia 'Golden Glow'
Violet
Lungwort 'Sissinghurst White' (Pulmonaria saccharata)
Heuchera 'Velvet Night'
Columbine unknown
Forget-me-not (2)
Plectranthus 'Longwood Silver'
Dianthus 'Raspberry Parfait'
Sedum 'Autumn Joy'
Strawberry (tons)
Egyptian onion
Garlic Chives
Chives
Nodding Onion
Garlic
Mother of Thyme
Viola 'Bowles Black'
Something totally unknown. I don't even remember picking it out.
Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla mollis)
Yarrow (Achillea filipendlina) pink
Persian Catmint (Nepeta)
These aren't all the plants I have purchased recently. In the last week I have also acquired:
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) Hyb. Excelsior
Verbascum -- I lost the tag.
Saxifrage 'Purple Robe'
Nasturtium
The 100% free and natural fence we built
Yesterday afternoon it was cold and dreary but we went out and planted most of the new stuff. Our timing was good because it rained last night and I try to plant during or before it rains so I don't have to water everything in. After planting we went ahead and built the fence/edging I had been plotting to build since last fall. It is a 100% natural, 100% free fence made of branches scavenged from the curb on garden waste days. I plan to put up full instructions on the site, but in the meantime here's the basics.
To build the fence we cut thick pieces to a pre-determined length (ours is about 15 inches). Then we drove them into the ground using a mallet and our physical strength. Next we took thinner, long, green branches (willow is good) and wove them back and forth between the bigger stakes. We didn't have enough branches to really fill ours up, but you can make it as open or closed off as you want by adjusting the number of branches woven in. You can also try weaving branches together for a more closed off look. The chore is simple but it took some messing around to get it right as on our first attempt we didn't put the stakes close enough together and the thin branches wouldn't weave securely.
Our fence/edging is tall enough to keep dogs out and to signify "garden" for the idiots who insist on trampling in it, but short enough so as to not obstruct view of the plants contained inside. I love the new fence. It's really good-looking, fairly secure and I've noticed alot of passerbys commenting on it as well. Better than any plastic or metal crap you'd get at the garden centre that's for sure! And the free aspect is of course the most appealing part of all.
posted at 02:06 PM
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