First, some gardening housekeeping!聽 Remember that the Yorkton Gardeners鈥� market is on Saturdays from 8:00 AM till noon at the Prairie Harvest Christian Life Centre, corner of Melrose and Simpson Streets in Yorkton.聽 There are all kinds of yummy garden produce available, as well as flowers, honey and crafts.聽 If you鈥檇 like more information or might want to be a vendor at the Market, call Glen at 783-7040.
Have you checked out the Horticultural Society鈥檚 new聽 feature, 鈥淢ystery Plants鈥�?聽聽 Log on to www.yorktonhort.ca聽 and see if you can identify the plant.聽 You can take part and send in a photo of an unusual plant.聽 Include the name of the plant, if known, and tell us a little about it.聽 Or, if you have a plant and don鈥檛 know what it is, maybe someone can identify it.聽 We鈥檒l all learn together!聽 Please send in photos to [email protected]
If you are starting to make notes in your gardener鈥檚 notebook about what worked and what didn鈥檛 work this year, or what you鈥檇 like to try next year, here is a plant to consider.聽 Scaevola, or fairy fan flower, is an easy care plant that brings a delightful pop of purple to your containers.
This plant originates in Australia, and so it likes warm weather and sunny locations.聽 Give it well-drained soil, even soil that is on the sandy side.聽 It does not like its feet wet, so be careful with the watering!聽 This sun-loving plant needs at least eight hours of sun a day.
Scaevola blooms all summer, with dainty purple flowers that look like a fan.聽 It is interesting because the flowers are not in a circular shape; the blooms look as though half of them have not formed.聽 But this is as it should be, and the fan shape is intriguing.聽
The plant grows to a height of about ten inches and will spread to almost two feet, but if it gets too wild we can pinch it back and this will help it become thicker.聽 And more good news:聽 it will bloom all summer and will not need dead-heading, and it attracts bees!聽 What鈥檚 not to love?
If we want, we can also plant scaevola right into the garden, but it will need the same conditions.聽 Full sun and well-drained soil will make it a happy plant!
For intrepid gardeners who want to try taking slips of this plant to keep over the winter, I did some homework and this is what I found.聽 We should start our cuttings in light, loose soil, (composed mostly of peat moss) and when roots have formed, transplant them into more substantial potting soil.聽 At this point, we should keep the soil slightly moist (not wet).聽 And while they will like to be in a warm location, they are too tender to be in the warm sun of a south or west location.
When we talk about 鈥減otting soil鈥�, store-bought potting soil is the best choice for our containers.聽 Don鈥檛 head out to the garden with a trowel and fill your containers.聽 Garden soil works in the garden: there are earthworms to aerate it, plants drop leaves that decompose naturally and amend the soil, but garden soil is denser and not the best choice for containers.聽 In a container we need good drainage, and a light soil that provides everything our plants need in a small space.聽 And the soil is lighter, too, for the ease of the gardener鈥檚 back!聽 Purchased potting soil fills the bill, and often contains a bit of fertilizer that gives a boost to our plants.聽 This is one of those garden purchases that are worth the cost, because in our short growing season it gives our plants what they need right from the start!
Thank you to our friends at Yorkton This Week for all the work they do.聽 Let鈥檚 pray for health for all, and good weather ahead.聽 Have a great week, enjoy your garden, and be sure to wear a hat!
