Gardeners, it's been quite a week! The rain just didn't seem to want to stop, and it's hard to say how our plants fared in that weather. I know ours were water-logged, and it was very disappointing to see the poor things struggle through a cold spring, only to be drenched in the last while. However, we must keep things in perspective; we love our plants, but we are not depending on them for our livelihood; I feel so badly for the farmers to the north of us who either struggled to get a crop in, or never had the chance to get on the fields at all. That is truly heartbreaking and disappointing.
We recently attended the 100th anniversary of Atwater, Saskatchewan. This little town was once a thriving spot on the prairies, and though things have changed over the years with the loss of the elevators, Atwater still has great people and a strong community spirit. There were hundreds of people out at the celebrations, and thankfully the weather was absolutely wonderful! I was talking with a fellow gardener who mentioned that she has a real problem with ants in her lawn; I told her that we have a big anthill in our lawn, too, so I would do some research to find out the best way to get rid of them. I'm still working on that, but now there's another reason to find a way to make the ants vacate their current homes. The other day, inbetween rain showers, I noticed that some of the plants in one of our large planters were looking a little droopy. At first I blamed the rain, but upon closer inspection, I realized that the planter's soil was actually quite dry. As I got closer, I saw that the soil was teeming with ants, and they had literally chewed or tunneled their way through the roots of several plants. When I gently plucked the poor things from the soil, there was very little root material left.
Honestly, do our struggles as gardeners ever end? We did have some ant dust in the garage, so old that I don't know if it has any potency left, but it was worth a try. I scratched some into the soil, and then sprinkled some around the bottom of the planter.
Then I had to haul some empty planters and set them in place to cover the dust, just so nothing else could get at it; and then I had to move the planters that were there to another location so that the ants wouldn't try to make them their new home. The end result was that the planter is now half empty, now that I yanked the dead plants out, and we have an odd display of empty planters scattered set there for no apparent reason! The things we do for our plants!
The weather was less than ideal for the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society May meeting, but thank you to everyone who attended and thank you to everyone who helped with the picnic in any way. Thank you also to Skinner Garden Classics for hosting our group.
Remember, there are still a few spots available on the bus to the International Peace Gardens on July 24; this is a one day trip, so you don't have to worry about getting too far behind with your own gardening work! Call Liz at 782-2830 if you'd like to join us.
And Glen is the person to talk to about the Saskatchewan Horticultural Association bus trip into the south-west corner of the province. You'll see interesting gardens and some fascinating scenery on this three day tour: Glen's number is 783-7040.
The Garden of the Week contest will be starting in July; anyone can enter, and yes, you can enter your own yard! We'll chat more about that as it gets closer. Till next time, have a good week, wear a hat, and protect yourself against mosquitos!
