Canada Blooms Newsletter Summer-20

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Canada Blooms Chooses 2020 Festival Theme

Canada Blooms is excited to announce the Canada Blooms Flower of the Year for 2020 is the Sincerity Dahlia (Dahlia x hybrida) from Syngenta Flowers North America.

How can you best describe the Sincerity Dahlia — big, bold and beautiful! This annual charmer sees lots of early blooms (3”-4”) and has large pink and white bi-colour flowers with just a touch of yellow at their centre, making the Sincerity Dahlia truly eye-catching.

The Sincerity is compact and dense, well-branched plants make a shapely backdrop for the showy blooms. Displaying best in mid- to late summer and early fall, Sincerity is a perfect choice for the landscape and high-end patio containers or to fill holes that develop in perennial borders. Dahlias can easily be overwintered indoors.

The Sincerity Dahlia was selected for the Editor’s Choice Medal of Excellence Award at Cultivate 2019 (a growers convention held each year in Ohio).

You can expect to see close to 500 of these stunning Sincerity Dahlias in gardens and featured areas at Canada Blooms this spring.

Mark's Choice Amaryllis

Toronto Flower Show Happenings

There is a new class competition in the Toronto Flower Show this year – the Mark’s Choice Amaryllis Class.

Mark’s Choice Amaryllis kits, available at Home Hardware, have a super-sized bulbs of 28 to 39 cm, 28% bigger than most amaryllis sold in Canada, that is about a big as they come.

For the first 5 days (Friday-Tuesday) there will be 25 red amaryllis vying for top prize, then on Wednesday, those bulbs will be distributed throughout the Toronto Flower Show and 25 red and white amaryllis will be the new challengers.

Winners will be recognized at the Closing Ceremonies on Sunday, 22 at 3:30 pm.

The Toronto Flower Show Competitor’s Schedule is now online.

Tips For Growing Amaryllis

Don’t want to wait until March to see an amaryllis?

Well, you can pick one up and start growing your own. We are partial to the Mark’s Choice Amaryllis Kit (which even comes with its own pot), which are available at Home Hardware.

Mark Cullen says "amaryllis are so easy anyone can grow one. You can almost ignore them and they will still bloom (almost, they need to be watered about one a week or so when the soil gets dry about a centimetre down)".

Its as easy as 1, 2 ,3

1. Plant amaryllis in a pot 2" wider than the diameter of the bulb.
2. Fill the pot 1/3 full of potting soil and place the bulb on top of the soil spreading out the roots. Add more soil around the bulb and water thoroughly. Leave the top 2" of the bulb showing above the soil level.
3. Place the pot in a warm bright place and water sparingly. When growth starts, increase watering to keep the soil evenly moist and provide plenty of light. As the stalk grows, rotate the pot to keep it straight.

Flowers usually open 8-10 weeks after planting.

Once it flowers, take a picture and enter the Mark’s Choice Amaryllis contest (details in Mark’s February newsletter, see Garden Tips below for more details on how to sign up for Mark’s newsletter).

November To-Do List

Harrowsmith’s Winter Issue

Garden experts Mark and Ben Cullen offer their list of things to do to prepare your Garden for winter.

We have been busy in our gardens getting ready for winter. Invest some time now for a great looking garden come spring. Here is a list of our recommended activities:

1. Plly Wilt-pruf to broadleaved evergreens like fhododendrons, boxwood, holly and the like to prevent winter desiccation (apply when temperatures are above freezing).

2. Start Your amaryllis bulbs now to make sure your are ready for our 2020 amaryllis photo contest. You will find contest details in our February newsletter. Start you amaryllis now and take photos when the fabulous blooms are at their peak. Subscribe to our newsletter for more info. (continue reading)

Baby it’s getting cold outside, but you can warm up with the latest Winter issue of Harrowsmith magazine!

We’ve got the goods, from tips on growing and drying hot peppers from Mark and Ben Cullen, to advice on how to build your very own traditional smokehouse from DIY expert Steve Maxwell, as well as our favourite books and other things we love! Meet Quebec homesteaders, see how photography is preserving the past in rural Ontario, and check out our delicious recipes for your next winter feast. Plus tips on winter camping, attracting birds to your property through the season, electric floor heating and more!

It’s all in the Winter issue of Harrowsmith, on sale November 18.

Great Holidays Gifts – Subscribe now

UNILOCK®: Choosing The Right Product and Colour For Your Home!

As the original manufacturer of concrete patio pavers in North America, UNILOCK® has earned a fine reputation for quality and become one of the most trusted names in the industry. With more than 10 billion stones in the ground to date, we’ve sold more pavers than any other company.

UNILOCK® knows that choosing the right colour of pavers for your home can be a daunting task, so here is some advice to consider for projects you may be considering around your house.

1. Consider the Existing Architecture. For most projects, the house is the most significant structure to consider. You don’t need to match the colour of pavers to the house colour as long as you stay within the same colour ‘tone’.

2. Consider the Application. Different colours are well suited to different applications — lighter colours for pool decks to absorb less heat from the sun, darker colours for BBQ and other high traffic areas to hide spills.

3. Complement other Key Elements. You might pull colours from home’s roof and trim to define a cozy fire pit area.

4. Add an accent or border. Think one colour is boring? Add a border, accent or inlay in your design.

5. Mix and Match online. Use online tool to compare borders, accents and colours.

6. Physical Samples. Unilock’s Outdoor Idea Centers have samples that you can take home to see if it fits your design.

(read complete Unilock article)

D-I-Y Wreath Ideas

Winter is a great time to have fun with wreaths. Looking for some ideas?

Check out: Woodland Wreath (MadeInADay.com), Rustic Wreath (HGTV.com), Chalkboard Wreath (Goodhousekeeping.com / CountryLiving.com), Cardinal Wreath (HandMadeModernBlog.com), Santa Wreath (ScratchAndStitch.com), Whispy Winter Wreath (MadeInADay.com)

Need A Portable Office?

Consider a Fab-Con Container.

Canada Blooms uses a Fab-Con Container each year, for safe storage of tools, decor and decorative items while at the festival.

Fab-Con Containers (Fabricated Containers) are secure, ground-access, portable containers that are suitable for many applications. They are great for storage or to create a highly functional workspace with doors and windows that can go anywhere.

Click here for more information on Fab-Con containers.

Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign Continues to Put Down Roots

Highway of Heroes June Planting 2019
Photos from Highway of Heroes – L-R: Leo Hawkes, Managing Director, Volvo Financial Services, Corporal Nick Kerr, Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, The Hon. Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Veterans Affairs Don Mitchell, Mayor of Whitby Mark Cullen, Campaign Chair, Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign

On June 14, 2019, the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, joined the Hon. Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Veterans Affairs, to attend a Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign community event. There, Canadian Armed Forces member, Corporal Nick Kerr, was presented with the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation for outstanding dedication to volunteer work with the Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign. The Prime Minister and Minister MacAulay also highlighted the 2019 Federal Budget proposal to provide $2.9 million through Veterans Affairs Canada over three years, to support the construction of the Highway of Heroes Living Tribute.

Highway of Heroes June 2019 Planting

The presentation of the Minister of Veterans Affairs
Commendation to Corporal Nick Kerr highlighted what the campaign has come to mean to those that that have served in the Armed Forces. Corporal Kerr served in Afghanistan in 2006. Over the last three years, he has volunteered and attended over 15 Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign events, sometimes driving for hours to be able to participate and in this case, flying out from Edmonton to attend. (…read more)

Got A Special Container Garden?

Even though space ‘Urban Jungle’ can be limited, containers offer a great way for everyone to garden regardless of the yard/balcony size. But it does mean you may need to be creative.

We are looking for creative, unique and innovative container gardens to share with our readers. So we are challenging you to enter our ‘Show Us Your Best Container’ Contest.

It is so easy to enter, just snap a pic of your best container garden from the Spring/Summer of 2019, upload it to the contest page and wait to see if you win.

Have a brown thumb? You can still enter, take a pic of a friends container (or even your neighbours).

Categories:
Most Colourful Container
Smallest Container
Most Unusual Container
Most Creative Container
Best Recycle/Upcycle
Best Fairy Garden

Individuals may enter one picture per category starting from July 1st to September 1st. Some entries may be shared on social media or in our newsletter. See contest page for details.

Pics will be judged by Canada Blooms staff and winners will be notified by September 15, 2019.

Recipe Corner: Pico de Gallo

Ok, so those tomatoes and peppers you planted are ready to harvest, what do you do now? How about making an easy Pico de Gallo?

Recipe by Rachel Love, AllRecipes.com

Ingredients:
6 roma (plumb) tomatoes 1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, minced 1 pinch garlic powder
3 tables spoons chopped fresh cilantro 1 pinch ground cumin, or to taste
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced salt and ground black pepper to taste
1/2 lime, juiced

Directions:
Stir the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, jalapeno pepper, lime juice, garlic, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.

Contest

Mark and Ben Cullen are very excited about their book: “Escape to Reality, how the world is changing gardening and gardening is changing the world”.

It is about fresh, healthy food, clean air, pollinators, native plants, the benefits of the horticultural social-exchange that occurs every time a gardener sets foot in the dirt. It is also about the need to fail, the surprising places where inspiration can spring from and it is about hope.

They believe every gardener should read it. Certainly, if every Canadian did read it, we could share a better understanding of the natural world just outside our back door.

Visit our contest page to enter to win a copy of Mark and Ben’s book.

Revisit the Gardens Of Canada Blooms 2019