Deeply Rooted

When life hands you lemons we’ve heard you need to make lemonade. When October hands us a whopper of a wet snow, you need to make Evergreen decorations for Christmas.

There are several unique challenges to growing trees, shrubs and perennials in our local region. If you live anywhere in the Red River Valley other than east of a line running from Saint Malo to Steinbach, you will be very familiar with the term Red River gumbo.

If you have ever worked with barberry shrubs you have probably learned within seconds how they got their name. The stems are covered in many painfully sharp thorns that make Caraganas seem cuddly.

So now that it is fall, what is there that we can look forward to as we progress to winter? Brown branches against a cold dim sky? Blinding white landscapes as far as the eye can see?

Annual or perennial, there is a single determining factor that divides all plants into these two categories. Can it survive the winter?

Now where did we leave off? Ah yes, Fall colour that has been bred for our Province, if we can provide enough shelter. Many varieties have been popping up from the different researchers, all desperate for that gorgeous red fall colour we see in other Provinces or countries.

I have a question, am I the only one, or do others find fall slightly depressing? It is the downsizing of summer, and as a child it was the purgatorial return to school.

Daylilies can often feel like the miracle perennial. With very easy care, tolerance to almost all climates, and its extensive variety of colours and looks, it is easy to see why they are so highly praised.

One of the most widely known Canadian symbols is the red maple leaf. It’s in our nation’s flag after all. Maples are known for their ability to put on a spectacular colour show in fall. Reds, golds, oranges, yellows, even some deep purple.

When you think Petunia what do you think of? For me I think of bursts of colour, great structure, and simply a classic.