GARDEN JOURNAL

Lovely Lavender

Bren Lukasiewich is the gardener and owner of Wynndel Lavender. I met her at the Saturday Creston Farmer’s Market this summer. I noticed her stall because of the lovely fragrance floating in the air. The look and feel of the booth was different too – nicely put together and totally appropriate for her products which include both fresh and dried lavender.

When and how did you start growing lavender?
I started growing lavender in 2007. When we were landscaping our new acreage, a friend gave me some lavender plants to put around the pond and they grew taller than the cedars! I did some research and discovered this herb, like so many Mediterranean plants likes the full sun, lime-like soil, little to no watering and good drainage. These are the exact conditions at the base of our acreage. It was a bonus to discover that lavender is deer-resistant as well.

I grew a few different species in trials beds and settled on the English (angustifolia) varieties of Hidicote and Munstead and the intermedia Lavandins (French) Provence, Grosso and Fred Boutin. All are specific to our Zone 6 and provide incredible colour and fragrance.

How big is your lavender garden?
Currently I have 750 plants. 

What is your biggest challenge growing lavender?
The greatest challenge is the weeding! Everything grows here in the Kootenays and the weeds are no exception.

How long have you been gardening?
I have been gardening most of my life, growing up on the farm on the prairies. When I retired from nursing after 29 years and before moving to the Creston Valley, I took the Master Gardeners course at the Devonian Gardens near Edmonton. 

What do you like about gardening in Wynndel?
Not in my wildest dreams did I plan on being a farmer again but growing and gardening in this area is beyond your greatest expectations. At the local Garden Club we often caution new growers to the area … “don’t plant too much!”. What a great problem to have.

Bren has been invited to Taste of Fernie and the Salmo Market, but has not confirmed. You can find her at the weekly Creston Farmer’s Market that takes place at the Creston Millennium Park parking lot. Stop by if you are in town.

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Feeding a Community

Eating locally has got to be challenging when you live in Jasper. The town of Jasper, in Jasper National Park, is 414 kilometres (257 miles) north and west of Calgary. Jasper’s growing season, not surprisingly, is a little shorter than Calgary’s – we are Zone 3A and Jasper is 2B – which means the gardening season in Jasper starts in late May and runs through September.

But, we’re not that different. In Calgary, the average low and high temperatures are -2ºC (28ºF), and 10ºC (50ºF), respectively and our annual precipitation is 420 millimetres (16.5 inches). Jasper’s average low and high temperatures are -3ºC (26ºF), and 9ºC (48ºF), respectively and annual precipitation is 399 millimetres (15.7 inches). Calgary has less chance of frost throughout the growing season – frost is probably a Jasper gardener’s Achilles heel.

The Jasper Local Food Society is active in the community and was formed to help encourage and promote local growers, provide space for gardeners who don’t have their own garden plots, increase the community’s awareness of its food sources and provide organically grown produce for residents and visitors. And the Jasper Gardening Club is alive and well.

Jasper’s community garden is one of the results of these organizations (and others) efforts. The garden is located on main street. Past the park and right besides the train tracks and the bike path. It’s fenced to keep out the local elk herd and the occasional deer and bear that visit the neighborhood. It also keeps most of the tourists at bay.

The local gardeners obviously know what they are doing – the garden is beautifully maintained. And it has a area for the kids to play while their wards water and weed.

In addition to these local efforts, the Robson Valley Growers (90 kilometres (56 miles) west of Jasper, just over the border in beautiful BC) enjoy about 6 weeks more growing season than Jasper and look to the town as a local market. The BC growers have gotten organized and now participate and support the weekly Jasper Farmers Market. The market, sponsored by the Local Food Society happens Wednesdays in the parking lot of the Jasper Legion. It’s a short season, but keen Jaspertonians are making it happen. Kudos.

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Inhale

Mountain air. It’s clean. It’s cold. It’s fresh. It recharges the batteries.

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Size and Seeds

Came across a research site when out on a wander to Sibbald Flats last week. A number of delphinium were numbered, flagged and bagged in a field, just off the road. A quick Google search resulted in only one possible match to the query, so I’m guessing that this test plot belongs to Janice Gallwey, U of C. She has published a summary of what I think I was looking at in the field. She is studying the components of floral display size and implications for pollinator attraction and reproduction.

This is the explanation of Janice’s research assumptions as outlined in her progress report. Plants display multiple flowers to attract pollinators. But display size is not controlled directly. It is a consequence of the rate at which flowers open and flower longevity. Her research is the first to quantify these components and the resulting display size and the influence on pollinator attraction and then plant seed set.

Overall her research may reveal the ecological and evolutionary significance of the rate at which flowers open – which has not been studied previously. Why delphinium? Not sure. Maybe  because they are considered mildly poisonous, so in this open rangeland, the cattle leave them alone. But just guessing.

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Spring 2011… somewhere in the country

I don’t know. Maybe we’re going to go straight from winter to summer this year. It won’t stop snowing.

So to escape the white, I headed east in search of green. In Montreal, I found definite signs of spring at the Botanical Gardens. Bulbs in bloom – crocus, chionodoxa, squill and iris – as well as brilliant coloured evergreen foliage courtesy of the cedars, bergenia and heuchera. Spring is late there too with trees and shrubs just starting to come into bud. But it’s a start and exactly what I needed to see to know that I’ll probably be puttering about on the balcony this weekend.

Fingers crossed.

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