Budd Gardens Perennials
2832 Innes Road
Ottawa, Ontario
K1B 4K4
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Budd Gardens Perennials 2832 Innes Road Ottawa, Ontario K1B 4K4 |
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Hosta Information | Hostas of the Year | Hosta Popularity Poll
Blackburn in a different time | Family History and Mother's Day | Planting Perennials in the Fall | Growing Hostas in Full Sun | Gardeners and a great Raccoon Story | Butterfly in a Flap Over New Coneflower Varieties | Why Isn't My Blue Hosta Blue? | Taking the Confusion Out of Planning a Perennial GardenBlackburn in a different time
Michael Budd 1931
Michael Budd slopping the pigs 1928
Peter Budd 1931Several years ago, Budd Gardens began renting lands from the NCC in Blackburn below the Blackburn Bypass. These fields had been used as pasture land for decades and as we began to till the soil and plant our crops, ancient hidden treasures began to reveal themselves. Thrown from different size workhorses, some small some large, horseshoes galore from a different agrarian era kept surfacing. I showed some to my father-in-law, Eldon Kemp, who is now in his mid-eighties. Except for the war years, when he served in the Navy, Eldon has spent his entire life in Blackburn. He picked up one shoe that was different from the rest, as it has several long rusted nails in it and declared, "This is from a horse that died and was either buried out in the fields or left for the wildlife to dispose of."
Blackburn always had a blacksmith and I'm sure these men were responsible for re-shoeing the horses that had lost their iron shoes in these fields. Leo Mainville, a bachelor, was the blacksmith when I was a child. He could do anything from shoeing horses to building a complicated piece of farm equipment of his own invention. Leo owned one plate, one fork, one knife, and one cup and after each meal he would use his bread to carefully clean his plate and cutlery with an expert swipe and then turn these utensils upside down onto his table, ready for his next meal. As a blacksmith, he was a genius, but as a homemaker, he was lacking.
Another note of wisdom from the past is this. When hanging a lucky horseshoe in your home, always have the open end pointing up. If you hang it in reverse, all of your luck will fall out.Top
Family History and Mother's Day
Theresa BuddThis past winter I collected old photos and stories from my family, the Budd's and my wife Evelyn's family the Kemps.
My grandfather came to Blackburn in 1911 and Evelyn's great-great grandparents arrived here in 1857. I used a power-point format, incorporating photos with stories beside them. Hundreds of hours were put into both presentations, hours which flew by as new photo treasures appeared from my scanner onto my computer screen. The highlight of all this was presenting the finished product (actually it is never finished) to my families. The Kemp's actually rented a hall and over 85 of them showed up, both young and old and all left smiling ear to ear.
The most interesting part of this experience was talking to the older members of the families trying to coax stories about the past to go with the photos I had. It didn't take too much persuasion to get them talking about the old barn, the war years, their parents and grandparents and what life was like 60, 70 and 80 years ago. Evelyn's great grandfather left Blackburn in the spring of 1873 with a team of work horses to spend the summer in a lumber camp on the Madawaska River near Arnprior, he was 14! My Aunt Jeanette jumped into a deep well in late November to save the life of her 2 year old son Marcel and both only just made it out alive, their was no one else around only the two of them.
This coming Mothers Day honor your mother or grandmother by asking questions about their youth or their school years or where they grew up. These people have so much information it will amaze and entertain you and it will be something you can keep for the rest of your lives and your mothers will love you all the more for it. (Hint-when you get home write down the stories and start a journal). And don't forget to pick up a Peony, Bleeding Heart or bouquet of cut flowers. Don BuddTop
Planting Perennials in the Fall
Fall is an excellent time to be planting perennials. This time of year is plant friendly in that we have moderate weather which is perfect for perennial plant growth. Plenty of fall rain and less punishing hot sun and humid weather allows your new plants to happily establish themselves for the winter. Also there is less transplant shock for your perennials.
Your local nurseries have plants that have been growing in pots all summer and are aching to get out and break free of their tight quarters, you can actually hear them thanking you as you transplant them if you listen closely. A handful of bone meal or an application of liquid fertilizer to promote root growth will have your plants singing in the fall rains.
Another advantage of fall planting is that you can look at your existing beds and make easy visual decisions as to where you would like to add plants and also it is easy to decide how much space you have. This is much more difficult to do in the spring when starring at mostly bare ground with plants just sprouting. Perennial plants are on sale at most nurseries at this time of year so why not take advantage of this and save some money? Remember how good it felt in the spring after a long winter and getting out into the garden to do some manual labour and to work with your returning plant friends to encourage them along to a glorious summer? Some of that feeling can be captured again in the fall on a sunny, cool day working in your garden, contemplating the summer past and preparing for next season. Don BuddTop
Growing Hostas in Full Sun
The most asked question at our nursery is, "do you have any hostas that will grow in full sun?" All hostas will grow in a sunny location; the problem is what will they look like? Hosta leaves will burn and melt in the hot sun. So what to do? The first year that hostas are planted in full sun they will burn quickly but will grow fine. Every year after, as they become acclimatized to the sunny location there will be less burning. When the hosta is several years old burning won't happen until mid-July but by that time you will have so many leaves you can break off the few unsightly ones and still be left with a clean hosta.
I have a large 'Sagae' hosta in full, hot sun that looks great but looks different than the other 'Sagae' I have growing in the shade. A hosta grown in sun will look different than the same one grown in shade. Hostas in sun need lots of water and mulching to help keep the moisture in the soil. I recommend watering with a hose at the base of the plant-give it a good soaking at least once a week. Use shrubs or tall perennials as a partial sun screen; dwarf or other low growing hostas can be shaded this way. Thick leaved hostas have a better chance of doing well in full sun as well as some of the yellow and fragrant ones.
At our nursery our signs will indicate the 'sun tolerant' hostas. A few that do well for me are 'June', 'Halcyon', 'Francee', 'Patriot', and the above mentioned 'Sagae' but there are many more that will adapt to the sun. My backyard hosta garden has about 400 different varieties of hostas. With my last garden expansion I planted about 100 in full sun and the first season they burned but this year they are already looking better. I have however planted trees so that the hostas and the trees will grow together and in a few short years it will be a shaded garden. This is the other obvious solution to growing hostas in full sun-plant a tree!
When I walk to the sunny part of my hosta garden and look at the plants with full sunlight glancing off of the leaves, I feel anxious and the plant looks busy. When I cross the lawn and look at the hostas in the shade my heartbeat drops, and a sense of calm and quiet enters my soul. This is where they truly belong.Top
Gardeners and a great Raccoon Story
One of the great pleasures of my business is meeting my customers and sharing stories. They're love of gardening is expressed in many ways; from the novice to the experienced. Beginners feel no passion taking a plant out of a pot and planting it, but next spring when the new leaves emerge from the cold ground a definite bond is made with their plants, something that is anticipated each following season, like seeing an old friend again. The experienced gardeners are always seeking advice on how to better their plants and questioning what went wrong with others. They bring me photos of their gardens to brag and share their accomplishments and to tell stories of their battles with weather, bugs and animals.
Which brings me to the 'Raccoon Caper' which one customer shared with me. She was having trouble with raccoons getting into her garbage that was stored inside a wooden box with a lid on it. One day she came around the corner to see a raccoon perched on the shoulder of another raccoon holding the lid of the box up. Inside the box was a third raccoon. The startled bandits dropped the lid and took off leaving their buddy inside the box. Just imagine what he is saying to himself. "What the..guys"? "Hello"? "Is anyone there"? "Come on this isn't funny". Strange but true. Don BuddTop
Butterfly in a Flap Over New Coneflower Varieties
"Life used to be so simple for us butterflies-purple or white" says Monty from the Blackburn clan of Monarchs. His dilemma is in reference to all the new colours available now in the Echinacea or coneflower family. Monty and his friends all love the new 'Sunset' which is a vibrant orange with a brownish central cone even though it sometimes clashes with their wing colours. They are divided however as to which they prefer more, 'Sunrise' with its single citron yellow colour or 'Harvest Moon' with its earthy gold petals. Monty and his butterfly friends however are all in agreement that they like the fragrance of these new coneflowers the best and can't wait for July to get here again so they can spend the rest of the summer bouncing about the rainbow of colours that Echinacea offers. Don Budd
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Why Isn't My Blue Hosta Blue?
Because it is happy? Because we have had so much rain this month of May and hostas love water? Because the sun did not shine for 10 days ending the long week-end and hostas love shade?
Hostas are smart plants; I often get calls in early spring from people wondering if their hostas are dead because they are not yet up. If they emerge from the soil too early and we get a late frost the beauty of the leaves will be compromised for that summer so they wait, more patiently than we do. Hostas originated in the mountains and valleys of China, Japan and Korea. Each variety can be traced back to a handful of species and if your hostas ancestors were found in the mountains it will be later coming up than the ones originating from the valleys; its genetic self preservation skills still kicking in.
The hosta of the year 2006 as chosen by the American Hosta Society is 'Stained Glass'. This is a beautiful golden yellow hosta with a wide, irregular dark green margin. It is a medium-large hosta with fragrant lavender flowers and is sun tolerant. The many sports of hosta 'Striptease' are named with the mother plant in mind ie. 'Gypsy Rose', 'Kiwi Full Monty', 'Risky Business', 'Hanky Panky', 'Patricia the Stripper' and 'Naked Lady'.
So, why isn't your blue hosta blue? Blue hostas are really green hostas with a coating of wax that reflects the light so that our eyes see blue. A young hosta will have a thin coating of wax that will imply a hint of blue but as your hosta matures the wax will become thicker and your hosta bluer.Top
Taking the Confusion Out of Planning a Perennial Garden
Too often people are discouraged when planning a perennial garden because there are so many varieties to choose from. Blooms vary in how long they bloom as well as at different times of the season, some require shade and others require sun to thrive. Confused yet?
Rule number one: The greatest value of a perennial plant is its foliage, the bloom is often secondary. A perennial garden with 20 different plants and only one or two in bloom at a time can be spectacular if foliage is taken into consideration. There are now many new perennials with terrific coloured foliage. The longer blooming perennials are sometimes the least hardy.
Rule number two: Buy plants that bloom in the spring, summer and fall --- don't worry about exact bloom times. If you've followed rule number one your garden will fall into place naturally.
Rule number three: Don't worry so much about how tall a perennial is. Space the plants with short and medium in the front of your border. Don't be afraid to plant a slightly taller plant in front of a shorter one. This will create a wavy affect to your garden that is very pleasing and is much nicer that a garden that is tiered starting with the first row of plants short and working to the taller back row, plus, trying to achieve this can drive you nuts. Remember you are not lying on your stomach when you view the garden, you are standing looking down.
Rule number four: Go to a reputable garden centre with experienced sales staff that are able to help you. They will gladly help you in choosing plants that will work within your space and light conditions. Look for healthy-looking plants with labels; otherwise, you're never really sure what you're getting. Growing perennials will become a lifelong passion with many rewards. As you gain experience you will want to try different varieties and various groupings in your garden. Soon you will have you very own dream garden. Don BuddTop
When do I Divide My Hostas?
This is a question that is often asked of me and of which there is much misinformation published in various magazine articles. You divide hostas to get more but not because your hosta is too large.
Hostas come in various sizes from dwarf to giant and each is genetically programmed to achieve their maximum size given ideal growing conditions. Hostas love water and a good supply of fertilizer in the form of compost or mushroom compost. If you feel your hosta is too large for the space it takes up, you have not allowed enough room and moving the hosta or plants around it will solve the problem.
Hostas take eight years and more to mature. A mature leaf will show its full size, colour, corrugation and the entire clump will also show maturity in its arching, vase-shaped or spreading nature. When you divide a hosta you lose the leaf and clump maturity. If your clump is large enough, carefully removing one or two divisions is possible without disturbing the maturity of the hosta.
A mature hosta garden with many different hostas of colour, size and shape is a beautiful sight. Too manny gardens are filled with dozens of hosta of only one or two varieties, that have been divided over and over again through the years by people who think they must divide. Too often people will divide a huge, beautiful hosta and replant three or four of the same divisions in the same spot. What's the point? It's okay if hosta leaves are pushing up against the plants beside them; this creates a lovely lush look to your garden.
Do hostas ever need dividing? My hosta garden of about 400 varieties is 11 years old and I haven't seen on yet that needs it. Don BuddHosta Information | Hostas of the Year | Hosta Popularity Poll
Blackburn in a different time | Family History and Mother's Day | Planting Perennials in the Fall | Growing Hostas in Full Sun | Gardeners and a great Raccoon Story | Butterfly in a Flap Over New Coneflower Varieties | Why Isn't My Blue Hosta Blue? | Taking the Confusion Out of Planning a Perennial GardenTop
