Josh and Todd's weekend

3 Days in the Life of Josh Durdle & Todd Neerhof

MTNC-1017-15F

            On Friday, October 9, 2015 Todd and Josh began their weekend duty at the A.M. Cuddy Gardens in Strathroy. To start their weekend of work they received instructions from the technician (Lucas Michelsen) about what to do and how to lock and unlock the house. After the list of weekend tasks was given out, the two young men got right to work! Josh was a summer student at the school and Todd had not yet driven the RTV so he was lucky to be partnered up with someone who had experience, someone who could show him how to execute a circle check and the proper procedures for operating the vehicle. They moved some perennials that were not hardy, from the outdoors into the safety of the pool room. When this was complete they worked together at weeding and cutting back the prairie garden. Using tools such as a backpack blower, weed whacker, and hedge trimmer they were able to transform the garden and accentuate the beauty that was shrouded beneath the vail of cold weather dieback and weeds. Both Todd and Josh were happy with the experiences they had gained on the first day of their weekend duty.

 

            When Josh and Todd rose on Saturday, October 10, 2015 the sun had not, yet. Bright and early they were, to start their next educational and exciting day at the A.M. Cuddy Gardens in Strathroy. Along with the sunrise rose their spirits as it was a bitter cold day. Right away Josh and Todd started to put the Cannas and Elephant Ears into crates so they could be sent back to the Fanshawe College main campus. This was an extremely important task because they had to be in the greenhouse on the Fanshawe main campus before the first frost. They skillfully, and with full PPE, used the line trimmer to tidy up borders of the plant beds and clean up the edges of grassed areas. In the afternoon Josh and Todd found more Cannas that needed to be put into crates so they too, could be sent to the main campus so they can survive the winter in the greenhouse. They also cleaned did some cutbacks, weeding, and lifting in the dry garden. They very carefully weeded the pathway in the dry garden and leveled it out with rakes. They were sure to let no soil into the pea stone path because they did not want weed to come back in the future. They spot watered the plants in the greenhouse to make sure everything was thriving and healthy. After the second day of work they left with similar feelings that they had after the first day of work. They felt like they learned valuable lessons regarding landscaping and landscape maintenance and felt much more prepared to enter the work force as soon as they receive their diplomas.

 

Sunday, October 11, 2015 was the final day of Todd and Josh’s weekend duty. The air was tainted with a bitter sweet feeling. Todd and Josh were both happy and unhappy that their time at the A.M. Cuddy Gardens in Strathroy, was coming to an end. They had both enjoyed their time doing the weekend duty that was required of them but, at the same time, they were both looking forward to be able to finally go home and be with their families for thanksgiving weekend. I digress! There is still a full day of challenges and work ahead! Josh and Todd started their day with driving around using the RTV and cutting back any branches or leaves that were hanging over walkways or onto paths. They then moved on to the Rose Garden to clean up the beds by taking out any weeds and raking out the soil, and trimming around the grass edges. They were instructed to leave the roses the way they are because it will be done as a class project in the near future. Once again they ended their day with a trip to the hoop houses to check the plants to see if any of them needed watering. This weekend was an extremely educational weekend for Josh and Todd. They both got chances to learn and practice new abilities and to strengthen old ones.

 

 

Solanum pyracanthum (Porcupine Tomato)

Thomas’ Opinion

Native to Madagascar, at first glance you might not believe that this is a real plant, or that it’s related to the Tomato. Having long thin bright orange thorns both a drawback and an incentive to owning such an unusual plant. Like many other plants in the Solanaceae family the leaves and stems contain highly toxic tropane alkaloids. Though the plant favors warm conditions it has been known to grow as a perennial in places where winters are below freezing. 

Type: Tender perennial /Fall Interest.

Family: Solanaceae

USDA Hardiness Zone: 9-11.

Flowering Period: Year round.

Height: 91 cm - 152 cm.

Spread: 60 cm - 91 cm.

Growth: Fast

General Description: Known for its unusual appearance, the Porcupine Tomato presents year round interest with its lavender coloured flowers and the eye-catching orange spines dominating the tops of the soft fragmented leaves.

ID Characteristics: An interesting ornamental with lobed blue green leaves having many prominent orange spines or thorns along the midrib of the leaf with orange fuzzy stems.

Shape: Upright.

Landscape: Specimen, masses.

Propagation: This plant self seeds and propagation can be done from seeds: Germinate with bottom heat.

Cultivation: This plant thrives in sun or light shade with well drained soil with a bit of compost added before planting in the ground. Protect from frost. It will succeed in acidic and alkaline soils. Water porcupine plants often enough to keep the soil moist. 

Pests: Flea beetles. Deer and rabbit resistant. Drought tolerant.

Notable Specimens: A.M. (Mac) Cuddy Gardens, Strathroy, Ontario.

Habitat: Native to Madagascar, this plant would be found in damp and warm soils with rich sandy soils. The terrain of Madagascar is a narrow coastal plain, high plateau and mountains in center.

Bark Description: The stems are fuzzy with orange thorns all over.

Bud Description: Buds are green, very small with orange spikes circling them.

Leaf Description: The fuzzy bluish-green pinnately lobed leaves are 6 - 21 cm in length with dramatic prickly upright orange spines down the mid ribs.

Flower Description: The plant blooms year round in clusters of small 1 inch star shaped lavender, papery thin flowers with a yellow central beak. The back of each petal has a white stripe running from the tip to the base.

Fruit Description: The plant produces miniature, marble sized yellow-green coloured fruit.

Colour Description: This unique plant emits a visually striking appearance with straight orange thorns on the tops of the leaves as well as the slight orange fuzz on the stems. The orange colour stands out when against the green leaves. Small purple blooms have a yellow center and the foliage is consistent throughout the seasons.

Texture Description: The stems are covered with orange fuzz and velvety soft leaves. Texture is consistent throughout the seasons.

Ethnobotanical Uses: Not usually because the leaves, flowers and fruit are poisonous. 

 

 

 

Thomas and Blayne

Weekend Duty Blog – Cuddy Gardens

Thomas Lauzon; Blayne Dunham

 

Weekend duty at cuddy gardens was 3 days full of showers and succulents.  After the extremely long drive from London we arrived in Strathroy to a gloomy sky and wet grass. As we waited for Lucas we watched as the fog dissipated enough for us to see the beautiful gardens. After we got our assignments for the weekend we went off to work.

Friday morning turned out to be sunny and warm with a few unexpected guests. After we had finished moving a few giant potted trees into the house we were just starting on composting/repotting planters when both Mr. Pascoe and Mr. D visited the gardens.  The afternoon and evening was spent mainly in the dry gardens taking the many, many cacti and other potted succulents and hauling them to a safe sunny location inside the house.  This was easier said than done however; if you don’t know most cacti have spines that happen to stick into your skin when you touch them. After putting half of the succulents either inside the house, into the pool room or beside the car port ready to take to the school it was time to take lunch.

 Afterwards we finished up moving everything inside that was in pots inside and gave all the transplants a drink. We then took the RTV to the hoop houses to water and check for anything peculiar. After tidying the house we turned off the water locked up the house and drove home.

 

Saturdays work day was only 4 hours long, we checked to make sure nothing needed water when we arrived then continued finishing up jobs from the day before. Many succulent planters had to be dismantled and put in trays before being put into the house. When this was done it had started raining so we decided to start tearing apart the hanging baskets underneath the pergola.

 

Sunday was a drizzly affair. The sun was determined to hide from us all day but we worked nonetheless. When we arrived we decided to trim and mow before the weather got too bad. We were able to run the mower and finish the work however the trimmer was almost empty and the shop happened to be out of mixed fuel. While Blayne was mowing the lawn I started on weeding the two front beds of the Cuddy hatchery. Which were mostly weeds with a few grasses thrown in here and there. After Blayne was done with the push mower she joined me and we spent the rest of the day weeding, hoeing, raking and making the garden look much better than before.

 

 

 

 

 

Travis and Jeff's Plant profile

Colchicum autumnale

Jeff Bates, Travis Madill

 

Family: Colchicaceae

Genus: Colchicum

Species: autumnale

Category: Perennial Bulb

Origin: Central Europe, West Europe, and North Western Europe

Ethnobotanical Uses: Its used today as a remedy from some slight sicknesses, but doses to high can kill.

USDA Hardiness Zone: Zone 4 – 8

Canadian Hardiness Zone: Zone 2 – 9

Royal Horticultural Society Hardiness Zone: H4 - H8

Temperature Celsius: -15 – 20

Temperature Fahrenheit: -25 - 30

Height: 10 – 50cm

Growth Rate: Very fast

Spread: 10 – 70cm

Flowering Period: Mid-September, all the way to mid-October

General Description: Colchicum autumnale is a perennial bulb that has large spectacular pink or purple flowers. The autumnale crocus a great filler plant and has a spectacular fall show when it comes to colour. The autumnale Crocus contains a toxic poison that can cause death. The plants toxic chemicals are found within the plant itself and requires a ingestion to become toxic.

Cultivation: Requires a very well-draining soil, and require lots of nutrients.

Pest issues: Slugs and snails seem to snack on it quite often

Leaf construction. Long dark green leaves.

Flower description: Five petals surrounding the stamen or pistil creating a star like configuration.

Color Description: It has pink stems emerging from the ground proceeding to produce pink-white flowers.

Texture description: It has a smooth texture. The petals and stems are very smooth not indents or out dents from them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References.

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=263009&isprofile=1&gen=Colchicum

                https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/4190/i-Colchicum-autumnale-i/Details?returnurl=%2Fplants%2Fbulbs%3Faliaspath%3D%252fplants%252fbulbs

 

http://homeoint.org/books/boericmm/c/colch.htm

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Colchicum+autumnale

http://www.inchem.org/documents/pims/plant/pim142.htm

http://abchomeopathy.com/r.php/Colch

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/3323786/How-to-grow-colchicum.html

http://www.lloydlibrary.org/colchicum_autumnale.html

 

 

 

 

 

Kate and Yujing's Plant profile

Lamium maculatum 'Purple Dragon' Research

Yujing Ma

Fanshawe College

 

Author Note

 

 

This research is related to Lamium maculatum 'Purple Dragon'.

 

Correspondence concerning this research should be addressed to Yujing Ma, Co-op

 

Horticulture Program, H building, Room 1033, Fanshawe College, 1001 Fanshawe

 

College Blvd, London, ON, Email: y_ma9@fanshaweonline.ca

 

 

 

Lamium maculatum 'Purple Dragon' (Purple Dragon Creeping Lamium or Purple Dragon Dead Nettle)

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For those people who love the contrasting foliage plants, the 'Purple Dragon' should be in your Top 10 Must-see plant list. Needless to say, the extraordinarily beautiful silvered foliage with lovely green edges is a blessing from heaven. Its deep purple flower clusters continually bloom from the spring to late summer. It is a vigorously fast-growing plant for groundcover, hanging baskets, rock walls, containers and so on. It is a fabulous perennial plant with shade and cold-tolerance characteristics.

 

Botanical Information

Family	Lamiaceae
Genus	Lamium
Species	Maculatum
Cultivar	'Purple Dragon'
Category	Perennials
Type	Herbaceous
References	Phillips, R., & Rix, M. (2002). Perennials: The definitive reference with over 2500 photographs (p. 75). Willowdale, Ontario: Firefly Books; Kellum, J. (2008). Southern shade: A plant selection guide (p. 122). Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi.
Origin	This plant was first discovered by John Vansanden a man from the state of Michigan and introduced in 2005. Patent number: USPP #15890.
Ethnobotanical Uses Disclaimer	‘Purple Dragon’ comes from a branch mutation called Lamium maculatum‘White Nancy’. It reproduced asexually in the general environment. After that, many north American nurseries introduced this plant. New plants are always the sacred cash cow for our industry.

Details

USDA Hardiness Zone	3-9
USDA Hardiness Ref.
Canadian Hardiness Zone	1a – Requires cool season protection under glass
Canada Hardiness Ref.
RHS Hardiness Zone	H3 – H7
RHS Hardiness Ref.
Temperature (°C)	-40° - (-1°)
Temperature (°F)	-40° - 30°
Height	15-20 cm
Spread	45-60 cm
Growth	Fast
Flowering Period	April – September

Description and Growing Information

General Description	This robust plant will be very sizeable when it grows and self-propagates. Snapdragon-like purple flowers are showy among the spotted leaves. A natural weed killer and an excellent ground cover are its best uses.
ID Characteristic	Square stem, oval- shaped leaves, distinguishably rich purple flowers.
Shape	It is a prostrate, clumping, dense, spreading understory plant.
Landscape	Ground cover, mass planting, naturalizing, shade, border edging, container planting. This is an ultra-low-maintenance plant, but it has a high value for the basic landscape design.
Propagation	Layering stem tips near the ground: pin a stem, and then wait for rooting. After it is completely rooted, cut it and move it to the container; division in spring or fall; stem cutting: In early summer, find a non-flowering shoot and then put it into the premix media. It is a fast-rooting plant. However, seeding will need at least 2 years to grow up.
Cultivation	It prefers cooler weather in the sun or partial shade. It will survive above zone 9, but the plant will struggle; good for almost all kinds of soil even slightly alkaline soil. This cultivar also prefers well-drained, moist soil, but it is also good when the land is dry. The plant needs to be cut back after flowering for maintaining a compact appearance.
Pests	Slugs and snails. Leaf scorch, root rot.
Notable Specimens	The A.M. Cuddy Gardens, Strathroy, Ontario, Canada.
Habitat	Horticultural origin.
Bark Description	Stems are light green in young and grey-purple in adult with branches at their nodes, square in cross-section, 0.5 cm across, sprawl horizontally. Bark- not applicable.
Leaf Description	Leaves silver with rich green edges around, unifoliate opposite, slightly wide obovate to cordate, apparently serrated, 5-6 cm long, 3-4 cm width. The midribs are not prominent.
Flower Description	Verticillasters may produce about 30 bisexual flowers, zygomorphic. Flowers are bilabiate, rich purple, The middle upper lip convex is white, 1–1.5 mm long.
Fruit Description	Grouped in 4, green nutlet, 0.33 cm long, 1.6 cm width, not obvious.
Colour Description	In mild climates, the foliages are always consider as evergreen. The stunning purple flowers adorn among them. Strong colour contrast ignites a light decoration in the shady areas.
Texture Description	It is a fine mounding cover like a soft carpet.