Here at the A.M. (Mac) Cuddy Garden we are busy planting annuals and tender flowering vines for summer display.  We are already looking ahead to our next Open garden and plant sale, coming up Saturday August 18th, 2012.  

 

Eremurus stenophyllus in bloom in the grass border.  

One of many plants putting on a show this time of year.

                                                     Buddleia alternifolia  in bloom.

             One of the things we do to prepare for our great plants sales is propagate many of the rare and unusual trees and shrubs in our collection. Above, Nate is collecting cuttings from the Nodding lilac (Syringa komarovii ssp. reflexa) just as it completes blooming.

              Nate is now applying a rooting hormone to the cuttings to ready them for the propagation chamber.

The flats of cuttings have now been placed into a propagation chamber that applies intermittent mist over the leaves until rooting occurs within a few weeks time.

As the Open Garden event came to a close, the grounds were prepared for private tours. On Monday, Minto Group arrived for a tour led by Michael Pascoe, while on Tuesday, Green Industries Niagara came for pizza, a tour, and a scavenger hunt!

The tour begins! Michael Pascoe tells Green Industries Niagara about the Horticulture Technician Program at Fanshawe College.

The tour continues...while I creep around in the trees.

After the tour, the students begin the horticultural scavenger hunt. The race is on to collect and identify all items listed!

Kerria japonica

A flower on Opuntia quimilo!

The beautiful Euphorbia milii in a pot placed on the property.

Lastly, a close up of one of the frogs from the pond!

Personally I was only at this location from Wednesday to Sunday but all week we worked diligently to wrap up the few final touches to the gardens for the open garden. We did some weeding, edging, mulching, and renewed our gravel pathways. Although the weather tried to work against us it was overall a successful weekend throughout.

The fine art students let us borrow two of their marvellous statues for our gardens one being this turtle and the other of a frog placed in the circle at the front.

Group garden tours were conducted hourly even though the groups varied from three people and up, no group is too small for us!

The plant sale over at the greenhouse in the beginning before the busy hours, there were some great deals!

Ian helping some customers transport their recently purchased materials over to their vehicles.

7 more days!

Pedro Laranjo reporting in from Cuddy Gardens, we are counting down the days until the open garden event. The sun is shining, and the flowers are blooming. We have lots to do before the big event, but I wanted to take the time to post some images of the plants putting on a show this time of year.

Clematis x 'Evijohill' (Josephine Clematis)

Chionanthus virginicus in full bloom!, We have one of these beautiful trees for sale at the open garden event on June 2nd & 3rd

Dianthus x 'Ruby Sparkles'

Baptisia x 'Solar Flare'
This bee loves this plant almost as much as me!

There is only 7 more days until the open garden event, make sure to come by early and get first picks on our amazing plant selection! That's all for today folks! Enjoy your weekend!

Sun is shining.

Hello, Denise Rogers here I am on my summer co- op at Cuddy Garden we are fast approaching the open garden event. The sun is shining, and the flowers are blooming. We have lots to do before the big event, but I wanted to take the time to post some images of the plants putting on a show this time of year.

Narcissus 'Golden Bells'

Dodecatheon media

                                         

                

On my venture through the wonderful gardens, I also noticed there were a couple different plants just about to bloom.

Asphodeline lutea

Chionanthus virginicus

           

                                                   

Aside from all the beautiful plants and trees that are in bloom in the garden,  I  wanted to mention a  gorgeous plant from the Louise Weekes collection that will be available for sale.

Paeonia Clare De Lune

 Featured this year during our Open Garden and plant sale June 2 & 3 will be a large collection of unique plants donated by Louise Weekes. 

Spring Chores

Spring chores are well under way here at the A.M. Cuddy Gardens to prepare for the Open Garden and Plant Sale here on June 2nd and 3rd. 


Equipment maintenance is an important part of running the gardens.

Nate and Lucas grease the lawnmower

Aerating, top dressing and over seeding the lawn helps it withstand foot traffic and summer heat.

Stacy spreads top dress on the lawn

Jack stopped by to help prepare some of the plants for our Open Garden Plant Sale June 2nd and 3rd. 

Jack plants Cercis canadensis in larger pots

Jeff, our summer curator for the A.M Cuddy Gardens and the Fanshawe College Campus, is getting the collections catalogued and correctly labelled. 

Jeff working hard

There are several bullfrogs that live in the pond on the patio.

Mike keeps the local residents happy

Tulipa 'Sun Lover' is in full bloom with sunny warm colours. 

Tulipa 'Sun Lover'

Tulipa 'Sun Lover'

The Orchid Cactus (Epiphyllum ackermanii) is in full bloom.

Epiphyllum ackermanii form

Epiphyllum ackermanii flower

Posted by Stacy Meyerink

Hey everyone! Student gardener Nate Mckim here.
Its been a busy week at the gardens and my first week of employment.
I'm learning so much each day and I'm looking forward to a exciting summer ahead!
Monday through Wednesday were devoted to equipment and safety training for all the new student gardeners for Fanshawe College and me for my full time position here at Cuddy's.

  Safety and equipment training for student gardeners.

The rest of the week we've been busy with springtime maintenance in preparation for the nice weather to come. Grass is being cut and trimmed, lawns are being aerated, irrigation lines are being configured, planting beds are being weeded and edged and blogs are being written. There are no shortage of tasks to be completed.

We are not without our slight setbacks however. The early blooming has raised the issue of frost damage and even given us a few pests to deal with ahead of schedule.

Frost damage on White Angel Crab Apple flowers (Malus X White Angel)

Eastern Tent Caterpillar on White Angel Crab Apple.

However, now that the weather and season has seemed to stabilize (at least for now) we're looking forward to what will hopefully be a promising growing season!

Just a reminder about the A.M. "Mac" Cuddy open garden being held on June 2nd & 3rd. Hope to see you there!