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.

Kate and Yujing's weekend

Weekend at Cuddy’s
September 25 – 27, 2015

Kate Deml and Yujing Ma

I had never been to Cuddy’s until last year when I was a fresh first year and recently as a (hopefully) wiser second year. Both times I was here for Hortfest, (our ritual gathering of the Fanshawe College, Horticulture enthusiasts) meaning that I spent more time doing activities, socializing with first and second years, and trying on clothes, (for our fabulous uniforms). When I was a first year we did get a small tour from our program coordinator, Michael Pascoe, but unfortunately since then I haven’t had much time to come back and look at the gardens. The opportunity weekend duty presented me, not only gave me a chance to see the gardens again, but also allowed me to get some hands on experience. 

On the first day of duty my partner Yujing and I watered the plants on the patio. This included all the hanging baskets, the potted plants, and two trees that I believe were recently planted. We then worked on watering the hoop house plants, which I continued to work on while Yujing went to get the RTV and start work on pruning the perennial garden. During my time watering I found a Pinus strobus ‘Pendula’ (Weeping Eastern White Pine) which is one of my favourite evergreens (both the weeping form and straight species) as well as a cultivar called Pinus strobus ‘Louie.’ I had never heard of the cultivar ‘Louie’ it was quite fetching and a new plant to add to my plant I.D cards.
When I was finished with watering I headed over to the perennial garden and took over pruning from Yujing so she could go and mow the lawn. I had never used a push mow before, so it was for the best that Yujing did this task since she had experience from working at Cuddy’s over the summer. Pruning the perennials was an entertaining experience as I got to witness the bees at work pollinating and I got to feel like a professional working in my field for the first time. Once that was finished I headed over to the rose garden to get started on weeding the rose garden, while Yujing finished up mowing the lawn and began cutting back the Pennisetums, and pulling out some of the Nicotiana since it was starting to take over the dry garden. 

 
The next day, we started our morning by digging out plants that were to be brought inside in preparation for the upcoming frost. These plants included, Pennistums, Canna Lilies, Euphorbia cotinifolia (Caribbean Copper Plant), Phormiums (Flax) and a cactus (I’m sorry I am unaware what type of cactus). Once we finished digging the plants out we took them over to where the soil was and repotted them, then we transferred them over to one of the hoop houses and gave them a much needed drink of water. 

 
Afterwards we started working on placing some of the potted succulents and cacti into bulb crates; then transported them over to the garage via the RTV. I got to drive the RTV which was quite exciting since I only ever got to drive an RTV during maintenance class and only for a few minutes. It was a lot of fun and I hope to do more of it in the future. We then spent the rest of the day working on weeding more of the rose garden, which took up the rest of our day.
For our final day of weekend duty at Cuddy’s, Yujing and I watered the patio plants again, including hanging baskets and pots. We then proceeded in finishing weeding the rose garden as there were quite a few weeds, some of them particularly stubborn to pull out. Our next task was then to weed the perennial garden, which also had accumulated quite a batch of weeds. While I was working on uprooting a particularly nasty weed, I heard a scream emit from Yujing. I was of course concerned for her well-being since her shout was quite loud, but thankfully it had only been a frog that landed on her arm. She had been so intent on weeding that when the frog jumped on her she was completely startled from the impact. Needless to say I had a good laugh and the frog and Yujing were unharmed, and that event was the highlight of my day.

Weeding the perennial garden took quite a bit of time, but we persevered and conquered those blights to society. We then got a little break from weeding as we worked on throwing apples from the apple tree into the woodland area to be used as fertilizer, and swept the pathways. Next was checking the plants at the hoop house and watering them, before heading over to the hatchery barn to do some more weeding. As the final hour descended upon us we cleaned the RTV, put back all the equipment, locked the tool shed and said goodbye (for now) to the Cuddy Gardens. 

 

In conclusion, our weekend at the gardens was valuable experience as weeding is important to reduce unsightly, unwanted plants that deprive wanted plants of nutrients and water. Watering is needed to promote growth and a healthy, happy plant, and transplanting helps protect plants from the cold weather of winter. This also includes the cacti and succulents.     

Travis M and Jeff B, Weekend practicum September 18-20

September 18-20, 2015

                School is back in session and that means its weekend practical time for the 2^nd year students. The first weekend duties of the semester began on Friday with Jeff and myself being out at Cuddy Gardens. A wet weekend, as well as a very chilly Sunday morning is just a reminder that fall is on its way. But that didn’t hinder our spirits as we were both excited to get to work and see the beginning of the of the beautiful fall colors the gardens offer.                                                                                  

                Friday morning was a brief orientation as Lucas showed us the ins and outs of the alarm system and a run through of the list for the weekend which was filled with all sorts of fun tasks. After a watering of the hanging baskets and planters, most of the day was spent on organizing and construction prep for our class paver project which we will be starting soon. As a class we will be placing pavers under the cash tent and the hoop house behind it for a new look. We are excited to get started! We also did other housekeeping tasks such as organizing pots and moving items into storage.

                   

Before

 

After

                                                          

                                                                                 

                While sorting pots in the afternoon we looked up to see the group of curious cows checking in on our progress and enjoying the cooler temperatures.

 

Saturday brought with it a bunch of rain which made for a dirty day. We had to make some more space, so we dug up and cut some fabric from underneath the first house to be place it between house one and two with our trays and crates on top. The reason for this was so that the roots don’t grow through the bottom of the pots and penetrate the soil. A tedious job to say the least as there was lots of gravel to dig up. We also did some repairs and other maintenance tasks around the gardens, as well as removing the old Fanshawe logos from the gates to be updated with the new logo.

 

               









Sunday morning was surprisingly cold as temperatures in the morning we only eight degrees, but warmed up in the afternoon and made for a beautiful day to be working outside. We were finally able to do some push mowing and line trimming as there was no rain and the sun shining. The majority of the rest of the day was spent weeding and pruning the shrubs in front of Cuddy farms as it was much needed. The junipers we cleaned of dead wood and the shrubs pruned back due to over growing.  We both had to get right in the thick of things to accomplish our task which made for a rather good photo. At the very end of the day, and to ensure they had been in them as long as possible we moved our many cuttings from their home in the misting house to be brought to the college on Monday.  We then disconnected the misting houses and moved them out of the way of the construction zone.

 

 Minus the rain it was a good weekend as a lot was accomplished and felt good being back to work and back in school.