spring 2010

Staff pickS: My favourite tree

irrisistable evergreens

the 100-Mile tree Diet

Promotional SupplementA family-owned BC company since 1953

spring 2011

Promotional SupplementA family-owned BC company since 1953

GoJi BerrieS Grow this incredible Health Booster in your own Garden

cooL tooLS Great Ergonomic Choices for Spring Gardeners8

Bee Supportive 10 Ways to Help our Native Bees

plant a fruit treeto ceLeBrate eartH Day

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AbbotsfordSaturday, April 9Moles - Bert the Mole Man will help you solve your pesky mole problems. Demonstrations from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.Friday, April 22 – Earth Day! Soil Scientist – John Paul will be presenting a seminar on organic gardening. 10 a.m. The Abbotsford/Mission Nature Club will also join us!Saturdays starting April 30Master Gardeners – on hand April 30, May 7 and May 14. Bring your plant and pest samples along with questions and put them to the test! 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

ChilliwackThursday, April 7Equine Feeding and Hay Education – with Shelagh Niblock. Email janet@cannor.com or call 604-858-7122 to pre-register. 7 to 8:30 p.m.Saturday, April 30 Master Gardener – Heather Ross will answer your tough garden questions! 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.Saturday, May 7 Spring Lawncare – Simon Hart, “The Organic Mechanic,” on maintaining a healthy lawn. 1 pm

ParksvilleSaturday, April 9Brant Festival Event – Simon Hart, “The Organic Mechanic,” is back to discuss trees! Shade trees, fruit trees, big trees, small trees. Call the store or stop in to register as seating is limited. 1 p.m.

Saturdays starting late AprilMaster Gardeners – on hand Saturdays starting late April and through May. Bring your plant and pest samples along with questions and put them to the test! Check store for times.

Sears VictoriaFor dates and details of our upcoming events, please check our store website, or request E-news updates by sending your email address to news@cannor.com.

Victoria, Elk Lake We’re pleased to announce a number of workshops at our store – 4660 Elk Lake Drive, next to the Saanich Commonwealth Pool. Drop by the garden centre or send us an email at cannorclub@cannorvictoria.com or call 250-658-5415 to register.Saturday, April 9Palm Trees – a seminar by Don of Cannor Nursery, a.k.a. the Palm Tree Specialist. 10:30 a.m.Saturday, April 16Bamboo – a seminar by Doug of Cannor Nursery, a.k.a. the Bamboo Guru. 10:30 a.m.Saturday, April 23 Shade Gardening – Robyn of Cannor Nursery will help you with plants for that dark corner in your yard. 10:30 a.m.Also, Master Gardeners will be on site answering all gardening-related questions. 12 noon to 3 p.m.All Cannor Nursery stores are open Good Friday and through the Easter weekend.

cannor club plant pick

plant your own Goji Berry patch!A powerhouse of antioxidants and nutrients, goji berries are hugely popular as a health-boosting super-snack and ingredient in the kitchen for juices, smoothies, salads and baking. Loaded with vitamins B1, B6, E (rarely found in fruit) and C (by weight 500 times more than oranges), and with 15 times more iron than spinach and generous dollops of calcium, zinc, selenium and riboflavin, this berry seems too good to be true. What’s even better is that it’s easy to grow this dynamo in your very own garden. This spring, Cannor nursery is stocking potted goji berry bushes, all brought in from a BC farm.

Goji berries (Lycium barbarum) are hardy to zone 2 and are quite drought tolerant once established. They prefer full sun for maximum berry production but will also perform adequately in part shade. The goji berry grows into a large shrub reaching 2 to 3 m (roughly 7 to 10 ft.).

Sandy Mathies Janet Mathies President Vice-PresidentGord Nickel President, Cannor Nursery Victoria

Have you ever asked yourself how you value the things in life that make it enjoyable?

The living beauty around you can affect your mood in a powerful way. For those coming across the first bulbs pushing through the soil, there is a rush of energy and excitement about the coming of spring. The budding blossoms of fruit trees, the opening of April’s flowers – all these joys lift the spirits.

If you were raised in the northern hemisphere, the season of spring signals a time to get going – simply stated, everything put off through the winter needs to be done now! A parade of ongoing blossoms around your home and garden is the ultimate pick-me-up and guaranteed to put you in a go-to-it frame of mind.

The plantings in your environment affect everyone who connects with them. Displays of flower and foliage at the entrance of your home convey a warm welcome to all who approach. Plantings in the landscape – from the humble marigold to stunning arrays of dogwood trees completely covering themselves in soft pinks and whites – beckon the family outdoors for relaxation and reflection.

With just a little time and nurturing we can bring our plantings to spectacular life – and we can share that beautiful life with the people in ours. Spring has arrived and it’s time to enjoy a beautiful gift of renewal.

eartH Day upDateTo celebrate Earth Day on April 22, consider planting a fruit tree as a family project! Every tree we grow is a gift to our planet, helping to absorb harmful carbon dioxide from our atmosphere. And a fruit tree does double duty – providing delicious “zero-mile” food while cleaning the air we breathe.

As gardeners, we are all concerned about how today’s honeybees are threatened by mites and pollution, putting the pollination of flowers and food crops in peril. A solution could very well be found with the blue orchard mason bee (Osmia lingnaria) – a shy and hardworking creature native to BC. Here’s what we can do:

Purchase mason-bee cocoons at 1. Cannor nursery.Provide a bee house with new 2. cardboard straws.Mount the bee house on the 3. centre of a south- or east-facing wall, preferably where it is protected from wind and rain.Provide the bee house with 4. predator protection from woodpeckers, screening it with chicken wire or mesh.Leave out a shallow dish of mud 5. – mason bees will use it to build nests in old wood or other crevices. A shallow source of water would also 6. be appreciated – place an easy-to-climb rock in the centre of the dish.Allow a patch of clover, nettles, 7. buttercups or dandelions to bloom as a food source.

Grow early-flowering plants to 8. nourish bees before the fruit trees bloom – they will need nectar as soon as they emerge from their winter beds. Top choices are wallflowers, forget-me-nots, violets, mints, heather, pieris, rhododendron and azalea. Native plants, herbs and heirloom varieties of single-bloom flowers are all favoured by the blue orchard mason bee.In late fall, wash the bee 9. cocoons; you will find that they are covered in mites. Rinse them in a shallow bowl of water – the mites and empty cocoons float to the top and healthy cocoons sink down.Allow the cocoons 10. to dry thoroughly before gently placing them back into their bee house. The bees will chew open their cocoons and emerge in the spring when the weather warms to 14°C (57°F) for about three days.

BEE SuPPorTiVE10 steps to help our native pollinators

the Blue orchard Mason BeeThe blue orchard mason bee is a solitary, indigenous bee that nests in forested areas in North America. These wood-dwelling, non-aggressive bees are effective pollinators that emerge when fruit trees blossom, visiting up to 2,000

blossoms a day. They are shiny and blue-black in colour, and are easily mistaken for bluebottle flies.

Because bees are the principal source of pollination for flowers, fruits and vegetables, it’s in the gardener’s interest to provide a healthy, pesticide-free habitat for them. Blue orchard mason bees have a limited foraging range of 90 m (300 ft.) so you can count on them pollinating the plants close to their nests.

— excerpted from The Zero-Mile Diet: A Year-Round

Guide to Growing Organic Food by BC author Carolyn Herriot

FeatureFeature

The blue orchard mason bee is the ideal pollinator for your blossoming fruit trees.

By Linda Wall, Cannor Nursery, Chilliwack

photo: agf.gov.bc

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The Cannor Garden Club Newsletter is published six times a year. Contributions can be sent to Cannor Club Newsletter, 7640 Lickman Rd., Chilliwack, BC V2R 4A7 Attn: Janet Mathies or emailed to news@cannor.com or janet@cannor.com. We look forward to receiving your article suggestions. For more info and our privacy policy, please visit our website www.cannor.com.

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Watch for the early summer 2011 issue of the Cannor Club Member Newsletter in your mailbox by mid May!

Victoria

4660 Elk Lake Dr.Victoria, Bc V8Z 5M1250.658.5415

SEarS Victoria

3190 Shelbourne St.Victoria, Bc V8t 3a8250.595.9111 (x271)

aBBotSforD

34261 Marshall rd.abbotsford, Bc V2S 1L8604.854.1616

ParkSViLLE

609 East island Hwy.Parksville, Bc V9P 1t5 250.248.0093

cHiLLiwack

7640 Lickman rd.chilliwack, Bc V2r 4a7604.858.7122

spring 2011

cool tools For garDeners8 Great Ergonomic Choices to Make Your Life EasierBy Debbie Ego, Manager, Cannor Nursery, Abbotsford

tHe aMaziNG y-Grip: Take the strain out of digging, weeding and transplanting with the Y-Grip garden tool, ergonomically designed by a Registered Massage Therapist on Vancouver Island.

aLL-WooD truG: No more bending! Plant up this beautiful trug-garden with herbs, flowers or vegetables. Fits through doorways and has removable wheels for easy maneuvering.

coroNa erGo-actioN BypaSS pruNerS: Vertically angled to eliminate wrist action and with an ergonomic angled pruning head for added comfort and reduced hand stress.

fiSkarS poWerGear BypaSS pruNerS: Make a fist, simulating the motion you use when you squeeze the handles on a pair of pruners. See how your fingers curl into your

palm? The engineers at Fiskars noticed that movement, too, and crafted these pruners to complement the hand’s natural dynamics.

fiSkarS poWerGear aNviL pruNerS: An amazing handle rolls to follow your hand’s natural clenching motion. Not only does it reduce stress and fatigue, it actually multiplies cutting force.

raDiuS cuLtivator: An ergonomic grip provides more leverage with less wrist stress. This precision tool is ideal for working in tight spaces and scraping away weed seedlings before they get out of control.

raDiuS traNSpLaNter: With an ergonomic grip, this is the perfect tool for planting bulbs and bedding plants and for transplanting deeply-rooted perennials.

raDiuS troWeL: The comfortable curve provides more leverage with less wrist stress, and the aluminum blade is surprisingly light yet remarkably strong.