Dear Helen: I was recently given a cut flower arrangement with an odd item that looked like a fancy cabbage. Can you identify it from the photo I’ve sent?
K.G.
It’s an ornamental (flowering) kale. Among the seed sources I’m familiar with, most list flowering kale under two categories — bedding and patio container types, and cut flower types. William Dam Seeds lists a full page of varieties.
The bedding and container types are commonly found in garden centres in the fall. The transplants are used in pots and planters for fall and winter interest.
I think your flowering kale is the ‘Bicolor’ in the Crane Series of cut flower kale varieties. Stokes Seeds lists it. Type “Stokes Seeds + Crane Bicolor flowering kale” into a search engine to see a photo of it. Bicolor is described as a long-lasting cut flower with sturdy stems.
Dear Helen: I was interested in your column last month about the fragrance of the Provence lavender in your garden. Are there significant differences in fragrance intensity among lavender varieties and is Provence the most strongly scented?
M.A.
Among the five lavender varieties in my garden, Provence has the strongest, sweetest scent, but an assessment of lavender fragrance strength and quality will vary with individuals.
Provence does top some of the lists I’ve found that rate fragrance in lavenders. Grosso is usually given a good rating too, though Richers, a major 91原创 source of herb seeds and plants, notes that the variety Gros Bleu has a sweeter scent than Grosso as well as a deeper purple colour. The catalogue describes Gros Bleu as “quckly becoming a standard in the 91原创 Northwest.”
Sachet, an English lavender from Oregon, is described as having a “strong, heady aroma.” SuperBlue, from Holland, had a compact mounding habit. “As the flowers appear in midsummer the strong scent fills the air far and wide.” .
Dear Helen: I was alarmed by an article I read last month about this year’s big rat problem — one caused, according to the article, mainly by gardens, compost, bird feeders and unsecured trash. I live in a fairly “ratty” neighbourhood, where I have a garden that includes compost heaps that I would rather not feel guilty about. Do gardens and compost sites inevitably attract rats?
T.B.
Not in my experience, and I grow an abundance of fruits and vegetables and run five open compost enclosures. Close neighbours have had rat problems.
In compost heaps, rats are attracted by food waste — vegetable and fruit trimmings produced in kitchens. These materials should not be added to compost. Instead, bury them in garden locations, with at least a 20-cm soil cover, where additional moisture retention and organic matter is needed.
The only time I encountered a rat in a corner of a compost heap was after an eye surgery that, for a short while, made it uncomfortable to dig proper holes for the kitchen vegetative waste. I had put one pailful into a slight indentation made in a compost pile and covered it over lightly.
In gardens, an abundance of sweet fruits like peaches, pears and berries can attract rats. As soon as a problem arises, find a way to make the ripening fruits and berries inaccessible to the rodents. Use wire cages if necessary.
The tops of carrots exposed above the soil line are sometimes nibbled by rats in winter. Keep carrots well covered with soil and mulches (leaves, straw) for the winter.
Dear Helen: In the last few years, a small rose bush growing up against the house has bloomed all winter. My daughter bought it many years ago. The flowers are pale yellow. Should I be removing its leaves for the winter while it blooms? The plant did have some black spot this year.
J.F.
While the plant is flowering, I’d leave it alone except for a general cleanup. First, remove the leaves with black spot. Then clean the ground under and around the bush.
In late winter or very early spring, as new growth buds begin to swell on the plant, remove the rest of the leaves along with dead flowers. Trim the plant to a desired shape and thin the stems, leaving the strongest, enough to relieve congestion. Clean the ground well again and apply a nourishing compost mulch layer under and around the rose.
