Just wondering if anyone has any experience with citronella grass. It repels mosquitos. I understand it is a seriously unwanted in farm country, but I am wondering about potted citronella grass is urban residential backyards.

Hello Heather and Christine; Glad to see some talk here regarding a possible swap this year. We certainly need an activity to get our minds away from this Covid. I am half vaccinated as of this moment, and looking forward to the second dose as soon as I am able.

As to your question Christine..I have no experience with Citronella-Sorry!

Do you ladies have lots of seedlings started for your gardens and possible trade this season? I have many planted but germination is spotty Must be old seed! Hope to get more going soon.

Anyway it's nice to hear from you ladies again and I hope that we will; be able to get together in some way this year. Talk again soon. Ross.

I am hoping to organize nasturtium seeds this year. Wish me luck,

+Nasturtium seeds were a bust for me this year...no germination! Wish you the best with them. I just this morning have planted: Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate; Knautia Macedonica, Red Pasque Flower, Shasta Daisy and Honeywort. I hope I have some measure of success with these.

Just a quick hello! I will be back soon :) so nice to see you here hope we can encourage others to join in...maybe send a p.m.?

Hi Lois: It's been pretty quiet here so far this season. I hope we can get some chatter going and plan for a swap in some fashion! Gardens are looking really good at this point and keeping up with the weeding is relatively easy....but I know that will soon change. Anyway it is nice to hear from you and I hope things are all well in your camp.

Hello all! I've got a bunch of seedlings in the basement, and tiny sproglings in their ws tubs! I'll be looking primarily for native plants this year. Does anyone have a compass plant division to trade?? Hope all is well with you all!!

Hello everyone, it's so good to hear from you again. I hope all is going as well as can be expected during these difficult times. Luckily, our gardens bring us some measure of joy every day! Has anyone noticed how expensive plants are now with the "gardening bug" biting everyone? People are asking $15 - $30 for an eye of hosta or common variety daylily down this way. It sure is a crazy time. Anyhoosits, take good care everyone. Fingers crossed that we can meet again someday soon.

Has anyone had any experience leaving calla lillies in the garden over winter?

Apparently this might work if heavily mulched?

Never tried that Christine, but I do overwinter them in my attached but unheated garage in their pots and they do very well in that environment. If you have a few extras that you don't mind possibly losing over the winter, then this might be a good experiment to try.

Nice idea thanks!

Hi all,

I better say hi on this thread too so that I get notifications. Ross, I started some red Pasque Flower and Honeywort also. :) The Pasque Flower are still super small though. I have lots of other stuff started...just have to see which ones are reasonable size at time of trading. I'm really looking for Cardinal Flower and Gas Plant this year...and new Dahlia. Dahlia are still my favourite. I've started bunch of those from seed too.

Merja: Good to hear from you! Sounds as though you have been busy with your planting. After you mentioned Cardinal Flower I went and checked on mine...they have indeed germinated but are about the size of pin heads at the moment. I will try to nurture them along and if you have no one offering you a trade for a good sized Cardinal Flower ,maybe these will be an option for you.

Happy Mothers Day to all you friends here on the Springbank Park Swap thread. I hope that your day is filled with love and joy. Hope to see you all soon.

Sure hope we can gather after June 2nd!!!

So very strange to not see fast and furious trading...

Hugs to all my swap friends,

Heather, BlueIris3

I guess for the time being we could share stories. Rosco-pc I was successful at germinating nasturtium. Only 3 of a dozen seeds. Outside now. Dahlias on the go. This year I ordered one delivered which cost more to ship than the plant cost. I split the clump and had several start-ups on my window sill now about to plant. . I stripped an old bbq, spray painted panel black and am using it for red pots display in my back yard.I will post a pic later. Just started up my watergarden, weeded and mulched an adjacent patch. And oh yes, with gypsy moth in nearby Fairmont Park, I have burlap-banded my three trees. According to Ed Lawrence, , these moths do not discriminate as to which tree crown they. next decimate. Hopefully not mine. Would love to read your garden stories everyone.

Hi Christine, I love this idea!!

Our "underhill" (in honour of the Hobbits) south bed, facing east, started in 2019.

Looking E from roughly the same spot same day 2 years later! Please don't mind the weeds, more cardboard needed, to sheet mulch with some of the woodchips still in a heap from 2019.

Underhill looking west in May 30th 2019.

Underhill looking W May 30th, 2021. In the process of tearing out adjuga - invasive non native, that has progressively been eating desirable plants... Grrr.

May all your weeds be wildflowers!

Hugs,

Heather / BlueIris3

Heather / BlueIris3

Wow Hobbit Underhill is moving along! Good work!

Christine/Heather: Glad to see a little chatter on this site. Sure is different from other years. I hope things return to normal soon. I never would have believed we would still be in this position a year later!

Glad you were able to have some success with the Nasturtiums Christine. I hope they continue producing for you. They are a nice flower once they get established.

Heather. Nice to see the pictures of your garden progression. You are fighting Ajuga and I have a battle with Campanula Rapunculoides. I have been struggling with this taking over big time for 2 years now and I believe that I am finally getting it somewhat under control. At least i can see other things in the garden now besides the Campanula. it has a nice flower but so deceiving because it is a real thug.

Christine,

I should mention that your BBQ idea sounds interesting. I'll be looking forward to your pics of the finished project.

Hi Ross, I too am battling creeping bellflower a bit everywhere in new land, bugleweed that I planted, (oops), and goutweed in one corner of new to us land... Plus wild lettuce, and a runner root thistle... mixed bag of thug weeds, in addition to many well behaved perennials.

I can't remember who I got Angelica from, but am bowled over by the fabulous vanilla scent!!

Hugs to all!

H.

Oh my, that sounds delicious. I would love that recipe...not technically a garden requesr but is it possible to share that recipe? No worries if not! Hope all is well with everyone. I am really enjoying the woodland poppy presently in my garden from last year's exchange.

Hi Carol and Heather!

I'm glad you are enjoying some rhubarb cake, Heather. I make it occasionally myself too along with rhubarb 'soup'. I have quite a bit of rhubarb left in a freezer still from previous years. Carol, you can absolutely have this recipe. Heather, since you have it in English, do you mind taking a pic of the recipe and emailing it to Carol? Looks like you can't send pics by sending a message through Houzz. Maybe you can send your email address to Heather, Carol...this would be the fastest and easiest way. But if this doesn't work easily I can message it for you, Carol. Let me know. :)

Rhubarb Cake Recipe - Raparperipaistos

This recipe is based on Merja’s recipe, but rounded up and down for ease of Imperial measurements.

4 cups of rhubarb (cut in pieces)

0.5 cup of sugar

2 tsp of corn starch

Top part:

1 tsp of baking powder

0.75 cup of flour

2 eggs

0.5 cup of sugar

0.5 cup of melted butter

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

2. Butter a baking dish and pour in your rhubarb pieces.

3. Mix together sugar and corn starch, and sprinkle it on top of the rhubarb.

4. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 15 - 20 min. at 350 degrees. Remove from oven.

5. Mix together the flour and baking powder in a small bowl.

6. In a bigger bowl whisk together eggs and sugar until foamy.

7. Mix in melted butter, dry ingredients, & vanilla extract.

8. Spread the mixture on top of the rhubarb. Bake in 350 degrees for 20 - 30 min.

Good on it's own or with ice cream, whipped cream or vanilla sauce. Enjoy!

Notes:

<ooops - I more than doubled the amount of fruit to 10 cups of rhubarb in a 10” x 12.5” pan– and loved it!! >

Original recipe called for 0.42 cups of dried coconut – not my thing so I omitted it.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this recipe out for us! I know how busy you are Heather. I am also thankful to Merja for providing the original recipe and permission for Heather to share it. What a wonderful group of gardening friends we have here. Feeling blessed.

Thank you, Heather, for typing that out. Carol, if you like coconut definitely use it. I've made it once without it and it just wasn't the same...but then again I really like coconut and I'm used to coconut being in it. You just mix the coconut with the dry ingredients first. Hope you enjoy it!

Carol: Really enjoying the Candy Mountain Foxglove that you traded to me last year. Thank you. Thanks also for the recipe Merja and Heather. . I will have to make that as I picked my Rhubarb and froze it a couple of weeks ago.

Rosco, your Foxglove looks great. Mine is just beginning to open up now. I have really been enjoying the brunnera this spring. I still love that plant even when the blooms are spent.

Hello all! So good to see all of the posts, and am enjoying hearing about everyone's latest gardening adventures. Being back on this page, I admit, makes me deeply sentimental. This past year was incredibly difficult for me, with Tom's death, grieving, and solo parenting three kids through all that this pandemic brought. And there were many many times that being in my garden was the only thing that gave me just enough to get through that day. So I was often thinking of you all with such gratitude, the gift of that garden. And now, through another spring, seeing the new life and beauty, gives me such joy, in a time when joy can be in short supply. And again I feel such deep gratitude for that beauty, the people that share their garden with others, the feeling of community with each new flower emerging as I recall who I got it from. This sounds so sappy, but I truly wanted to thank everyone from the depths of my heart for the important positive impact that you had on my mental wellbeing this year by sharing through this group.

I realize a true swap is probably not feasible this year, but what if we do a simplified version by just having a Gambler's Circle (each person bring 2-3 things?) and enjoying each other's company. By mid-July we should all hopefully be vaccinated? I happily offer my driveway or yard again as a meeting spot if needed. What do you all think?

Hello all, if you are on FB please come join us in our private group GW London ON Plant Swap! If you are not on FB please comment here, and I'll keep in touch here too. We're really hoping to get together this year, not sure what that will look like with the jumping worm problem. Perhaps a social without so much swapping? Here's my earliest flowers; snow drops and winter aconytes:

Love to hear from you all!!! BlueIris3

Hi Heather,  just trying to go to the Facebook page  but I am not sure what the GW stands for when trying to join this group. Hope everyone is well. I hope that we can meet up again...it's been a very long couple of years!