Nobleton & King CityHorticultural Society
Welcome
If you love gardening - or want to learn more about Canada's top hobby - join us at the Nobleton & King City Horticultural Society.
Monthly meetings are held on the fourth Monday of the month at 8 pm. at the Nobleton Community Hall (9 Old King Road, just opposite the Feed Store). They feature informative speakers, beautiful flower shows and plenty of friendly conversation. Guests are always welcome
Annual membership is $15.00, which includes meetings and show book. There is a $3.00 fee for non-members at the monthly meetings.
For information contact Tina Stone or Barb Downey
In The News
"Darling you send me, I know you send me. Darling you send me, Honest you do, honest you do." --- Charles "L.C." Cooke, 1957
The "darlings" that are sending me out into my garden and sending my neighbours over for another look are celosia and gomphrena, two easy-care annuals that once established, bloom from June until frost.
Gomphrena globosa, or globe amaranth, which I first saw in the gardens of Taipei's Grand Hotel in Taiwan, grows about 18 inches tall and can bush out about a foot. It has small clover-like blooms in shades of white, pink and bright purple.
There are red and orange varieties, as well, but I've never come across any in our area. The coloured bloom is actually made up of small bracts (modified leaves) while the flower is white, so tiny it's hardly noticeable. This drought and heat tolerant plant grows happily in windy locations. There two types of celosia; celosia spicata, a low bushy plant with wheat like flowers in muted shades and not commonly available; and celosia argentea, which has two cultivars celosia plumosa and celosia cristata both of which are readily available even now.
Celosia cristata, known as cockscomb or crested celosia, comes in red, yellow, orange and pink. Its flowers, especially the red, remind me the crest on a Roman officer 's helmet. Celosia plumosa, or plumed celosia, sometimes called woolflower, is the most spectacular, with its eyecatching feathery blooms of white, vibrant orange, yellow, pink, red, rose or wine. Celosias grow from 18 to 24 inches high and bush out about 12 inches.
They are also heat and drought tolerant, and not fussy about soils even growing well in clay, but they won't survive in soggy conditions. Both gomphrena and celosia should be grown in sunny locations and of course they respond well to compost and/or composted cattle manure dug into their surroundings.
These plants, both members of the amaranthaceae family, which includes love-liesbleeding (a.caudatus) Joseph's coat (a. tricolour) and pigweed (a. retroflexus) come to us from tropical Asia through Africa and South and Central America (where they now grow wild). I'm sure when you see them, it will be more than just infatuation and you'll want to get some and take them home-- honest you will, honest you will!
By the by, when planting celosias or any young annuals or in particular young perennials, keep in mind that although they are small now they will bush out and thus you need to plant them so they have ample room to spread and grow.
Most plants come with size and spacing information on their name tags (if not ask). If the container soil is even a little dry water it well before planting and some water should be put in the hole before the plant is put into it.