The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society meets tonight, Wednesday, September 21, at 7:00 p.m. in the Sunshine Room, SIGN on North Street. It will be nice to get together again with our fellow gardeners and hear how their summer was in the garden. We hope you can be there, too! Our guest tonight will be Bill Senkiw from Foam Lake talking to us about backyard birding: what birds to watch for during all seasons and what to plant to feed them. It will be very interesting, I'm sure, so plan to attend.
Then remember, our Fall Plant and Bulb Sale is on Friday, September 23 at the Parkland Mall. The sale runs from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. or while supplies last. It is not too late to plant some new additions in our yards, so come early and find some garden treasures. That's this Friday at the Parkland Mall.
Do you have any veronica in your yard? We have a couple plants, tucked in quiet corners, and they were all but forgotten by their lack of effort in past years. We never wanted to give up on them, but they were coasting along and not really rising to their full potential! This year, however, the veronica more than made up for their past lack of performance. We had dozens of beautiful blue spikes, and they lasted a good long time. They were stunning, because you know how a patch of blue catches your eye in the garden.
Rummaging through my garden books one day, I found an interesting book by Bill Casselman; it's called "Canadian Garden Words". And as I was thumbing through, I found an article about veronica! Since our veronica tried so hard this year, we'll feature her as our plant of the week, and I'll tell you some interesting little factoids I learned about this lovely plant. First of all, you might call your veronica "speedwell". Back in medieval times, speedwell was thought to promote healing of all kinds, or "speed well", so hence the name!
Belonging to the figwort family, veronica officinalis is named, like many flowers, from a pretty female name.
"Veronica" is a popular name for young ladies, from Saint Veronica, who faithfully stood at the side of the road when Jesus carried the cross, and gently wiped his face with her veil. Legend says the name comes from "vera iconica", Latin for "true image", which follows of how Jesus' image was left on Veronica's veil.
For those of us with the blue spiked veronica, the name is veronica spicata, the Latin word for spiked, describing the flower head. However the plant was named, it makes a wonderful addition to our perennial patch. It likes full sun, but will do well in mottled sun; it is not very fussy about soil, but does not like to have wet feet. It grows and spread at a moderate rate, depending on how well it likes the spot where you plant it. And as we mentioned earlier, blue flowers give a strong focal point in your garden, especially if you team them up with the soft grays of lamb's ears or the soft pinks of yarrows or roses for company.
Maybe you'll find some veronica at the plant sale this Friday! We hope to see you at the meeting or at the plant sale! Have a good week!
