Last week we had a bit of a scare. I brushed up against our spruce tree, and suddenly seemed to be covered by a fine, yellow dust. What was it? We hadn't seen that before, and studied our tree carefully. It seemed to be growing just fine; no brown needles, no scale on the needles, no apparent signs of bugs. Time to do some research!
What I found out was reassuring: it seems that the yellow dust is pollen! I didn't find any information that said it was anything to worry about. That was a relief! I don't know if we've just never noticed it before, or if this year was excessive, but it caused us a bit of alarm! Especially when some friends said they had the same thing on their spruce trees, I immediately thought of some wide-ranging problem that was attacking our beautiful spruces! But thankfully, it seems that it is nothing to worry about.
Hasn't the rain been amazing? Let's hope that we don't have any lasting problems in our gardens as everything begins to dry out. Some sunshine now will certainly be just what we need!
I know that many of you have been wondering about the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society bus trip to the International Peace Gardens on Saturday, July 24. We have two buses going, and members of the public are welcome to join us! We are going just for the day, and it will be a real treat to see the beauty and inspiration of the Peace Gardens. So if you would like to come along, just give Liz a call at 782-2830.
You probably will need a little break from yard work by then! This road trip will be the perfect thing!
And earlier in July, the Saskatchewan Horticultural Association is have a three day bus tour to Swift Current, Cypress Hills, Fort Walsh, and Eastend. The dates of this trip are July 13 - 15. It would be a great time: you get on the bus, sit back and relax, and enjoy the beautiful gardens of a very scenic part of the province. So if you'd like to find out more about this trip, please call Glen at 783-7040.
And remember, too, that the Garden of the Week contest begins on July 12. Enter your name at Leisure Services in City Hall. Don't be shy! This isn't a judged contest: a winner is drawn from the entries, so you don't have to panic and worry about having everything in your yard absolutely perfect! This contest is to encourage people to show off their yards, because Yorkton has a great many talented gardeners who are too modest about all the work they put into their yards! So be sure to enter your name. Last year someone commented to me that they felt funny about putting in their own name, but please don't feel that way. Think of it this way: you are doing all your fellow gardeners a favor by sharing your yard with us! We can always learn from each other.
It feels like we have missed out so much gardening time because of the rain, doesn't it. It would be nice to have some warm, dry days just to tour through our yards and remind ourselves what we planted and what we would like to change! Our next project is to top-dress some flowerbeds with fresh mulch. You know what a fan I am of mulch, it makes our gardening so much easier. And I love the scent of cedar in the yard, it's like aromatherapy! I also love how mulch keeps down the weeds; they never root properly in mulch, and are a breeze to pull out!
Hope you have a good week; think about joining us on those great road trips; and when that glorious sun comes out, be sure to wear a hat!
