The longest day of the year is coming, gardeners: on Friday, June 21 at approximately 1:04 a.m., we will enjoy the summer solstice! It's the longest day of the year, when the sun reaches its farthest point north of the equator. Let's you and I make a pact right now that on June 21, we will get outside and do something special, whether it's having a cup of coffee and listening to the birds, or getting really ambitious and weeding our gardens, or taking out the camera and getting some great shots of our plants. I did some reading about the summer solstice, and there are many articles that talk about the day being a time of renewal and rejuvenation; so let's make the most of it!
Remember, gardeners, that the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society is planning a great road trip to Neepawa on July 20 to see the Lily Festival. If you are interested in going, please contact Liz at 782 - 2830 as soon as possible! This trip will be a one day bus tour to the Neepawa Lily Festival. You don't have to be a member of the horticultural society to go on this trip; if you are interested in going along, you are more than welcome. But please call Liz and she will let you know if any seats are still available on the bus.
Sometimes our gardens deliver nice surprises! When we were tilling our garden this spring, there was a short row of something coming up; it was too ordered to be weeds, but at that point we didn't know what it was, so we left the little row and tilled around it. It continued to grow with great gusto, and this past week we were rewarded with blooms: the mystery plants are centaurea, and with a little research, I think our lovely garden guest is centaurea montana.
But centaurea is a big family, with up to 600 assorted cousins that go by various names including bachelor buttons or cornflowers. Bachelor buttons are beautiful annuals, light and airy in appearance with their silvery-green foliage, and giving our gardens that most welcome shot of blue or purple. They are very relaxed residents in the garden: they like full sun and moderate water, but aside from that, they are carefree annuals that will bloom all summer. I know that bachelor buttons were some of the first seeds that my sweet Mom gave me to plant in my own patch as a child, and they were a great choice that did not disappoint an eager little gardener. And they still are a delight to enjoy!
They're an old favorite that might get missed in our zeal to always plant "something new", but after seeing the lovely blue blooms in our garden this week, It makes me wish we had planted more of them. While I was doing my homework, I came across some interesting factoids about bachelor buttons. Did you know that they are one of the national flowers of Germany? Way back, when Queen Louise of Prussia had to leave Berlin because of Napoleon's approaching invasions, she and her family hid in a field of cornflowers. The blue of the flowers was also the color of the Prussian army uniforms. For all you gardeners/artists, do you think that maybe the paint color "Prussian blue" comes from this origin? Interesting! I also read that cornflowers were JFK's favorite flower, and when John Jr. got married, he wore cornflowers as a tribute to his Dad. Isn't it something how a simple plant can have such a story!
So have a good day on June 21: rejuvenate out in your garden, and be sure to wear a hat! Have a good week, dear gardeners!
