h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi John

As a UK gardener I am interested to know, how much stuff actually survives the winter in Canada (and are there many opportunities for jobbing gardeners?

Vlad

Hi Vlad,

I work in Southern Ontario, where a cold means -25C or so... with the occassional dip to -30C. I have a pretty broad range of plants that are reliably hardy. Hollies make it Camelias don't (yet). Gardening is big business here. There's been a real boom over the past 20 years or so. It's even bigger on the west coast, I believe; though I have no first-hand experience of that.

Here's a link to a climate zone map of Canada. The rest of the site is quite interesting.

http://www.icangarden.com/zone.htm

... and another to the landscape industry professional association in Ontario:

http://www.hort-trades.com/

Cheers.

JTG

Thanks for the links!

Where I live, the Camellias will survive the cold but not the lime!
At least we have the option of building a peat bed (although obviously for ecological reasons we frown on that).

I think we're very fortunate with the climate in this country, although people in general are quite horticulturally ignorant, and obsessed with tradition.

Still, the winds of change are blowing... Vive la revolution!

Vlad.

There was a very nice person, who runs a landscaping business in Melbourne, Australia around here for a while. She told me that the horticultural taste there is very dull - victorian, I think was how she described it.

JTG

Mmmm.

It seems strange to be obsessed with lawns and roses and the like when their climate isn't suited to it. There are some fantastic native Australian plants that could be used.

The "New World" should be at the cutting edge of horticulture and shrugging off those old colonial ideals like so much disused horticultural fleece.

I like the Prairie stuff that's going on in the states, Mr Van Sweden has a fine eye for a nice bit of pampas!

Vlad.

Yes, he and his partner (whose name I can't remember) started quite a revolution here. Unfortunately, rather than adopting their philosophy of planting, drifts of Miscanthus and Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' have become a bit of a cliche.

The latest craze here is "Butterfly Gardens". A positive side-effect is that a lot of prairie plants and various other natives are enjoying some popularity. We're still probably ten years or more behind the times. I attended a lecture, at least ten years ago, which featured the naturalistic horticulture then popular in Germany.

JTG

The Rudbeckia and Miscanthus haven't become a cliche here yet, due to the fact that the naturalistic style has only become popular in the last couple of years.

That being said, I'm sure it's only a matter of time. Grasses of varying types are certainly the fad of the moment over here. That and metallic looking plants like Agave americana and Eryngium giganteum in minimalist settings.

Me, I like a bit of exuberance!

I'll go along with that. And what gardener can resist growing something that absolutely "won't grow there"?

JTG

I just got myself an allotment this weekend. Don't know if you have those in Canada, but I seem to remember you're from the UK anyway?

Looks like it'll need a fair bit of work but I only have a small brick yard at home, so it's gotta be an improvement.

I'm going to smoke a pipe, wear a flat cap and brag about the size of my marrows!