Holiday thoughts

Canada Day in the garden begins with the mundane and melts into the marvelous.

Something is eating my newly planted nicotiana. Could be, is likely, slugs, but maybe snails or even earwigs. An obsessive gardener I know goes into the garden at night with a flashlight and surprises invaders by inspecting leaves with the bright beam. He has witnessed an earwig feeding fest, and took appropriate action (an earwig relocation program).

At nighttime I rather be inspecting a glass of cabernet franc, so I will will take a relaxed approach and encourage bugs to travel elsewhere, by surrounding the nicotiana with coffee grounds. Gardening folklore indicates that some insects dislike traversing gritty coffee grounds. I tried it around my hostas last year and it seemed to work. (Visit the Composting Council of Canada for more information).

My favorite approach to such calamities in the garden is to simply create a diversion, so that the eye is directed away from the horticultural offence.

Not too far from the holey nicotiana leaves is a splendid 'Endless Summer' hydrangea. So splendid only a pessimist would focus on tattered leaves nearby. It's in a pot for now, and growing like gangbusters, just like the nursery folks said it would. It's in a pot because of course, there is no room for it in the garden, but more importantly, I can place it where it looks smashing, next to a black fence. There, in just one tiny corner of the garden is a slice of designer heaven, the pink and green of the hydrangea, against the perfect backdrop of black.

Black works in the garden just as it works in interior design, to add elegance, strength, and contrast. You can get black in structures like fences and accessories, or you can get it by using very dark green shrubs such as yew-as background plants, or positioning vibrant colours against the dark bark of trees.

I saw a captivating combination of the brilliant orange-gold California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), blooming in front of a perfect background of yew. Those poppies are so gorgeous; everyone should grow them just once. For a slice of heaven, look at pictures from the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. California poppies can be direct seeded into garden beds where they will get full sun and stay on the dry side.

Another diversionary tactic for the garden is to frame views so that the eye is drawn like a magnet to beautiful vistas. A bed of hybrid tea roses for instance, looks so much better viewed through a picture frame of foliage. I saw such a winning combination, using the old-fashioned favorite vine, Dutchman's Pipe. It was snaking along a pergola and through it were glimpses of red hybrid tea roses, red as a Canada Day flag, laid out in their typical rigid beds. Dutchman's pipe will provide dense shade on an arbor, if that's what you are looking for. I saw it once covering a front porch, and under its thick canopy sat a comfy chair and a reading lamp, the scene looked so inviting I've never forgotten it. Rittenhouse online has more extreme accessories for nighttime reading outdoors.

Another scene-stealer in the garden is a big, fat, juicy gargoyle placed smack in a garden bed. A weathered piece of stone makes the most mundane plant material look majestic. There is something compelling about the man-made artifact, surrounded by unruly plant material. It takes your mind off the unruliness of insects.

So I say employ hocus-pocus in the garden, create your own artistic scenes that light up the landscape like a good fireworks display.