with Ted Smith
So it’s that time of year again. The yellow lady’s slippers are in full riotous colour along our many back roads. Unfortunately, just as I do every year, I’ve seen people out with shovels and buckets digging up these golden treasures to take home for their own gardens. Please do not dig up the lady’s slipper orchids. This plant is very close to impossible to transplant with any sort of long term success. Transplanted orchids usually come back for a year or two in their new digs before fading away into obscurity. Even expert horticulturalists refer to lady’s slipper orchids as extremely difficult to cultivate. There are a number of reasons for this. Orchid roots are tremendously brittle and fragile. It is reported that roots broken during transplanting are permanently damaged and are never able to re-grow. Also, most lady’s slipper orchids are thought to be semi-parasitic. Connections with their host plants are invariable disrupted during the transplanting process and are also considered to be a form of permanent damage. While you may occasionally hear of someone who actually transplanted lady’s slipper orchids, and still has them alive several years later, such reports are truly the exception. This is one wildflower that is best enjoyed where it is and for what it is. Perhaps the one exception to this rule is when development will eradicate a population. This would be the perfect time to see if you couldn’t also be the exception who successfully transplanted a lady’s slipper orchid.
The tent caterpillars are out in full force right now. This is the time to be vigilant and remove any ‘tents” you come across. Tent caterpillars love fruit trees and ornamental shrubs. If you get the tents early or late in the day you will usually find all the little caterpillars at home and easy to deal with (squish). When removing tents in the middle of the day you will usually find that the caterpillars are spread out along branches where they will be eating leaves. Carefully rub off or squish all the caterpillars you can find as any survivors will continue eating for days and just a few caterpillars can strip a tree of a lot of leaves. Trees rarely die from tent caterpillar infestation but they can be severely damaged and have their growth set back dramatically.
Asparagus growers beware. The asparagus beetles are also out in force. Hand remove and squish (I’m sensing a theme here) any of the colourful adult beetles you find on your asparagus stalks. Pay special attention to eggs which show up as rows of obvious dark spots up the sides of the stalks. Gently running your fingers down the stalk generally removes and destroys any eggs you contact.
For those of you who have planted new fruit trees and perennial ornamental plants, don’t forget the water. While it may seem like we’ve been getting plenty of rain, some of these showers are deceiving. Your new transplants need at least an inch or rain to drench deep down into the soil and facilitate strong root growth. The best time to water is actually during one of these light showers as the soil and your plants will be naturally receptive to moisture at this time.
Most veggie gardeners already have tomato transplants in the ground and should keep an eye on the weather. If cold nights are predicted, cover your tomatoes with a simple cloche such as an inverted bucket or ice cream container. This will be plenty to preserve a warm microclimate around your tender plants and help see them through the cold. Be sure to get the cloches off in the morning before the sun beats on them for too long and turns then into tiny tomato cooking ovens. Also, be aware that cold spring winds can easily tatter young tomato foliage. Unless the sun is shining brightly it can help to cover your tomato seedlings during strong winds as well. Now is also the perfect time to set up stakes, fences or trellises for your still-small tomatoes. You will do less damage to the root systems setting all that infrastructure up right now. As your tomato transplants grow, remember to remove the small stems that start to grow out from where the leaves join the main stem. Your tomatoes will be much easier to maintain if you train them to a single growing stem.
Don’t set your pepper plants out yet. It’s tempting but in the long run you will lose ground by exposing them to cold evening temperatures. You’re better off to set them out in pots by day and bring them in at night. Exposure to temperatures of less than 10°C now can severely impact your peppers’ production later in the summer.
Beans, squash, cucumbers, pumpkins and melons can all be direct seeded any time now.
Hopefully this brief to-do list can help you prioritize at a busy time of year!
