By Don Burnett
What fun at this time of year to see garden plants take their turn at flowering. Some will put on a show for weeks and even months while others only have a fleeting moment possibly a week or two to show their stuff. At any rate, I enjoy them all and perhaps appreciate the ones that bloom for a brief time more than those that continue to bloom all summer.
I’ve been watching my giant Allium come into bloom for the past two weeks and it now has four huge globes of spikey flowers which will be here for another couple of weeks. I have about 10 species of Opuntia, (Prickly Pear Cactus) in pots and this year for the first time about four of them are in flower. Each flower only lasts a couple of days however the blooming period lasts about a month.
Another plant that flowers only briefly is the yellow Trollius (Globe Flower) and soon the golden Doronicum (Leopards Bane) will show for a couple of weeks at the most. There is one stunning plant which blooms briefly each year that I want to add to my garden and that is the Eremuris (Fox Tail Lily). My good friend Dan Bruce has several of these naturalizing in his meadow and one year I was able to go and take some photographs of them in their full glory.
I needed to act quickly after I received the news they were in bloom, as the show only lasts a few days. Right now my Magnolia grandiflora (Southern Evergreen Magnolia) is coming on with its huge white fragrant blossoms. Each flower lasts only a couple of days before drying up and forming a seed pod however the blossoms keep coming all summer long. It’s rare to have a Southern Magnolia in the Okanagan but if the proper variety, ‘Edith Bogue’ is chosen success is very possible as mine has come through this past cold winter unscathed.
Now here is where I segue into talking about the fabulous Kelowna Garden Club Annual Flower Show Saturday at the Guisachan Heritage Park. For the past several years I’ve entered one of my white Magnolia flowers in the “Open Class” and taken home a few ribbons which I proudly display in my office. I also choose the night before the show other flowers that merit entry in several categories.
Roses from Miniatures to Hybrid Teas as well as lilies, Delphinium, Pansy, and potted plant and container categories. I never know what will be in show condition until just prior to the event but what fun it is to enter. For the complete picture on how to enter just check out the Kelowna Garden Club website and click on Juried Flower Show.
Basically, you need to bring your entry to the Park between 8 and 9:15 a.m. and the gates open to the public at 11 a.m. Everyone is welcome and you don’t need to be a Garden Club Member to enter. The show is free to everyone and it makes a great day of enjoying not only the Show itself but the Guisachan Heritage Gardens. At 1:30 p.m. I host a “Walk in the Garden” talking about my growing up in the neighbourhood and the history of the gardens. Gardeners and non-gardeners alike will enjoy this annual event held at 1060 Cameron Avenue Rain or Shine this Saturday June 24.
Listen to Don Burnett and Ken Salvail every Saturday Morning from 8am to 10am presenting the Garden Show on AM 1150 now in its 34th year.