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Minter Gardens: a national treasure
I heard some rather sad news recently: Minter Gardens of Hope B.C. is closing at the end of this season. The news hit me rather hard as I know the founder, Brian Minter, personally and I love the guy. I have followed his storied career from the early days.
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Things To Do in Your Garden
We are on the continental divide of the gardening season. On your right is the last 4 months that you invested and the flowers and fruit that your garden has produced to date. On your left is another 4 months [or so, depending on where you live]. This is when apples ripen and tomatoes are harvested. To many of us, the best is yet to come.
Here is what you need to know:
1. Divide German iris in August. Spread them around the sunny parts of your yard or give them away.
2. Sow grass seed and lay sod. From Mid August until early October - this is the best time of year to do it.
3. If you are receiving some rain and night temperatures are cooling down, this is a great time to apply Golfgreen lawn fertilizer, if you have not done it in 8 to 10 weeks.
4. Remove the spent blossoms of July flowering perennials and roses. Day lilies, early flowering hostas, veronica and the like. My blue veronica produces another set of blossoms when I cut it down this time of year.
5. If you are in the habit of fertilizing your winter hardy shrubs and roses monthly [with, say, Green Earth Rose, Annual and Perennial Food] then right now is the last application that you will make for this year. Feeding later in the summer/early fall can promote growth that will not have time to harden off before winter.
6. Take lots of pictures! My late father Len used to say that the garden peaks in the first two weeks of August. Enjoy! And use some of your best pictures as wall paper on your computer. Come winter you will be glad that you did.
7. Hang out a hummingbird feeder [and fill it, silly]: they are returning from the far north, will stop and forage in your garden for a few weeks as they accumulate fat under their wings for the long flight south this fall.
8. Stake your dahlias.
9. Harvest as your garden matures. The more you harvest, the more it will produce.
10. Continue to spray Bordo copper spray on your tomatoes to prevent early and late blight.
11. Weed, mulch, water as needed and be sure to hang in the hammock. You earned it!!
Mark
Merchant of Beauty
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Mark Cullen Approved Garden Centres
I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the 3 new members to the 'Mark Cullen Approved' family of Home Hardware retailers.
These dealers have met the stringent standards for product selection, their staff have passed the exclusive Home Hardware 'Lawn and Garden' seasonal training program [delivered by my good friend Denis Flanagan!] and they maintain all of the plant inventory at exceptional quality levels.
The 3 new Mark Cullen Approved Garden Centres can be found at:
Dunlop's Home Hardware, Port Hardy, BC
Vallyeview Home Hardware, Valleyview, AB
Alexandria Home Hardware Building Centre, Alexandria, ON
Congratulations to our new members who join this list of Mark Cullen Approved Garden Centres:
Sissiboo Home Hardware Building Centre, Weymouth, Nova Scotia
Gravenhurst Home Hardware, Gravenhurst, Ontario
Napanee Home Hardware Building Centre, Napanee, Ontario
Three Hills Home Hardware Building Centre, Three Hills, Alberta
Iroquois Falls Home Hardware Building Centre, Iroquois Falls, Ontario
Handyman Home Hardware, Conception Bay South, Newfoundland
Lloydminster Home Hardware Building Center, Lloydminster, Alberta
Perth Home Hardware Building Centre, Perth, Ontario
Windsor Home Hardware, Windsor, Nova Scotia
Sussex Home Hardware Building Centre, Sussex, New Brunswick
Invermere Home Hardware Building Centre, Invermere, British Columbia
Brockville Home Hardware Building Centre, Brockville, Ontario
Wilson's Home Hardware Building Centre, Barrington Passage, Nova Scotia
Orillia Home Hardware Building Centre, Orillia, Ontario
Stratford Home Hardware Building Centre, Stratford, Prince Edward Island
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Coincidentally, Brian opened this marvellous jewel of a garden in 1980, the same year that my Dad opened Cullen Gardens and Miniature Village in Whitby Ontario. 
Minter Gardens was special the day that it opened. As it matured it only got better. An allay of trees matured into a shaded walk, perennials and annual flowering plants provide eye-popping colour. My very favourite man-made water fall became encrusted in moss and ferns, a sight that only British Columbia could produce [in Canada anyway].
When my sister made the difficult but necessary decision to sell the Cullen Gardens property about 8 years ago, Brian was among the first people that I called with the news. As expected he was sympathetic, empathetic and encouraging all at once. Perhaps he knew then that the challenges of attracting a new generation to a 'show garden' are very difficult to overcome without government support.
Perhaps someone will find inspiration for a new generation who will see a future in repurposing and finding other uses for a 'show garden' on a mountainside in Hope. With a name like that, this town just might resuscitate Minter Gardens. 
In mid-July we did not send out a newsletter. 
Look for my newspaper column in the following new additions to the syndicated family of Mark Cullen newspapers:
It is time to support tall perennials before the wind and rain cause damage. I use a wide variety of plant supports in my garden. Just twine is the first thing I reach for. 
Every Wednesday I post a new entry in my blog, From the Garden Shed.
- Weekly Canada AM segment, Wednesdays at 8:40am (EST). You can also 
Date: September 7, 2013
This unique hosta exhibits incredibly variegated, shiny foliage. The bright yellow leaves have dark green margins that jet into the centre which brightens to creamy white in summer. 
Do you have a gardening event you would like to promote? I would be happy to include your event listing in my monthly E-newsletter.
Minter Gardens
Westmorland Horticultural Society in Moncton
