Me, the Goutweed Removal Machine!

Saving a Bedford Park, Toronto Front Garden Bed

The proverb "Give them an inch and they'll take a mile" applies to many weedy perennial groundcovers plaguing Toronto gardeners. You may know the culprits by sight, if not by name: creeping bellflower, lily of the valley, plain green and variegated goutweed and let's not even dare mention Japanese Knotweed! 

In this short post, I'll show you how aggressively the plain Jane green version of goutweed or ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria ) can move through a garden bed and cause havoc with other plants. I've dug out as much of the goutweed last year but obviously by the "before" pictures below, not enough was removed as it has come back with a vengeance.

This view below is from the front door looking towards the street. The goutweed has travelled uninterrupted to cover about two-thirds of the rectangular front bed. You'd never know there many "choice" perennials engulfed by the goutweed but they will be revealed...

Bedford Park Toronto Front Yard
Goutweed Removal Cleanup Before

Here's the view looking across the bed:

Bedford Park Front Yard Goutweed
 Removal Spring Garden Cleanup Before

And from the other side...

Bedford Park Toronto Front Yard
Goutweed Removal Cleanup Before

Looking up the path leading to the front door:

Toronto Bedford Park Front Yard
Goutweed Removal Cleanup Before

Post Goutweed Removal:

Bedford Park Toronto Front Yard
Goutweed Removal Cleanup After 

Bedford Park Front Yard Goutweed
Removal Spring Garden Cleanup After

Ironically, this cleanup forced me to divide many perennials like hostas, daylilies and irises that had goutweed stems and roots infiltrating their own root balls. 

Bedford Park Toronto Front Yard
Goutweed Removal Cleanup After 

The new mulch will help reduce airborne weed seeds from germinating (and lower watering needs) but is completely ineffective in stopping weeds that travel by underground stems or roots. The goutweed ignores this surface layer and happily moves through the bed unless you do something about it.

Toronto Bedford Park Front Yard
Goutweed Removal Cleanup After 

My g(o)ut(weed) feeling is that the infestation problem will occur unless this client hires me or someone to dig out new baby goutweed plants which inevitably will return, even with my best efforts.

Autumn at the Toronto Botanical Garden: An Early Look

Fall Flowers at the TBG

A lull before my many (I hope) fall cleanup jobs gave me a chance to visit one of my favourite places in Toronto during my favourite time of the year: the Toronto Botanical Garden in autumn. While it wasn't a classic crisp and sunny fall day when I recently dropped by the TBG (more overcast and humid), I nevertheless happily spent an hour or so taking many pictures of fall blooming perennials hardy to zone 5 Toronto (and a few to-be-discarded annuals). It's still a little early for many of the shrubs and trees to show off their vibrant fall foliage colours so I focused on the autumn bloomers. 

Anemone tomentosa ‘Robustissima’
(Grape Leaf Anemone) at the
Toronto Botanical Garden's
Entry Garden Walk 

Anemone tomentosa ‘Robustissima’
(Grape Leaf Anemone) fall flowers
at the Toronto Botanical Garden's
Garden Hall Courtyard 

Autumn Crocus (Colchicum autumnale)
fall flowers at the Toronto Botanical Garden's
Entry Garden Walk

Autumn Fountain Grass and
New England Asters
at the Toronto Botanical Garden's
Perennial Borders 

Autumn Goldenrods at the
Toronto Botanical Garden's
Perennial Borders 

Autumn New England Asters and
Fountain Grass at Toronto Botanical
Garden's Perennial Border 

Autumn New England Asters and
Goldenrod at the Toronto Botanical
Garden's Woodland Walk 

Autumn New England Asters and
Purple Coneflowers at the Toronto
Botanical Garden's Perennial Borders 

Autumn Purple Coneflowers and
New England Asters at the
Toronto Botanical Garden's
Perennial Borders 

Calico Aster (Symphyotrichum lateriflorum)
at the Toronto Botanical Garden Nature

Colchicum autumnale (Autumn Crocus)
fall flowers at the Toronto Botanical
Garden's Entry Garden Walk 

Dahlia 'Knockout' or 'Mystic Illusion'
flower detail at the
Toronto Botanical Garden 

Grape Leaf Anemone
(Anemone tomentosa ‘Robustissima’)
fall flowers at the
Toronto Botanical Garden's
Garden Hall Courtyard 

Phlomis tuberosa 'Amazone' (Jerusalem Sage)
autumn flowers at the Toronto Botanical
Garden's Entry Garden Walk 

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
seedheads at the Toronto Botanical Garden's
Entry Garden Walk 

Reblooming Bearded Iris 'Immortality'
fall flowers at the Toronto Botanical
Garden's Entry Garden Walk 

Rosa 'AuSome' (Rose-Marie Modern Shrub Rose)
at the Toronto Botanical Garden's
Floral Hall Courtyard 

Rosa 'AuSome' (Rose-Marie Modern Shrub Rose)
bloom at the Toronto Botanical Garden's
Floral Hall Courtyard 

Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eilers'
(Sweet Coneflower) and Tall Verbena
at the Toronto Botanical Garden's
Westview Terrace 

Salvia 'Mystic Spires Blue' and
Lantana camara 'Luscious Bananarama'
flowers at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Toronto Botanical Garden
Nature's Walk Fall Colours 

Toronto Botanical Garden
Perennial Border Fall Colours 

Verbena bonariensis (Tall Verbena)
at the Toronto Botanical Garden's
Entry Garden Walk 

It's Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend and I'm very thankful for being able to visit the Toronto Botanical Garden. And judging by the crowd milling around during this recent visit, I'm not the only one to feel the same!

Hella Good Looking Hellebores!

Plant It and Forget It: Hellebore Hybrids

Chalk it up to Toronto gardeners having an early case of spring fever as I'm seeing Hellebores popping up in more and more gardens. These Christmas Roses (Helleborus niger) and Lenten Roses (Helleborus orientalis and the many hybrids under H. x hybridus) give us late winter or early spring blooms and look fantastic around daffodils, snowdrops, crocuses and early season tulips. They also don't expect much fussing about from their caregivers either: plant them in soil with rich organic matter, provide average moisture and allow for full to part sun. In many ways, hellebores are like peonies: just plant them, leave them alone and they should be long lasting. In terms of ongoing maintenance, I spend a couple minutes a year cutting off the previous year's old and often diseased leaves in early spring. That's it.

(A great reference for the hellebore care and propagation is Hellebores: Winter Hardy Shade Perennials for the Woodland Garden from Plant Delights Nursery.)

Hellebores and crocuses at 
the Toronto Botanical Garden 

I had an afternoon off last week and with April's weather being so nice (with above average temperatures), I visited the Toronto Botanical Garden to see what was flowering. Among the early flowering bulbs and shrubs, of course, were many hellebores in fine form so I went a little crazy with the camera in capturing these beauties.

Stinking Hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) at 
the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Don't let the common name dissuade you from planting Helleborus foetidus (there are cultivars too.) The leaves do have strong musky (skunky?) scent but if you avoid rubbing them all over your body. it shouldn't be an issue.

Helleborus x ericsmithii "Pirouette" hellebore 
and "Jetfire" daffodils 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden

Helleborus x ericsmithii "Pirouette" and
 "Jetfire" daffodils make up this spring container 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Helleborus x ericsmithii "Pirouette" hellebores 
and "Jetfire" daffodils detail as part of this 
Toronto Botanical Garden spring container

Helleborus x hybridus "Anna's Red" hellebore 
spring bloom in my backyard

I have a few hellebores in my backyard which received full sun until noon. "Anna's Red" is finally slowly becoming a nice clump after a few years of just sitting. Hellebores are slow growing but if you're patient (almost to the point of negligent) with them, they'll reward you every late winter to early spring.

Helleborus x hybridus "Berry Swirl" hellebore 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Helleborus x hybridus "Berry Swirl" hellebore blooms 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Helleborus × nigersmithii "Ivory Prince" Hellebore 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

"Ivory Prince" seems to be the hottest hellebore cultivar on the market for several years now (I didn't think it would be possible to describe hellebores as trendy) as I see it in many flowers shows, garden centres and spring containers in tonier parts of Toronto.

Helleborus × nigersmithii "Ivory Prince" 
Hellebore spring flowers 

"Ivory Prince" Hellebore (Helleborus × nigersmithii) 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

"Ivory Prince" Hellebore spring blooms 

"Ivory Prince" Hellebore spring flowers 

Lenten Rose/ Hellebore flowers detail 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Lenten Rose (Helleborus orientalis) 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Stinking Hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Toronto Botanical Garden 
Helleborus (hellebore) blooms 

Toronto Botanical Garden 
Helleborus x hybridus "Berry Swirl" 
hellebore blooms 

The sepals' veins and overall flower shape above remind me of the human heart!

If you're a hellebore lover like myself, you know how useful these "lower-maintenance" perennials are. If you haven't discovered them yet, well, now you know!