While getting ready to take Santa down Erie Street on Saturday night, the members of the Wheatley Horticultural Society had a chance to talk gardening with Mr. and Mrs. Claus. “Ho! Ho! Ho! Both Mrs. Claus and I like to garden, but she has the real green thumb! We love our deep red geraniums, and it is hard to get them up at the North Pole. Mrs. Claus is able to keep them over the winter, and then takes cuttings to grow more of them. Lots of the elves have them in their gardens now too.”
“Oh yes!” Joined in Mrs. Claus. “You are so lucky to live down here in Canada’s south with so many beautiful garden centres. We come down in the spring and the sled is packed going home!” All of the members agreed that it is easy to fill a vehicle at any of the nurseries that support the Wheatley Horticultural Society. “And you’re able to grow so much more here in Zone 7! The North Pole is Zone 0, so we can have a frost any time. We don’t get to plant in my outside raised beds until well into June, and then wrap it up in August. We grow a lot of what you would call spring vegetables – lettuces, peas, beats, carrots… that kind of thing.”
The conversation turned to favourite gardening tools, and Santa joined in with a joke – “Ho! Ho! Ho! It’s not a hoe! The soil is barely unfrozen, so we don’t work in it very deep. We couldn’t garden without raised beds and greenhouses that help us extend the season. Mrs. Claus keeps us well fed by growing inside a lot of the year. Nothing beats a toasted tomato sandwich with a fresh tomato, but I expect you all know that!”
Before it was time to head out, the group talked briefly about garden trends. “We’ve always had to embrace what nature gives us in the North.” Shared Mrs. Claus. “The flowers that are native to the tundra, like Arctic Draba and Parraya bring such brightness, and I don’t have to look after them the way I look after my other plants. I see that more people here in the South are choosing a mix of native plants and cultivars too. I’ll never give up my red geraniums, but we have found a nice balance. Horticultural Societies do such a great job of sharing information about all of these things with gardeners. I know the elves and I learn a lot at our meetings!”
And with that, it was time to climb into the sleigh! We’ll be looking for you in the garden centres this spring Santa!
