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Niagara Region.
MEMBERS' GARDENS
Wanda and Nick Yarmoshuk's Garden
| Update to December 31, 2006 Since 1998, the date of the photos on this page, the plants have grown and matured. Many are now almost 30 years old. Wyandanch Pink and the Coral Kaempheri evergreen azalea are over 6 feet tall. The garden now shows the consequences of too many plants planted too close together. Some evergreens have already been removed. Some broadleaf rhododendrons will have to be repositioned; azaleas, fortunately, can receive viscous haircuts, In the meantime, blooms have been very satisfying and we look forward to each new spring. To see the gardens as they have evolved since 1998 go to . . . . . .. . . . . |
The
Yarmoshuks' garden has been a work in progress since about 1973. They grow
rhododendrons and azaleas on a 100' x 125' plot in downtown St. Catharines.
The property backs onto the St. Catharines Golf and Country Club. There
are seven rhododendron and azalea beds. Since the native soil is very hard
clay, the plants are grown in raised beds filled with a mixture of chunky
peat moss, compost, grow bark and of course the native clay. Since summers
in St. Catharines tend to be hot and dry, watering is an important activity
in July and August. 
Most
of the gardens have been in full sun. Trees planted during the past 10
years are starting to provide some measure of shade. Nevertheless the garden
is considered to be in full-sun for most of the day.
The
largest trees on the property are a 15 year old Black oak and a 15 year
old Shademaster Locust. Three Cornus Kousa Chinensis provide white blossoms
in June and complement the hot coloured evergreen azaleas R. kaempferi,
R. -----------, R.--------------- and the more subtle tones of R. poukhanense.
These
vivid colours are complemented by ten seedling R. schlippenbachi (grown
from seed obtained from the 1982 ARS seed exchange) a number of Cascade
evergreen azaleas and the deep green leaves of the very early blooming
PJM.
The
beds contain an eclectic mixture of about 300 deciduous and evergreen azaleas,
lepidotes and elepidotes. A number of crosses from the 1982 ARS seed exchange
are now 15 years old. Notably, 'Janet Blair x Odee Wright' has produced
a number of interesting cream coloured seedlings that show very nice plant
form and excellent bud set, but the florets are not hardy below -15 degrees
C (5 degrees F).
A
'Nakahari' seedling provides a lovely compact splash of bright red colour.
Hancock's 'Pink Pompon' and the azaleas R. kaempferi and R. poukhanense,
obtained from Woodland Nurseries in 1973, are among the oldest plants on
the site. Several of Al Smith's and Weldon Delp's crosses are represented
among the plants.
In
the summer of 1994, several hundred naturally seeded evergreen azalea seedlings
appeared in the area under R. kaempferi. One hundred of these came into
bloom in May, 1998. Among these seedlings are a few unexplained lepidotes
and one azalea that appears to have an R. schlippenbachi parentage. The
result of this unusual group of volunteer seedlings has yet to be evaluated.
