Flower Profiles

I have started seed collecting since last month...some plants still have a ways to go like nasturtiums but last years are probably still viable. Seeds are thoroughly dry prior to storage and are kept in a cool, dry place that doesn't vary much in temperature. I am collecting vegetable seeds as well and may write a post about it at a later date but as of now these are plants that I have seeds available for. I will try to make them available in a shop or two in Merritt if possible but for now here they are:

 A small packet is 1.25 and a large 5.00.
A small packet of larger seeds like Sweet Pea or Nasturtium contains about the same amount you would get in a store bought packet except that this seed comes from plants acclimatized to near-desert conditions. Small packets of small seed (like poppy) probably contain triple what you get in store bought packets.
Why a 5.00 packet? I get a lot of compliments about my flower layout which is basically a border completely filled with annuals; I got the idea from wildflower gardens and found it worked impressively well with certain flowers. These flowers are chosen for the overall show of colour and flower mass.
The larger packets contain 5-6 times the amount of seed as small and are available for Calendula, Sunflower, and a custom mix of African Daisy, Cornflower, Cosmos and (regular) Poppy.


African Daisy...show up as yellow and orange with dark centers. They tend to be a bit spindly in growth but they are early bloomers and bring bright spots of colour to the garden quickly. They have a certain fragility and will slump among other flowers if it's windy. Seeds form in little clumps and are easily carried off by the wind.

Calendula...shows up in early summer in yellows and orange flowers can be double. This is a very robust flower that will bloom well into the fall. Knee high or even taller and will take up a lot of space if you let it. There are hybrids that contain splashes of tans and browns that may show up in this mix. This plant has medicinal qualities.

Cornflower...like calendula will last into the fall and would love to have a lot of space but can survive an over-seeded planting. Very bright blue flowers and lots of them...a good self seeder. Also knee high or taller under ideal conditions. Seed is easily lost to the wind and cornflower is one of the first of the tall annuals to show up in the spring.

Cosmos...can be white, fuchsia or the more common pink. Can grow shoulder high and has very nice lacy foliage well into fall. This is a very showy annual because of it's height...despite this it will do well over-seeded; it simply becomes a miniature specimen. It lasts well into fall so is often a competition plant at fall fairs.

 Dessert Bluebell...the most intense 'true' blue of any annual. A low grower that can adapt very well to space limitations. Leaves often have a reddish tinge. Flowers grow in neat rows that aren't apparent until it goes to seed; this is when the the form becomes clearer otherwise it's simply a mass of blue.

Annual Larkspur...knee high or a bit better with intense purple-blue flowers. This flower is actively sought out by the larger bees (bumble bees) and make for an entertaining  sight as the heavy bees hang upside down off the flowers which provide nectar. It looks very nice among red, yellow and pink annuals.

Marigold...low growing bright orange button kind of flower. Fragrant in that way some foliage has. The leaves form a large part of the flower mass in a planting and the blooms stand out very nicely. They have a general pom-pom appearance and are usually orange. They come out in mid summer and are a good filler flower. Seed is easy to collect.

Morning Glory...a vine that can have pink or purple flowers. Late summer bloomer that likes to twine onto anything it gets a hold of. Despite this I don't find it to be invasive. It could use additional support in order to get it to cover a fence...well worth it for the look especially in the mornings when the flowers are at their best.

Nasturtium...shades of yellow to red but mostly orange- sometimes a contrasting colour in the center. Grows low and bushy- almost tropical like. Looks great in baskets or elevated gardens, rockeries. Blooms later in the summer and does well in shade. Not troubled by bugs in the desert regions. Considered edible.

Mini Pansy...for such a small flower it's very strong; usually the first flower I see in the spring. Shows lots of different colour with a heavy emphasis on purples. If grown singly can reach a fair size but usually it's a filler for tight spaces. Flowers are edible, self seeds readily.

 Opium Poppy...there are obviously issues with this plant that you should consider but as far as flowers go it's a show stopper. Waist high or better, ornately furled mint green leaves, can be doubled (pom pom). Red, fuchsia, pink, lavender, white (taller), peach and salmon colours. Self seeds readily. Very ornamental seed pods.

Poppy...the regular variety can have a surprising assortment of colours although red is the norm. A very good filler flower that can be waist high and looks dainty and defiant at the same time. Has ornamental seed pods that are much smaller than Opium poppies and also produces massive amounts of seed.

 Rose Campion...will not bloom the first year but in the second will have beautiful gray foliage and electric pink flowers. Because of the multitude of seed that falls from the plant there will be a continuous supply of flowers from year to year.  This flower looks best by itself as a planting can get quite bushy, not to mention the bizarre colour.

Rose Mallow...pink and white flowers. Can have an upright or spindly habit depending on where it's grown...full sun is best. Fairly large flowers for a low growing plant...it looks very nice set between taller annuals.

Sunflower...blooms mid to late summer and can become very tall. Requires staking or support in windy locations. It will attract birds to your yard and possibly rodents. Largest of all flowers, seeds are edible and makes a good contrast with other annuals if there aren't too many planted together.


Sweet Pea...another climber known for it's scent. Will cling to other plants and needs support to train it where you want it to go...usually up a fence. Soft pastel colours although occasionally a purple shows up. Seed can be a bit tricky to collect as the pods burst open and scatter it when the time is right.

Poppies and Papaver Seed Collection

by Heidi Koehler

Most flowers lose their petals in order to produce seed. This can be problematic when the aim is to collect seed from a particular variety of plant or a certain colour if you planted lots. I'm talking about annuals for the most part but this can apply to perennials as well.

It is always the case in my garden where I aim to collect seeds specifically from certain varieties and anything on top of that becomes a mixed collection. For example, I'm particularly fond of poppies. I grow the typical corn poppies (Papaver rhoeas) which are red, pink, orange, white, mixed, with or without a central black cross, single, double, pom-pom, with ruffled leaves or wavy patterns etc. At one point I did actually save from just about every variety and planted the following year but there was so much cast off seed from the first ones that it all came out looking random (still pleasant.) I concluded it might not be worthwhile to try and isolate seeds from a plant with so much variation and such a self seeding habit.

But this is not the case with my favorite poppies: Opium Poppies (Papaver somniferum) which have single and double forms. I originally started with just a tiny container full of seeds I collected from the poppies growing at my Mom's place. Actually I collected a handful in about 2004 and dumped them in the big planters my sister had and they grew there the following year...from those poppies I collected seed and regularly grew these flowers every year from Langley to Maple Ridge to Merritt. In Merritt I found a lot of other varieties and added to my collection.
But there was a bit of problem with the hoodlums...the first few years weren't so bad but once I planted the white ones I became the subject of petty vandalism with stupid people trampling in my garden at night and ripping the seed pods off. Due to this fact the following year I ripped out most of the somniferums that came up from self seeding and limited where I grew them to less obvious spots.
I currently have the following from which I will collect seed:
Double Red (I call it ragged red because for a double flower it has rather jagged petals).
Single White (grows very tall- about 4 feet with a large but lumpy seed pod...very often the pods of the white ones won't open- you have to physically break them to get at the seed)

Single Red (faint pink tint- from mom)
Double Pink and Single Pink
Double Fuchsia
Double Rose Pink
Double Lavender and Single Lavender
Double Purple and Single Purple
Double Peach and possibly a Single Peach.
Double Pink Red...it is getting a bit muddled here since there are colours that are obviously blends of two others so I have to draw the line somewhere.

I also delved into perennials a few years ago so have a lot of Oriental Poppies (Papaver orientale.) Even though most people don't grow them from seed (they don't form flowers the first year) but this is what I did from seeds collected from people and locations in Merritt. Unfortunately I didn't label things properly and when they came up the first year I really didn't remember what I all had because there were all these bunches of green leaves and nothing else. I wound up planting them out in the front garden without any idea of what I would get. Fortunately I got ONE out of about 20 or so plants that was the hot pink colour I desperately wanted. Also got a white one, a dusty pink, several salmon coloured ones and many reds some of which bore a black central cross and others that were plain red.

In any case I've learned a few lessons about marking plants: with most annuals I will either attach a white paper twist tie (the kind you get from the grocery store when you shop for vegetables) or I will use a piece of plastic with a hole punched in one end and a slit cut towards it to put around the stem. Both methods have to be done carefully and both work quite well. Twist ties made with paper work well where there is little precipitation- like the Thompson Okanagan region where I live. Plastic is better for more finicky weather or if you want to easily reuse them for the following year.
Tip: I make the plastic ones with old Venetian blinds. You can find them in thrift stores for dirt cheap. I chop them into about two inch lengths, use a single hole punch, cut a slit towards the hole and mark it with a water proof marker. I actually had some busted blinds that I continually make new markers from.
Tip: I used to use film canisters to save seed in but besides the fact that these are getting harder to come by they are now to small. I actually had to buy containers for the amount of seed I collect.
Tip: The process of collecting seeds can be simplified: once the heads are dry (dusty buff coloured and you can hear the seeds shaking around in them) break them off at the 'neck' trying to keep the vibration/shake to a minimum and drop them in a pail. I use ice cream containers. Once I'm finished collecting I place the pail in a hot dry location and wait about a week and then I put the lid on and shake the container hard. In another pail I put a pasta sieve inside and dump the seed heads in there and gently shake it. A lot of seed will come out but I still have to individually empty each pod out...if I don't I will wind up with hundreds of poppies growing out of my compost the following year...not the worst thing I suppose!

Spring Plant Propagation Projects

 It has begun

I promised myself I would not get too carried away with gardening this year as I am focussing more seriously on my photography but that doesn't mean I won't allow myself a few fun projects!

So these are a few of the things I am trying alongside the regular veggie garden and perennial plots:

Seeds:

I am germinating it in a mix of peat-moss and yard dirt...it is my custom to always use my 'native soil' as the bulk of potting medium...yes, I'm kind of cheap that way. :) I don't normally buy peat moss and I don't think I will again- for my style of gardening it's rather too light a mass for the fine, dusty soil I have. Black earth would probably have been better but then again maybe not in these small pots.

Starting plants from seed

Then there are the peach twigs. I got a few branches from a gentleman in Kamloops this year and he generously provided me two varieties. Unfortunately the peaches had already started blooming which is not an ideal time to take wood for this kind of propagation technique but I am trying anyway. So far only one of about a dozen twigs has sprouted a leaf. The trees they came from produced amazingly abundant and delicious fruit...however:

Peach twig cuttings

In any case I bought catnip seeds because my cat loves the stuff- I may as well grow some of my own, dry it, and have an endless free supply. Also I bought trailing lobelia which I had never seen sold as seeds before. Both are very fine- tiny- particularly the lobelia.

Peaches and apricots only sometimes work out in our climate zone. We are in the Thompson Nicola Region of BC (that link goes to a general info website). Merritt is Zone 5a while Kamloops is 5b (warmer)...at least according to what I can figure out from the extremely poor plant hardiness zones map on the Canadian Government's website. 

 Natural Resources Canada's Map Server

I was so fed up with this that I looked back in my photos to find the photo of a sign that was mounted on the wall of a nursery in Kamloops that broke down the hardiness factor more distinctly and made a graphic to share. Call me cynical but I figure if the global warming trend continues this peach tree experiment will work out well. If weather the climate becomes less cold Canadians in general will have longer and more diversified growing seasons.

It should be mentioned that despite the signs implications Merritt's generally colder climate still will allow apricots fairly regularly under the right conditions. There is a lady one street behind me who has an apricot tree that produces fruit most years...while a friend who lives "on the bench" which is theoretically warmer in summer (but probably colder in winter!) is counting himself lucky to get a few apricots at all!

Plant hardiness zones for the Thompson Nicola Region

Bottling Wine

Bottling Wine

© H.I.Koehler

I bottled the wines I had fermented last fall on the 8th of February. In the course of doing so I obviously  got quite a bit of sampling done! Some good info on making your own wines here.

Similarly to last year I made Saskatoon berry wine but only one batch instead of the wild collection of concoctions that were the result of having too much fruit on hand.

This batch turned out beautifully. There is no question that having an abundance of fruit that is naturally sweet and juicy negates the need to add much water...and somewhat less sugar...but Saskatoons aren't really juicy so I compensated by using a LOT of fruit. In fact I still have some in the freezer I picked so much.
A real surprise was the pear wine.

Pear is a funny fruit...tastes phenomenally good but has a uniquely gritty texture. It's actually odd since the fruit is so juicy it's used to can other fruits commercially but thankfully it's not present in the wine which unquestionably tastes of pear.
I can't say I'm too thrilled about the apple and crab apple wine. I knew those would be tricky because the apples I used were tart. I just couldn't not NOT pick what is pretty much free. While apples (particularly crab apples) make for a really great jelly they are labor intensive to make into pure juice without added water. I will probably pick them next year simply to add to preserves as a natural pectin unless fairy godmother gives me a press.

On the subject of apples we have a cider producer in Merritt- shall have to try some of their product to see what I SHOULD be aiming for!

Homemade Psoriasis Salve

© H.I.Koehler

I went to a skin specialist in Kelowna- she didn't give me much hope except to talk a bit about vitamin D creme. Vitamin D is supposed to be good for skin...not that there is any cure on the horizon for psoriasis. In a nutshell there are a few options:

Ultra violet light treatments- not particularly good in my case because my psoriasis is scattered about but particularly bad on the scalp- I have a nice mane of hair that I don't particularly care to cut off for the sake of treatments that aren't guaranteed to do anything other than irradiate my skin.

Injections- the doctor actually offered to give me injections where it's worst - my knees but I didn't care for the (potential) side effects: thinning of the skin is a possibility. This kind of defeats the purpose of the treatment to my mind. I kneel a lot when I'm gardening- last thing I want is thinning skin on my knees and then get some kind of break and infection.

Then there is oral medication but even the doctor wasn't keen on that- these have potentially toxic side effects and again it's a case of the cure being worse than the disease.

Homemade skin salves

Then finally are the cremes and ointments: vitamin D and cortisone types are another option- I am actually testing a sample (Calcipotriol- which I've just discovered is synthetic!)
on my elbows but really, I've resigned myself to the fact that I will always have this condition (due to an overactive immune system) so cremes the only practical option.

In the past (doctor prescribed) cremes have not been particularly effective but what WAS very useful was nettle wash (stinging nettle). My mother had suggested it and it worked beautifully. At the time I didn't know how to make salves so I used nettle in season and over the course of time discovered a cheap vitamin e creme from the dollar store would do as well as the doctor prescribed creme but then I couldn't find that particular brand in the shops anymore. In Merritt I started to make salves at home- first Calendula ("Pot Marigold") and then nettle (a bit of a chore to obtain).

Calendula- Calendula officinalis

The Calendula salve worked nicely but the nettle was probably twice or 3 times as effective- I had to wait a year before I could make more (I actually shook out the bag my fresh nettle had come in and the seeds that I gathered formed the basis of last years crop in my garden!) I also met a woman who suggested Lanolin creme and I have to say this is probably as good if not better than the vitamin e I had been using.

So, to recap, I will list the order of cremes/products I have found to be effective from worst to best:

Cortisone creams- slow to show results- so slow I can't even attribute any relief of my condition to this kind of product because I would use other things out of desperation which muddies any kind of analysis.

Glaxyl base- by itself pretty much useless but someone suggested it so I tried it. Water soluble...this would be interesting to use as a base for medicinal ingredients because it's not greasy so I will keep it in mind.

Vitamin E cream (clear, thick- brand name) relief from itch but not effective due to it being sticky which isn't practical for knees and elbows.

Vitamin E (lotion- thin, cheapo from dollar store) good relief and actually allowed scaled skin to slough off- but not safe for around eyes. This was not a 'pure' product.

(Vitamin E cream (the lotion) caused damage to the finish of my eye glass frames)

Lanolin cream (generic product from pharmacy- animal based product) very good relief and also allowed for scaled skin to slough off- very cost effective but also not to be trusted near the eyes.

Homemade versions of commercially available products:

Calendula creme: Calendula officinalis is an annual flower commonly grown in gardens. The creme I made using it provided excellent relief from itch and allowed a lot of scaling to slough off but BETTER STILL:

Nettle creme- Urtica dioica is by far the best. Same results as calendula but acts faster. Bonus is the cooked nettles are edible- taste almost the same as cooked spinach and is extremely healthy.

Urtica dioica: common stinging nettle

The only downside at the present time is the carrier fat I'm using which is solid vegetable based oil. Shortening such as Crisco brand- and lard for that matter (rendered pork fat) are extremely cheap and readily available but they are greasy. I will look into something more absorptive in the future but it should be said that where scaling is concerned (which is the big issue with psoriasis) a salve that sits on top of skin is probably as good as one that gets absorbed...I will know more as I experiment further but in the meantime this works well.

Am I A Racist?

In all this habaloo of Native Indian issues I don't think the biggest problem is being addressed- the overt racism that manifested itself out of what started out as convenience.
Treaties of the past were designed around making life liveable for all concerned but mostly for the influx of settlers coming into the country. The leaders of the day made decisions on behalf of their culture's needs while dealing with the indigenous residents who lived a very different lifestyle ...until the recent decades.
The easiest way to resolve the problems of two groups coming into conflict with one another is to separate them...because that's WAY simpler than finding an actual solution. Moving one group of people away from another one absolved the government of having to deal with real issues which was a very bad idea in the long run. It is always easy for a bigger, more powerful group to say to the smaller one "you can live over there" but in Canada's case it was particularly easy to also say "...and continue to live in the ways you see fit" with the promise of sharing the resources that people needed centuries ago.

But over the years the types of resources have changed and their acquisition is more complex and the two groups of people live more or less the same life styles...the biggest difference is that the reserve Indians are not thriving. They continue to live in cultural isolation and look at us from what is now a self-imposed exile; there is a lot of pressure to be supportive of the reserve 'family' and one of the biggest reasons to stay has to be the legislated security that family has acquired. That family gives you things like a house, car and cel phone that is paid for by the larger 'cousins' on the outside...but only while you’re living on the reserve...you don't have to work to pay for it. That's a hard thing to willingly give up I think.

To us, 'leaving the nest' means growing up and establishing a life independent of one's family...and is common to all cultures to some degree or another.  But it's an anomaly for a society to function in that way and if you look at it as an experiment it's not working. To make matters worse, the concept of providing for the family has devolved from sharing the resources so that the entire tribe benefits to squandering money on individuals to greater or lesser degree. In the real world no one says to their children "I will give you each a house to live in and I will pay for it". But this is just one example of what has happened on the reserves and it's created a culture of people who feel entitled to it based on old treaties. It goes beyond that to the point where a chief sees nothing wrong with demanding that the government pays for the upkeep of those homes. Yet the demand by the government and Canadians for an accounting of funds given and spent is viewed as insulting...and racist.

Here on the outside people come from India, China, Germany, France, Ireland, Egypt, Australia, Pakistan, Russia, America, South Africa, Taiwan...everywhere. They are working and living together as Canadians, immigrants or permanent residents. They keep their cultures as close to them as they see fit and understand that their respective races originate in times and places long past and far away. The fact that a majority of any particular race will influence our combined culture is to be expected. Protesting about how your culture is distinct and deserving of special treatment is not only a useless waste of energy but it's overtly racist...and that racism is going to bring out racist feeling from people who weren't particularly aware of racial issues to begin with.

To make matters worse, most people don’t understand that some degree of racism is normal unless you are blind. One look at a person and I can see if we are of the same race or not superficially…does that mean I'm a 'racist'? Race isn't of particular importance to me on a social level but as an artist I do pay attention to superficial details because it’s a big deal to get them right in portraiture.

But so many nasty to absolutely evil people have used superficial physiological distinctions to make judgements, slander, harass, threaten and kill people based on their ethnicity that we have rendered the complexity of it all into a single abused word: racism.

If you want to look at another cultural setup as an experiment there is a worst case scenario to be seen in the Middle East. Leaders of countries that had recently come out of a long war over 50 years ago made decisions under less than ideal times and circumstances; the generosity in taking in refugees strained the resources needed for their own citizens and led to the decision of Britain and her allies to carve out a nation in parts of the world that had their own cultural conflicts. To this day the Middle East is in a constant state of bloody war.

There is a lot of stupidity in all this. We know that nations within nations don't work but cultures among cultures can work when we agree to a common set of laws for all citizens. In the case of the Middle East it’s particularly ironic that the two ethnicities have so much more in common than the average Canadian has with a native Indian. We also know that exceptions to laws for reasons of culture can be made when there is no apparent harm in doing so.

(I think it’s foolish and hypocritical to tell people to expose their head of hair if a culture believes it to be important to keep hair covered. It doesn’t harm anyone if people want to cover their hair yet there are people who try to imagine potential fatalities coming out of it. We ourselves have our own rules on what parts of the body must be covered up or should be held in place!)

There is the Osoyoos band which is one of the exceptions to the rule. Chief Clarence Louie got things turned around and I hope he gets involved in these upcoming talks. I just know we can't figure anything by living in isolation and letting the worst of our people do our thinking and talking for us.

November Stuff

Winter is here in Merritt but so far it's mild- just a little dusting of snow now and again. Some of my flowers are still blooming- the ones that weren't yanked out of the ground to make way for a new garden design for next year.

I've decided that perennials are the way to go. I had quite a few started this year and transplanted them to the front- mostly poppies and columbines. Over 100 actually and they seem to have taken quite well to their new location. Today it was with some sadness I chopped the raspberries down. The bushes were still carrying a lot of fruit but it was sour tasting due to the hot/cold temperatures.

An interesting thing I learned this month: periwinkle (a type of violet) does o.k. in this climate and I didn't think so because I never saw mine bloom. I kept finding new plants in the 4 years that I've lived here and figured it was spreading by runners in it's original location and doing the same in the rock garden but never saw flowers till this year. They had been hidden under the mass of leaves the plant put out. I was shocked at how many seeds I found in the dried pods of the old flowers. This is a rather tough plant- scraggly but tough roots and the seeds themselves were practically germinating in front of my eyes. In the future I will have to pay more attention to those plants that look like they're failing.

And then sometimes there's not much to say. On the other hand, sometimes I wonder if I should say what's on my mind. Or just do the easy thing and put up a graphic :)