PAGE 14, WHITBY FREE PRESS, THURSDAY, MAY 17, 1973 SUNLIGHT RESTAURANT 116 DUNAS si. w. 68-7021 PR OC L A M A T ION HORTICULTURAL WEEK Take notice that the Council of the Town of Whitby has proclaimed the period of May 19th to May 26th, as Horticultural Week in and for the Town of Whitby. Dated at Whitby this 17th day of May, A.D., 1973. D. G. Newman, Mayor. ltTC TRA VL Phone. '.23-792 WUTBY MALL -é~ £ US- 723-6792 Growing garden plants is big business By Gordon Wick' Mother's Day sales are a -minor part of Adrian Vandermeer's garden centre business. The major crop he grows is for spring box plant sales. Adrian reminds us that the earliest date for planting in most gardens in our area is the May holiday weekend. This year even that is too early for some tender plants un- less they are covered on the coldest nights. Mr. Vandermeer has been growing box plants for 7 years and this year he has 14,000 square feet of plants in glass and plastic greenhouses. This year he will grow over 35,000 boxes or pots of annuals and perennials to set out on our spring gardens. For Adrian this is a year round job and he employs several other people as well to keep his plants growing slowly, but evenly in cool tempera- tures. The cool temperatures produce stocky plants which set out very well into the cool garden soil and make a good quick start. The very advanced plants in full bloom often set back and then take longer to come back into bloom. A very wide variety of plants are grown from top quality seeds - both annuals and perennials and some seeds are started as early as Dec. 28th to be ready to set into your garden in May. Over 4 thousand cuttings are taken. to produce the individual pots of geraniums, fushias, and ivys. As well as selling the plants from his own location on the Whitby Pickering Town Line, Adrian is a wholesale grower and supplies 5 local garden centres and 5 or 6 clubs and churches with the plants they sell as fund raising projects. In addition to the about 40 varieties of petunias, Adrian has over 60 other different ainnuals and peren- nials to chose from. To give your vegetable garden an early start you can choose from boxes of 5 varieties of tomatoes, cabbage, red cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, eggplants, sweet and hot peppers, and spanish onions. The variety of plants available seems almost end- less -- Petunias alone provide us with a palette of colours to make a garden masterpiece. They come in an exciting range of shades including combination . . . and with single or double blooms in sizes from small to large -- The small flowered or "multiflora" varie- ty produce many blooms and make a good mass of colour and the larger "grandiflora" variety has larger showing individual blooms. Most of the older flower and vegetable varieties have been replaced with the new FI Hybrid varieties which are superior in many ways. In vegetables the hybrids produce much heavier yields over a larger period and in most instances earlier crops are also a bonus. The hybrids are also in many cases heaithier and more disease resistant. After planting be sure to give the soil a good drenching. Check your garden soil every week if you haven't had a good soaking rain. Then apply a good inch of water; it takes that much to soak the soil to a depth of 6 inches. Heavy soakings at weekly intervals are better than many light sprink- lings. Do not wet the foliage any more than necessary. Any kind of fertilizer can be used as long as you follow instructions and work solid types into the soil. Do not use more fertilizer than the label recom- mends or you may burn the plants or the roots. A soil high in organic matter, lime and fertilizer is excellent for almost any plant. Apply 2 inches of peat moss or other organic matter over the soil and rototill or spade it into the top 6 inches along with your fertilizer. In your vegetable garden you can eliminate the chore of weeding by using a 3 inch mulch, or by applying black plastic over the soil. This keeps weeds from growing and also gives a cooler soil -- more active rooting. You can plant and water through the mulch if you wish. Today many people live in apartments or small homes and need to grow in containers. Almost all homes also have masonry planters or garden beds overwater. Chose plants geared to the location -- or you could use plants in pots and when flowers fade sub- stitute new pots so the planter is always neat and colourful. alongside the house. These often don't look as well as they should. To keep plants healthy and growing, drainage must be provided to prevent roots from rot- ting. Bore holes in the bottom of the containers or WE ARE CHANGING OUR LOCATION AND EX- PANDING. OUR NEW NAME WILL BE 'DUNCAN TRAVEL'. WE ARE NOW UPSTAIRS AND DOWN- STAIRS IN THE WHITBY MALL. FOR ALL 73 BRIDES - FREE TRIP TO NASSAU! If you are a winner, just fill out coupon, with name, address at either of the location's. DRAW WILL BE MADE NEXT MONTH WHITBY MALL MW 74