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D6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER W ednesday February 16, 2000 "Leading Hie Way" RIDLEY A ffordable Elegaria? WINDOWS & DOORS RIDLEY SHOW ROOM 35 Crawford Cr., Campbellville · SA LES · SERVICE F or All Y our W indow, Door, C olum n & M oulding Needs 905-854-2228 Homes & Gardens An Oakville Beaver Feature To reach this section call 845-3824 Fax:337-5567 Demand for annuals has spawned new varieties A n annual plant by definition will last one year in our garden. Some may be tender perennials that bloom early the first year from seed, but will not weather the frost, so are classified as an annual. Geraniums are an example. Because of their transient nature annuals were treated as the least of the flowering plants. In the last few years the trade has recognized that people were buying them for season-long brilliant flowers, diversity of form and growth habits that will cover most garden areas. Another factor is that they are pur chased every year making for a consistent demand. This has led to great searching and breeding programmes for this market. There is a big trend to produce tender perennials even from cutting for th annual market. While trees, shrubs and perennials form the stable areas of the garden, annu als flit in and out each year, to accent and maintain interest as the base plants flower and fade. The demand for annuals is two sided. One group buys similar annuals each year, usually geraniums, impatients, marigolds and zinnias. A second group hunts for newer vari eties of the standard and are willing to try the other lesser known varieties. The sec ond group is expanding as growers pro duce even more and different plants to keep up with competition. As a result the annuals are getting better each year. With such a large selection available some study is needed to select the best for a particular garden. This is done with seed catalogues and one step easier, annual plant catalogues. Dominion Seed House and Hole's have both seeds and plants list ed together. Seeds houses are Stokes, Thompson and Morgan, William Dam and Garde nimport. Once the list of annuals to be grown is decided and those available as plants ordered some will left which have to be grown from seed. Annuals take six to twelve weeks to grow from seed. To have colour in June most seeds should be planted in February or March. This usually requires a light set-up using large vapour lamps or fluorescent lamps over bench or on a stand. They may be started in the house and moved outdoors as seedlings to a cold frame in April as the indoor areas become crowded. The small plants will grow in cool temperatures outdoors but need cov ering during frosty nights. The seeding information is in most cat- JOHN SIMKINS In Your Garden alogues and on the seed package. Start small and see how it goes and increase the numbers each year if interest remains. Indoor gardening requires non-soil mixes or sterilized soil, good ventilation, light and watering. The December issue of Landscape Trades 61 new annuals varieties. Stokes Seeds 14, Dominion Seed House 39. With the exception of the five all American Selection Award Winners there are over hundred new plants plus some older favourites from which to choose. The five A.A.S. plants are worth a try. `Soraya' is the first sunflower ever to win an All American Selection award. It is a branch ing type with the main stem topped by a four-inch flower with a distinctive brown centre and many side shoots with long stems and large flowers. The four-feet tall plant has 20 to 25 flowers and is impres sive in the garden. The numerous long stems make them good cut flowers. There are many other sunflowers listed, from the sixteen-foot tall 'King Kong' to the fuzzy dwarf `Teddy Bear' and the cute `Sunspot' with single orange-yellow flowers on sixinch stems in a four-inch sales pot. Seed indoors in early April or outdoor in late May for August flowers. Children are great sunflower lovers. Good for cot tage as they will have bloom in September. `Cosmic Orange' is the first dwarf in the small daisy flowered cosmos types. These are most compact and earlier blooming than the taller ladybirds. The are colourful, easy to grow plants. The larger flowered taller varieties have fine foliage and long stems giving an airy look to the garden. There are many different coloured and bicoloured varieties. Seed in late March for May planting outdoors. Sources: Stokes, Phone: 1-800-3969328. Dominion Seed House, Phone: 1800 784 3037 or Fax; 1-800-282-5746. Holes, 101 Bellrose Drive, St. Albert, Alberta T8N 8N8 Phone: 403- 419-6800. Seeds o f Distinction, Phone: 416-2553060 Fax:1-800-327-9193. William Dam, Phone 905-628-6641. Thompson and Morgan.Phone: 1-800-274-7333, Masonhogue, Fax or Phone 905-649-3532 (plants). Award-winning lighting around the pool o f Brian and Joanne Ross' G reen Eagle Drive hom e. Local home wins award for `enlightening' ideas A B urlington firm 's w ork on an O akville hom e recently won first prize for the landscape lighting design cate gory at the annual L andscape O ntario Awards o f Excellence. The aw ard w as presented to A dam Irrigation & L ighting for its w ork on the hom e o f B rian and Joanne Ross on G reen Eagle Drive. Landscape O ntario is the provincial H orticultural Trades A ssociation and each year hands out aw ards for the best in landscape construction, m ain tenance, design and lighting am ong its over 1,600 m em ber com panies. In the lighting category, the designs are judged on energy efficiency, ease o f m aintenance and integration with the environm ent and property. A dam Irrigation & L ighting sub m itted two entries and won for their lighting design o f the Ross' home. "We're thrilled to be selected as this year's first prize w inner in lighting, it's truly an honour to be recognized by landscape O ntario," said A1 M arysiuk, presid en t o f A dam Irrig atio n and Lighting. "W e've alw ays prided o u r selves in our unique designs and care ful consideration to detail, and being acknow ledged in this way encourages us to continue to strive for excel lence." T he com pany, based in B urlington and founded in 1989, also designs and installs irrigation system s fo r resid en tial and com m ercial properties, and added landscape lighting to their ser vices several years ago. M arysiuk noted there w as a need for quality o ut door lighting and was determ ined to fill it. O ne o f his largest undertakings w as lighting the clu b h o u se at Glen A b b ey G o lf C o u rse , alth o u g h his client list also in clu d es quality resi dential and retail b u sin ess properties. O ften clients look to us to create atm osphere and d ram a on their prop erties, so we em p lo y the effect o f shadow s and co m b in e th is w ith light ing d istin ctiv e fe a tu re s such as im pressive trees, g ard en s or architec tural features," said M arysiuk. "One o f their biggest co n cern s is 'overlight ing,' m eaning, they d o n 't w ant their property to look like a parking lot. W e're very co gnizant o f this and thus provide ad equate lig h t to prom ote safety and security, w hich is not intru sive or glaring." A dam Irrigation & L ig h tin g pro vides quotes at a nom inal fee and can be reached by calling (905) 332-3721. y~- (k u Let Robiri Garvey and her associates at | e Kitchen Centre ke your dreams a § y with exciting itchenand bath designs.; s » arteraft kitchens* our showroom or call to set up an appointment Visit K I T C H E N C E N T R E 599 Third Line (below Speers Rd.) 827*4611