The 2010 Prairie Garden:
Annuals and Biennials

is now available in bookstores and garden centres across the Prairies and here! 

“The feel of earth, the fresh scent of soil and the unmistakable fragrance of a flower inspires gardeners, new and experienced, with the passion to nurture their own piece of earth.” - Carla Hrycyna, 2010 Guest Editor for The Prairie Garden, Annuals & Biennials.

Carla is president and co-owner of St. Mary’s Nursery & Garden Centre Ltd.  Fifteen years of retail greenhouse management (annual, perennial and tropical plants) blends nicely with her natural flair for landscape design.  Carla is also the primary grower for St. Mary’s Nursery, instilling the “sown and grown by St. Mary’s” philosophy.

The Prairie Garden editorial committee embraced the theme of Annuals and Biennials in response to the overwhelming number of new plant selections being introduced to the market and a growing interest in their many uses.  Selecting photos for the 32 page colour section (3.76 MB) was a very difficult task due to the vast number of exciting possibilities.

A ‘true’ Annual is one that starts from seed, grows, flowers, and produces seed, then dies, all in a single season.  Many plants today, however, are started commercially and may not experience the full cycle in our northern climate.  As well, there is an increasingly popular grassroots movement of starting seeds at home. Currently there is an increasing use of perennials, treated as annual in our temperate zone.  Whether you are a seed saver or your nurseries’ favourite client, the 2010 edition of The Prairie Garden “Annuals and Biennials” will offer you a tremendous selection of plants with a wide range of colours, textures, and sizes.  All will inspire gardening newcomers or the most experienced ‘green thumbs’.

Contributing prairie authors reveal the secrets to understanding the many annual and biennial options for your garden.  A few examples include Dr. Carla Zelmer’s article on the miracle of how seeds develop; specialty articles such as Dorothy Dobbie’s suggestions for annual shade plants; and John Rempel’s secrets for growing Dahlias on the Prairies.  Dr. Bob Bors, Plant Sciences Department at the University of Saskatchewan, describes his latest research in hybridizing exciting new Coleus varieties for the Canadian market and beyond.  These articles and many others will add to the gardener’s knowledge and appreciation of the many new plant introductions that have appeared on the gardening scene in recent years. 

General article topics range from growing the shade-tolerant Hellebore to understanding the challenges that face pine and cedar trees and shrubs on the Prairies and include a fascinating story about the gardens of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.  Fifty years ago, the Prairie Garden had an article about the early beginnings of the International Peace Garden.  In our 2010 issue, Douglas Hevenor, CEO of the Peace Garden, describes the recent development of the new Garden Complex in detail as well as the related expansion of the Interpretive Centre and construction of a Conservatory.

The 2010 Prairie Garden – Annuals and Biennials will entertain, enlighten and brighten the garden plans of Prairie gardeners and homeowners alike. The size of the book makes it a great gift to mail at any time of the year.

Click here for a sample 14 of the 32 colour pages
as an Acrobat Reader document (3.76 MB)