Nobleton Notes
Don't pick trilliums
By Angie Maccarone (905) 859-5174

Horticulture

"I never knew the charm of spring. I never met it face to face. I never knew my heart could sing. I never felt a warm embrace. Till April in Paris, chestnuts in blossom . . ."

Well we do know the charm of spring, with its welcome warm embrace and although our chestnuts are not yet in blossom, the woods all around us are starting to show drifts of bloodroots (sanguinaria canadensis) and trilliums; a sure sign of April in York Region.

Forty to 50 species of trilliums, all members of the lilaceae family, are found in the temperate regions of North America and Asia. In our area, the white grandiflorum (large flowered), which turns pink as it ages, is the most common, along with less often seen dark wine red variety (t.erectum) sometimes called the wake robin, a name once applied to all trilliums.

The small Canadian population of drooping trilliums (t. flexipes) is native to Southern Ontario as well, and strictly protected by law. The western trillium (t. ovatum), native to British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, is also protected by law. The painted lady variety (t.undulatum), which likes a highly acid soil, is found in natural evergreen forests.

Trilliums - "tri" from the Latin for three (three petals three sepals/bracts, three leaves) and "lilium" Latin for lily, were so named by Swedish botanist Linnaeus, father of botanical names.

Trillium seeds have a tiny fleshy part, much sought after by ants and mice who carry the seed off to their underground homes, eat the fleshy cover and discard the remainder which can germinate producing a tiny bulblet that in two to four years will result in a new plant.

Please do not pick trilliums, for their leaves (only an inch below the flowers) are always taken too and, the plant totally depends on these three leaves to produce the food which sustains and regenerates its bulb. The bulb of the picked trillium usually dies. If on the off chance it lives, it takes several years to regrow.

We need to make our children and young people aware of this situation.

I know there seems to be thousands of these lovely spring flowers, but once there were tens of thousands of bison and passenger pigeons in North America. In less than 150 years, one species was brought to the brink of extinction and the other was completely wiped out.

Let's learn from history and not repeat it.

Even though there aren't flowers everywhere yet, and a few patches of ice and snow are still around, spring seems to have arrived at long last.

I've been out digging in my Tottenham area garden again. My soil is quite sandy and dries out quickly, allowing me to dig from the house down to the midway point of my backyard. From there, my small property slopes sightly down to a tiny stream and the ground here is quite wet and as of yet undiggable. A rule of thumb is to take a handful of soil and squeeze it. If it falls apart when you open your hand the soil from where took the sample may be dug but if it remains a solid lump then the soil there is too wet to be dug. Planting in wet ground allows the soil to compact around the plant's roots preventing them from getting oxygen and the plant smothers (plants that normally grow in wet conditions are programmed to handle this problem).

Some gardeners have already started to uncover the roses they hilled up last fall, but I think we could have some cold nights and frosts which would damage the tender new growth and set the plants back considerably, so I don't uncover mine until early May.

This is a good time to plant shrubs and trees. Most of these plants already growing, set buds late last summer so they won't be harmed by unexpected frosts.

Pansies may also be planted in the ground or in containers in a sunny location. Frost may damage fully out blooms, but tight buds will survive. Pansies need to be deadheaded almost daily to keep new blooms coming and their soil should be kept damp (not soggy).

It is still much too soon to plant annuals, and many seeds outdoors even though they are already for sale in supermarkets and some garden centres. There are usually no returns or refunds if they are frost killed.

Now is the time to lightly dress asparagus and rhubarb with compost or composted cattle manure and spread compost or composted cattle or horse manure on vegetable gardens to be worked in as soon as the ground is diggable.

Nobleton Lions

The Nobleton Lions Club annual draw and fund-raising gala is being held June 14 this year, but the extra early-bird draw, new this year, is fast approaching.

The early-bird prize draw will be held May 19, for a cash prize of $1,000. Tickets must be purchased by May 16 to be eligible. The draw itself has changed from the elimination type format. This means that unless you've already won some cash, you're in the draw and eligible for the big prizes right to the very end. This year the ticket price has dropped to $40, and tickets are now for a single person, not a couple, so singles pay less, and a couple buying two tickets will have two chances at the cash prizes, which total more than $9,000. Tickets are now available from local businesses, and from Lions members, often at the Nobleton Plaza.

Where else can you have an exciting night out, not have to travel too far, while enjoying a hot dinner, dancing to DJ music, cash bar, and perhaps even pick up a bargain at the silent auction - all for $40 per person? This event is the major fund raiser for the club, and proceeds from the event go to sponsor numerous organizations in and around town. Your support is greatly appreciated by the Lions, and those who we support, in keeping with our motto, "We Serve."

For information on tickets, or on the event, please call Glen Gauslin at (905) 859-4456, or Manny Pereira at (905) 859-1331.

Nobleton United Church

This Sunday (May 4) the congregation of Nobleton United Church will travel to Kleinburg United Church to celebrate together their anniversary. The service will be at 9:30 a.m., and the guest speaker will be H. Mizuno who has made a number of trips to Guatemala as a volunteer with the organization, Hearts and Hands.

Kleinburg United Church is at 10418 Islington Ave. in Kleinburg.

Our spring luncheon is May 7, at 12:30 p.m. This year, we welcome Dr. Lois Wilson, former moderator of the United Church of Canada. She is a very uplifting speaker, with a very rich background, including serving in the Canadian Senate and on the World Council of Churches. Tickets are on sale now at $12 each. For tickets, call Mary at (905) 859- 0448 or Helen at (905) 859- 0744.

St. Mary annual

pasta night

Our annual pasta night is to be held May 7. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12. It is to be held at the Nobleton Community Town Hall on Old King Road, starting at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available after mass.

Nobleton seniors' activities

The winners of the April 22 evening euchre were (for the women) Doris Clarkson, Ethel Ireland, Gwen Potter, (for the men) Walter Bell, Paula Latanville and Walter Hill. The most lone hands were played by Walter Bell. The winners of the lucky draw were John Burbridge, Walter Bell and Bill Groombridge.

May 6 is our trip to Drayton. The bus will load at the Senior's residence at 10 a.m. and at the Nobleton Arena at 10:15 a.m. We will play bid euchre May 6 at 7:30 p.m.