weeping willow you can grow here!
By Sheldon Falk
Yes, there is a
Diane grew up in the
greenhouse among the flow- ers. Now her sons are helping carry on the family tradition.
now come full circle back to growing a full line of annual, perennial, vege- table and herb plants. Edible plants and growing your own food is such a strong trend now, that we have recently focused on producing a wide variety that are easy to grow and can be a part of your own every day consumption, says Diane. “Come in and see what we have to offer.” She adds, “Red Valley is happy to be part of the St. Mary's Road greenhouse strip.” In 2014, the company opened a
second location at 3270 Wilkes Ave. to serve the growing market in Charles- wood and the southwest end of the city. This is a seasonal operation but it carries all the variety of the St. Mary’s store. Red Valley Plant Market is very
proud of their original roots and look forward to a bright future. “We have the knowledge and wisdom gained from our past and the youth and energy to move the greenhouse into the future,” declares Diane, who says that the company is looking at aggressive growth. “We continue to take pride in growing quality plants, locally grown trees and shrubs and Manitoba-hardy perennials.” She smiles. “We believe we have the
greenest thumbs in the Red valley,” she says. Not a bad slogan for this ambi- tious, old, but still young, family busi- ness. x
localgardener.net
A
s a prairie boy, travelling to the West Coast was
always an adventure — there was so
much eye candy for a horticulturist! My eyes dried out staring at all the lush trees and shrubs in the Fraser Valley. The magnificent weeping willows always caught my attention with their graceful branches cascad- ing over the streams and lakes. Back at home it was disappointing to see our five- to seven-meter-tall versions, always with frost damaged branches near the top, which diminished the majestic effect. A glimmer of hope came to me
in the mail one day as I looked lust- fully on an apparently hardy weeping willow growing in Alberta. It origi- nated from Harbin, a city in north- ern China near the Russian border. An agricultural businessmen, who worked with beef and had made 28 trips to the region, brought this vari- ety of Salix babylonica to Canada to test it out. The price seemed a bit high for an experiment, but the passion to see that tree in my yard overcame my fiscal restraint. That was 17 years ago. The two trees
I purchased are now gracing our pond at 12 by 10 meters with an 18-inch caliper;
they are beautiful, seedless
and fully hardy into zone 2b. ‘Lace Weeping Willow’ was named after its fine branches resembling round shoe laces. The name also reflects its classy and elegant appearance. The willow seems right at home here
in the Red River Valley. Our heavy and often wet soils fuel its strong growth, though it will slow down on high and dry ground and severely alkaline soil. It has excellent disease resistance and throughout the growing season, even in hot and humid years has a notice- ably cleaner leaf than other varieties of weeping willows. It leafs out early and retains them until Halloween, ending the season with solid gold fall colour. We consider this willow an exotic
beauty and it is our go-to tree in damp, low areas. It even grows well in sites exposed to the bald prairie winds. It is our most highly-demanded tree, with thousands sprinkled across southeast Manitoba; there are always plenty available at Falk Nurseries! x Sheldon Falk, is the owner of Falk Nurseries and an avid tree lover.
Fall 2016 • 73
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