 | | Above, Kurt Kuehlein’s penthouse garden (photo by Kurt), and the cover of my book (Author photo). Below, a couple of shots of the American chestnut (Castanea dentata) including the disease that has killed virtually all of them in eastern North America. Photos by The American Chestnut Foundation. |  |  In mid January Kurt Kuehlein in Scarborough Ontario wrote with this interesting question. “Two years ago we moved into an Apartment on Livingston Road in Scarborough and were fortunate to get a penthouse suite. It is great to overlook part of west Guildwood Village and also part of the lake. There is one big problem. We get tremendous winds from time to time and I don't know what kind of plants or shrubs will stand up to this. In 2006 we have added some colour to the big patio using geraniums and pansies. This was not bad and the plants stood up to the winds pretty well. I do, however, have some other ideas. I would like to purchase some fair size planters like 3x3 or 4x4 or larger to make the patio more appealing. Where can I get information on container planting and what kind of flowering plants and or shrubs would be suitable. Can you help? Thank you very much.”
I said it was an interesting question because it really is right down my alley, so to speak. In the mid 70s I wrote a book “Gardening Off The Ground” for Dent publishing, and in it I expounded on a number of previously unexplored theories about growing plants in containers of widely varying types on balconies, decks and penthouses. Particularly I included reference to the then still new Canadian Plant Hardiness Zone Map developed by Ag Canada in Ottawa, and introduced just in 1967. Thus readers had an idea of what plants would be hardiest for growing in their up-high containers.
By the early 90s the book was basically out of print, and Dent publishing was gone from the scene. I decided to update the book completely and publish the new version myself. That is the book I have been selling from my various programmes for the last ten years. The new version had additional content, particularly on ponds and water gardens for off-ground gardens, as well as many of the newer cultivars that were introduced in over 20 years. It also had six pages of colour photos of balcony gardens and plants, as well as a number of lists of annual, perennials, evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs suitable for specific growing (i.e. sun, shade etc.).
Presently I am down to just one (slightly damaged) book but it just may be that I can find a few more copies while I am in Toronto during March. I’ll report that when and if it happens.
Judging from looking at your photo of your Penthouse outdoor area, one of the items you could likely do with is some well-supported screening which ideally would have holes or other openings in it to allow some air (wind) and light to pass through but would protect the plants just a little.
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One of last year’s issues of the SONGNEWS (the newsletter of the Society of Ontario Nut Growers) contained an article by Society treasurer, Ernie Grimmo of the Grimo Nut Nursery, 979 Lakeshore Road in Niagara-on-the-Lake ( nutrees@grimonut.com ), about the progress in research to develop an immune American chestnut (Castanea dentata) tree. Virtually all of the older trees have succumbed to chestnut blight (Cryphionectria parasitica) in the past 100 years. Here is a reprint of that article:
“A 15 year culmination of effort has resulted in the first blight immune American chestnut. Researchers at Syra-cuse University led by Dr. Charles Maynard and Dr. William Powell have successfully produced a transgenic American chestnut described as being ten times more resistant to chestnut blight than the most resistant Oriental chestnut. Tests still have to be conducted to prove the resistance genes will work and USDA and other government agencies have to be satisfied that the genetic change is acceptable environmentally and otherwise.
“The ramifications of this development are enormous. Except for a small packet of genes, the tree is unchanged from its original species. Not only was it one of the most successful and important timber trees in Eastern North America; until 100 years ago, it provided humans, animal husbandry and wildlife with its annual crop of nutritious nuts. The American chestnut grew to gigantic size. It was described as the sequoia of the east. In pioneer times it was common to find trees 30 metres (100 feet) tall and more than two metres (7 feet) in diameter. It dominated the eastern Appalachian forests and was native in the sandy plains of southern Ontario as far north as Georgian Bay. Scattered remnant trees that are out of the chestnut-blight-prone regions can be found in far flung locations including Ottawa, Montreal, Sault Ste. Marie and Halifax to name a few.
“One hundred years ago nothing could be done to stem the devastation that took place. Chestnut blight (Cryphionectria parasitica) was first discovered and identified in a New York City park. The tree had very little resistance to this disease unlike the Asian species which developed resistance through thousands of years of evolution. By 1940, three and a half billion American chestnuts had perished. The disease finally reached Maine and Southern Ontario in the north and Georgia at the southern end of the range completing its destruction. The devastation was complete. These majestic trees were reduced to ghostly rot resistant stumps which for years stubbornly sent up suckers that were in turn encircled by blight and killed.
“No other chestnut species matched it for hardiness and great tree size. Even hybrids with Oriental chestnuts were unable to grow more than 60 feet tall. Unless the tree overtops the other forest trees in its native area, it would not be able to return to its former dominance. It is imperative that the tree is maintained almost unchanged. In Meadowview, West Virginia, The American Chestnut Foundation is conducting a back-cross breeding project. Its objective is to start with an American x Oriental chestnut hybrid with high blight resistance and back-cross it to an-other American chestnut. By testing for blight resistance and back-crossing the best off-spring with other American chestnut trees for several generations, it is hoped that the point could be reached where 96% of the genes are American chestnut. At this point the tree will be essentially American chestnut with all of the genes including the blight resistance genes needed to make it successful in the forest again. This project is nearing its goal also.
“In Ontario, the Canadian Chestnut Council in a project with the University of Guelph at Simcoe Station is also using a back-cross technique hopefully to develop a blight resistant Canadian adapted American chestnut. Several generations of crosses are planned. At our summer meeting, we visited Onandaga Farms which is part of the Tim Horton Foundation where donated land is used for the out-planting of their crosses. We wish them success in this venture and follow it with interest.”
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by Art Drysdale
