Gwen Steele

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Silken strands attached to milkweed seeds.

Steele: Seasonal changes make gardening a delight

I always look forward to the quieter time of reading and making plans for next gardening season.

Silken strands attached to milkweed seeds.
Pumpkins can be cut up and added to the compost, or tossed into your green recycling bin.

Steele: Xeriscape garden perfect place to grow vegetables

To make a water-wise vegetable garden you would follow the same principles/method used for all xeriscape landscapes.

Pumpkins can be cut up and added to the compost, or tossed into your green recycling bin.
Sedum ‘Autumn Fire,’ Stella d’Oro daylily and Aster frikartii at unH2O Xeriscape Garden.

Steele: Colourful, fall blooming xeriscape plants at H2O

While autumn officially began Sept. 22, with any luck we will have another month to enjoy fall colours in the garden.

Sedum ‘Autumn Fire,’ Stella d’Oro daylily and Aster frikartii at unH2O Xeriscape Garden.
Ornamental grasses are easy-care, deer-proof and especially spectacular in the autumn sunshine.

Steele: Lawn alternative fends off deer

Many gardeners in the Okanagan have visits from deer, often with distressing results when prize plants become tasty forage.

Ornamental grasses are easy-care, deer-proof and especially spectacular in the autumn sunshine.
Dwarf burning bush (Euonymous alatus ‘Compactus’)

Steele: Replace lawn with shrubbery

An interesting ‘secret garden’ can be made with meandering pathways through large shrubs and small trees to a secluded sitting area.

Dwarf burning bush (Euonymous alatus ‘Compactus’)
Green foliage of dwarf burning bush (Euonymous alatus ‘Compactus’) turns flame red in the fall.

Steele: Replacing lawn with a mixed shrubbery

Capital News gardening columnist Gwen Steele offers alternatives to grass to help make your yard more attractive.

Green foliage of dwarf burning bush (Euonymous alatus ‘Compactus’) turns flame red in the fall.
Late in May a fragrant Mock Orange shrub (Philadelphus lewisii) blooms in the unH2O Xeriscape Garden. Yellow brown-eyed susans (Gaillardia aristata) and blue showy asters (Aster conspicuus) will continue blooming until late fall.

Steele: Replace your lawn with Okanagan native plants

Find areas in the wild that have similar conditions to your garden and see what is growing there.

Late in May a fragrant Mock Orange shrub (Philadelphus lewisii) blooms in the unH2O Xeriscape Garden. Yellow brown-eyed susans (Gaillardia aristata) and blue showy asters (Aster conspicuus) will continue blooming until late fall.
Gwen Steele, standing on the edge of the cactus garden at the Summerland Ornamental Gardens Xeriscape Demonstration Garden, leads her guided tour during the experimental farm/garden centennial celebrations.

Steele: Summerland research farm/gardens celebrate centennial

The Okanagan celebration was modelled on the historic farm picnics which happened annually from the 1920s to the 1950s.

Gwen Steele, standing on the edge of the cactus garden at the Summerland Ornamental Gardens Xeriscape Demonstration Garden, leads her guided tour during the experimental farm/garden centennial celebrations.
In keeping with the times, the Welcome Garden, planted three years ago, demonstrates the use of bold perennials, ornamental grasses and flowering shrubs to create three seasons of interest in a wide border adjacent to a parking area at the Summerland Ornamental Gardens.

Steele: Centennial celebration for Summerland Ornamental Gardens

Capital News columnist says ornamental gardens hold a special place in her life.

In keeping with the times, the Welcome Garden, planted three years ago, demonstrates the use of bold perennials, ornamental grasses and flowering shrubs to create three seasons of interest in a wide border adjacent to a parking area at the Summerland Ornamental Gardens.
Sedums and sempervivums (hens and chicks), with blue fescue grass and Artemesia ‘Silver Mound' at the unH2O Xeriscape Garden in Kelowna.

Steele: Learn to be more water-wise, in Kelowna

A few easy maintenance tips will give you optimum performance from your water-wise plants.

Sedums and sempervivums (hens and chicks), with blue fescue grass and Artemesia ‘Silver Mound' at the unH2O Xeriscape Garden in Kelowna.
Wayne Goreski's front yard, six years after xeriscaping it.

Steele: Happy xeriscape garden convert

"I sold my lawn mower and weed eater. I disconnected the irrigation system…and all the rest is reduced flow or drip irrigated."

Wayne Goreski's front yard, six years after xeriscaping it.
‘Ivory Queen’ Turkestan onion (Allium karataviense) has beautiful, slate blue leaves, edged in burgundy for several weeks before blooming at the end of April. It’s a show stopper at the unH2O Rock Garden before going dormant for summer.

Steele: Very drought tolerant garden bulbs

Ornamental onions are excellent water-wise, deer-proof plants says Capital News gardening columnist Gwen Steele.

‘Ivory Queen’ Turkestan onion (Allium karataviense) has beautiful, slate blue leaves, edged in burgundy for several weeks before blooming at the end of April. It’s a show stopper at the unH2O Rock Garden before going dormant for summer.
Mulched with GlenGrow, Achillea ‘Moonshine’ (yarrow) and Salvia ‘Caradonna,’ thrive in the unH2O Butterfly Garden with 50 per cent less water than if the garden soil was bare.

Steele: Mulch helps gardeners conserve water

Mulch acts as a blanket, holding in moisture and reducing weed growth. It prevents a hard crust from forming on the soil surface.

Mulched with GlenGrow, Achillea ‘Moonshine’ (yarrow) and Salvia ‘Caradonna,’ thrive in the unH2O Butterfly Garden with 50 per cent less water than if the garden soil was bare.
Eriophyllum lanatum (common woolly sunflower) is in the Okanagan Xeriscape Association plant database. It attracts pollinators, blooms in May and June, is extremely drought tolerant and has attractive silver foliage.

Steele: Website offers plant options

Use the Okanagan Xeriscape Association plant database at okanaganxeriscape.org.

Eriophyllum lanatum (common woolly sunflower) is in the Okanagan Xeriscape Association plant database. It attracts pollinators, blooms in May and June, is extremely drought tolerant and has attractive silver foliage.
Lavender blooms in June and late August accompanied by summer-long blooms of Coreopsis ‘Golden Gain. Delospermum cooperi has fuchsia pink flowers from June to frost in the Mediterranean Garden at the unH2O Xeriscape Garden.

Steele: Library to host free xeriscape forum

Amazingly, there were already about 35 plant species blooming around Kelowna and in the Okanagan.

Lavender blooms in June and late August accompanied by summer-long blooms of Coreopsis ‘Golden Gain. Delospermum cooperi has fuchsia pink flowers from June to frost in the Mediterranean Garden at the unH2O Xeriscape Garden.
Alpine Marguerite daisy and Russian stonecrop blooming beneath the Make Water Work sign in the unH2O Rock Garden.

Steele: Gardening tips offered at unH2O gardens May 17

Learn attributes of plants that are in bloom in the five theme gardens and a few tips on plant maintenance.

Alpine Marguerite daisy and Russian stonecrop blooming beneath the Make Water Work sign in the unH2O Rock Garden.

Steele: Some timely tips for putting plants in the ground

The following is information I put together years ago for my nursery customers and now use for my classes.

Steele: Some timely tips for putting plants in the ground

The following is information I put together years ago for my nursery customers and now use for my classes.

Volunteers setting out plants for the Okanagan Xeriscape Association Plant Sale in the unH2O Xeriscape Demonstration Garden, in front of the H2O Aquatic Centre. The annual plan sale begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

Steele: Great chance to buy plants

Two major garden plant sales take place in Kelowna on Saturday, put on by Kelowna Garden Club and Okanagan Xeriscape Association.

Volunteers setting out plants for the Okanagan Xeriscape Association Plant Sale in the unH2O Xeriscape Demonstration Garden, in front of the H2O Aquatic Centre. The annual plan sale begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
Okanagan sunflowers are abundant on the hillsides.

Steele: Enjoying Okanagan’s natural beauty

April 22 is Earth Day, a perfect time in Kelowna to reflect on how best we can be stewards of this land for future generations.

Okanagan sunflowers are abundant on the hillsides.