Eugene Schieffelin lived in New York City in 1890. He was a fan of Shakespeare and tried to introduce every bird species mentioned in a play to North America. Shakespeare mentioned the European Starling once, but thanks to Schieffelin it is an invasive pest across North America. It乌鸦传媒檚 hard to believe that two hundred years later that BC gardeners would still be harboring Imperialist tendencies, but we are, and it乌鸦传媒檚 draining our aquifers.

READ MORE: Naturewise:

I乌鸦传媒檝e often wondered why, if the Okangan lakes were from snowmelt, they were so much warmer than my high Cascade lakes (where only the Polar Bear Club would enjoy immersing more than their toes). The answer is that our lakes are very deep, and the transit time for Okanagan Lake is 60 years. You can think of this as the average time a H鈧侽 molecule takes to travel from one end to the other but it is better to think of it like a bathtub: if you emptied the Okanagan Lake today, it would take 60 years to fill it back up. This gives the water time to warm up for swimming, but it also gives us an unrealistic view of the abundance of water. We have aquifers, of unknown size, that we are draining at an unknown rate, and a reservoir which looks abundant, but is filled by a mere trickle and could be easily emptied by mismanagement.

READ MORE: Replace your lawn with Okanagan native plants

The category 乌鸦传媒淩esidential Outdoors乌鸦传媒� uses 24 per cent of our freshwater. Why are we using so much water for inedible plants? Blame it on English Imperialism. When we think of a 乌鸦传媒渇lower garden乌鸦传媒�, our ideal is the English Garden: Begonias, Chrysanthemum, Hydrangea, Impatiens, Pansies, Petunia, Tulips and Violets. These plants became common because they did well in British environment.

Let乌鸦传媒檚 compare growing conditions in England to the Okanagan.

• The average rainfall in England is 70-100 cm annually. The rainfall in the Okanagan is 35 cm. The Koppen climate classification for Britain is temperate oceanic climate. Lots of rain and cool weather which makes water last in damp soil.
• In the Okanagan we have winter temperatures down to -15 C, summer temperatures up to 30 C and 35 cm of rainfall. We have a cold semi-arid climate (s

It乌鸦传媒檚 hard to believe you could grow anything outdoors in the Okanagan that you admire in Shakespeares乌鸦传媒� Jolly Old England. How do we do it?

When I was five I enjoyed gardening. I would pick flowers by snapping stems, mostly dandelions, tiny daisies, and clover. I would 乌鸦传媒減lant乌鸦传媒� them by digging holes and pressing the dirt down so they stood up, then water them. Voila! I乌鸦传媒檓 gardening!

Caption: Audrey Wagner乌鸦传媒檚 garden in Kelowna乌鸦传媒檚 South Slopes area. First published in 乌鸦传媒

Flats of cultivars, purchased at Rona, Walmart and Canadian Tire are a slightly more sophisticated version of my short term garden. The plants are lovely and already in bloom. You take them home and water enough to keep them alive. You get instant results and you can design your garden around plants totally unsuitable for our local climate. Sophisticated gardeners take this a step further, amending soil, adding fertiliser and changing the pH, rather choosing and tending plants native to our Okanagan soil.

Where can you get started on native plants?

For inspiration I recommend Larry van Kampen乌鸦传媒檚

Missed last week乌鸦传媒檚 column?

Dyer: DIY energy audit with solar bonus material

About Kristy Dyer:

Kristy Dyer has a background in art and physics and consulted for Silicon Valley clean energy firms before moving (happily!) to sunny Penticton. Comments to Kristy.Dyer+BP@gmail.com

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