What did people buy at garden centres in 2023 and what plants will people love in 2024? Those are burning questions for garden writers and gardeners. We already know that hydrangeas are wildly popular. But what else piques our interest?
When I talked to independent garden centre retailers in fall about some of the best high demand plants in 2023, specific types of plants came up in the conversations again and again. One of them is Marmalade Dream Rose. Local gardeners are in love with Marmalade Dream in no small part because it was bred and developed right here in Manitoba by rose breeder Charles Pilgrim.
Introduced in spring 2022, Marmalade Dream rose has peachy-orange flowers with a glowing yellow centre, glossy disease-resistant foliage, and a high petal count in the range of 35 to 40 petals. Pilgrim is delighted by the response to his rose. “My goal was to breed a rose that has exceptional winter hardiness as well as good architecture even when it is not in bloom,” says Pilgrim. Jeffries Nurseries, Portage la Prairie, which was instrumental in helping to bring Marmalade Dream to the marketplace has also supplied a quantity of Marmalade Dream roses to Bailey Nurseries in Minnesota. Jeffries Nurseries is currently evaluating another rose bred by Pilgrim — a single flowered white rose that Pilgrim has unofficially named White Butterfly.
“People were after roses this year just for colour and performance in the garden,” says Monique Rampton, co-owner of Morden Nurseries and Garden Centre. Marmalade Dream was a good seller this year, says Rampton, as was Campfire Rose, a tri-coloured rose which came out of the Morden Research Station rose breeding program. “Both these varieties perform really well and keep blooming.”
Geraniums were hugely popular in 2023, says France Barrett who is one of the growers at Schriemer’s Market Centre, East Saint Paul. “This year everyone wanted the colour orange. Geranium Savannah Oh so Orange from Dummen Orange is so beautiful. I grew this variety in my own garden,” says Barrett, who also ordered 800 Savannah Oh so Orange geraniums for Schriemer’s for spring 2024.
Coleus continues to be one of the most popular annual foliage plants, says Barrett. “Schriemers offered 48 different varieties in 2023 and one of the top selling varieties was the Coleus ColorBlaze series from Proven Winners. You can put them anywhere — sun or shade. You don’t need to water them like crazy and they still look great in September.” ColorBlaze Cherry Drop and ColorBlaze MiniMe are new for 2024. Two customer favourites are Coleus Dragon Heart and Coleus Ruby Punch, says Barrett, and both will be available in spring 2024.
“Sumka’s is well-known for having a lot of coleus,” says MaryAnn Sumka, Sumka Brothers Greenhouses, “and there is a new coleus series called Down Town that we are excited about.” Varieties in this new series from Dummen Orange are named after popular downtowns in the U.S. “The varieties are a bit more compact plus they grow in both sun and shade and are great accents in mixed containers,” says Sumka. There are now eight varieties in the series which offers a small, serrated leaf shape. Down Town Greenville and Down Town Nashville are recent additions. This is a series with something for everyone. My pick is Down Town Vegas Neon which lives up to its name with vibrant pink-magenta colour.
“Everyone has their favourite petunia,” says Sumka, “and although Proven Winners petunias cost more now because they must be sold in a Proven Winners pot, the Supertunia Vista series is a customer favourite. It is consistent, you can mix and match all the varieties in the series, and one doesn’t overpower the other. People stick with what they know works and delivers.” Indeed, Supertunia Vista is immensely popular because they produce masses of flowers and are heat tolerant.
Proven Winners has introduced a collection of 10 new Supertunia Mini Vista. One of the varieties that Tyler Whitley, Red Valley Plant Market, will be growing for next spring is Supertunia Mini Vista Ultramarine which has rich royal purple flowers.
Dahlias continue to be a popular favourite. If you happened to be listening to the many visitors to Anthony Steffes’ north Winnipeg garden in July when it was featured on the Manitoba Master Gardener Association’s annual garden tour, you would have heard countless sighs of envy and admiration for his utterly beautiful collection of dahlias. Sheer perfection. Gardeners desire dahlias but not every gardener wants to start their own dahlia tubers at home. The Mystic Dahlias Collection by New Zealand breeder Keith Hammett is a ready-to-plant dahlia series that keeps growing in popularity, says Susan Jensen Stubbe, Jensen Nursery. Mystic dahlias have glossy mahogany-black foliage. “The Venti and Hypnotica dahlia series are also really popular. They are very disease-free and long-blooming.”
Jensen Stubbe also saw high demand this year for larger tropical plants such as Alocasia and Colocasia, both commonly known as elephant ears. There was also high demand for the Kimberly Queen fern. “Kimberley Queen ferns sell out really fast. We’re always trying to bring in more to meet demand. Kimberly Queen ferns are a little more upright than the Boston fern,” says Jensen Stubbe.
Ready-made hanging baskets and containers saw a lot of love this year, says Arielle DeCraene, Glenlea Greenhouses. “They are ready to display without the need for customers to make the tough decisions on what plants to put together for their space. With more people returning to the office and travelling more, DeCraene saw more demand for instant gardens. DeCraene also says that two of the most popular plants continue to be Proven Winner Supertunias and Proven Winners Superbells. Glimmer Double Impatiens was also an exciting addition, she says. “The rose-like double blooms look great in baskets and containers.” Glimmer Double Impatiens is highly resistant to downy mildew, a destructive disease.
“The hot item for 2024 is going to be the new PassionFruit Lantana,” predicts DeCraene. This new lantana is a trailing, scented variety with hot pink and yellow blooms that never cycle out of colour. Lantana has been a popular annual every spring but new introductions such as Shamrock Red and PassionFruit take flower power to a new level. Drought tolerant annuals proved their worth in the hot summer of 2023 and there is no going back.
The past year also saw increased demand for Mandevilla and Dipladenia hybrids. Dipladenia is in the Mandevilla family, but it has a bushier growth habit. Nothing is indestructible, of course, but Dipladenia comes close. Pests and disease are not a problem, and the plants bloom non-stop from spring through fall. Glenlea Greenhouses plans to offer Coral Orange Sunrise Dipladenia in spring 2024. “It adds a tropical flare to the dipladenia collection,” says DeCraene. Coral Orange Sunrise can be planted in containers or in the ground. The height ranges from 12 to 60 inches (30-152 cm). A trellis is required.
What were your favourite plants in 2023?
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Colleen Zacharias Gardening columnist
Colleen Zacharias writes about many aspects of gardening including trends, plant recommendations, and how-to information that is uniquely relevant to Prairie gardeners.
The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.
“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.
The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.
However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”
Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.
“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.
“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”
The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.
At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.
A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”
Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.
Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.
Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.
Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.
While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.
Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.
The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.
— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
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Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.
The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.
“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”
San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.
Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”
“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.
The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.
