Milton & District Horticultural Society Newsletter January and February 2009
On behalf of the 2009 Executive board, I would like to extend to all our members, our wish for a very happy and prosperous year. As always, a new year brings with it some new changes for our Executive Board. Kay Bounsall, Marion Linkert and Kim Symonds have all stepped forward and expressed a desire to join this year‘s Executive. It is my aspiration that we keep moving forward and expand and grow our Society so that it appeals to all Miltonians. We have been extremely fortunate to have on the board for many years Beverly Parnaby, Heike Spohr, Jennifer Mirosolin and John Woods. These folks have decided to step down from the board, after in most cases serving 10 years or more. Their service to the board has been instrumental to our Society‘s success. Their combined talents and wisdom has helped shape our board and prepare it for what lies ahead. Beverly will continue to head the Plant sale and the Summer Flower Show committees as well as lending her talents to our Design Workshops. Heike will as always be heading the Christmas design workshop for our year-end celebration. Every year these items are raffled off at this event to the delight of all who attend. She will also continue to lend her support to other workshops and seminars. Jennifer will continue to put together the yearbook and continue to lend her expertise and hard work to our Community Garden Projects. Watch for her informative ―In Jenn’s Garden‖ section in our newsletter, a favorite for many years. Tammy Lambert will now do the newsletter. Tammy is our Society‘s Webmaster. Her devotion to our website has enabled our Society to better inform our members and keep us in pace with the efficiencies of technology. You can find us through ‗Google‘ under The Milton Horticultural Society or by typing halinet.on.ca\miltonhort. Save it on your computer as one of your favourites. We will be updating our website keeping our members informed of meeting dates and special speaker dates as well as horticultural activities, photos, workshops, plant sales and more. You can download our newsletter on the website. We have formed a subcommittee for the newsletter and welcome anyone who would like to be a part of it. John Woods will continue to oversee the Town Hall Gardens and Library Gardens as well as be part of a Sub committee for the Garden Tour. I would like to take this time and personally thank them for all that they have done and will continue to do in the future. These 4 individuals have been the cornerstones for our Executive for many years and the sub committees they have formed will remain in place and will only get better with the help of volunteers such as yourselves who see the value in contributing to these events. It has been proven time and time again that great things can be accomplished when we all work together. Please come to the next general meeting January 19 with a desire to help in any of our sub committees. Looking forward to seeing you. Lianne Krane President 2009
Coming Events March 7th 10:00am – Julie Speck Workshop Julie Speck will be hosting another container workshop for us this year. This is a very popular ―members-only‖ workshop where you can design either a basket or a window box. Your 1st basket is $15 and additional ones are $25 or your 1st Window box is $25 and additional ones are $30. Registration and payment are required early - please contact Bev Parnaby by March 3rd at 905-854-0275 to sign up. Coming events at the Royal Botanical Gardens: International Garden Photography Competition For more information, please visit www.igpoty.com. For the list of site terms and conditions, please click here, and for contest rules and regulations, please click here. This contest closes January 31, 2009. SPEAKER SERIES Keeping up to Date The Royal Botanical Gardens is involved in many exciting projects that you may not be aware of. Join the expert staff as they outline these projects, the importance to RBG and the environment, what had been done the previous year and what will be done in the future. Members: $8/ each class ($55 for 9); Non-members: $10/each class ($75 for 9) 1. RBG’s Nature Sanctuaries: Canada’s biodiversity hotspot Thursday, January 15; 7 – 8:30 p.m. at RBG Centre Speaker: Dr. David Galbraith 2. Keeping Track of Plants: Maintaining and updating plant inventories Thursday, January 22; 7 – 8:30 p.m. at RBG Centre Speaker: Jodi Vanderheyden 3. It’s More than Neatly Pressed Plants: Herbarium Thursday, January 29; 7 – 8:30 p.m. at RBG Centre Speaker: Natalie Iwanycki COMING SOON Backyard Monsters Royal Botanical Gardens is thrilled (and maybe even slightly frightened) to present Backyard Monsters, an international traveling exhibit that examines the wondrous world of bugs. Sanctioned by the American Entomological Society, it includes six giant animatronic bugs, an amazing collection of exotic insects and invertebrates, mind-blowing interactive displays and a chance to meet a spectacular array of live insects up close. Treat yourself to a bug‘s-eye view of the world, if you dare. For the most up-to-date schedule of our daily family friendly programs and presentations, as well as hands-on programs for schools and youth groups, buzz on over to www.rbg.ca/pages/monsters.html. A Night with the Monsters Sunday, February 15; 7 p.m. to Monday, February 16; 11 a.m., RBG Centre Adults and children over 13: RBG members $40 per person; $45 non-members Children 12 and under: RBG members: $30 per person; $35 non-members (This program suitable for children 5 and up) Bring the kids and join us for an unforgettable overnight adventure. Meet live insects, go on a winter bug hike, play cool games and make great crafts, take a late-night flashlight tour through Backyard Monsters, and have a singsong around our indoor campfire. MAXIMUM 100. REGISTRATION DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 9.
Romance in Bloom Saturday, February 14; 7 p.m.; RBG Centre Valentine's dinner and dance. Begin your evening with champagne and strawberries. Enjoy a spectacular dinner catered by Pepperwood with live music. After dinner, let the DJ entice you to dance the night away. Tickets — Members: $110 per couple; Non-members $130 per couple. Reserve tickets by calling 905-527-1158. Seedy Saturday Saturday, February 21; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; RBG Centre. Swap or buy seeds, participate in a workshop, or take part in a demonstration. Seedy Saturday is filled with great gardening ideas. Seed vendors have a variety of hard-to-find heritage and specialty seeds as well as supplies for home propagating. Hands-on activities for kids, raffles and more. Registration is not necessary. Regular daily RBG admission is payable at the door. Orchid Society Show Saturday, February 28; noon to 5 p.m. and Sunday, March 1; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; RBG Centre. Photographers only: Sunday 8 to 9 a.m. Enjoy thousands of orchid blooms, with a breathtaking diversity of colour and shape. Canada Blooms: The Toronto Flower and Garden Festival. March 18th – 22nd, 2009. 103rd OHA Convention: Join the Peterborough Horticultural Society in Peterborough for informative seminars, workshops, garden tours, competitions, vendor displays, and a Youth Camp District 4 invites you to join them next summer in the beautiful Kawarthas at the 103rd Ontario Horticultural Association Convention. The Convention will be held at Trent University in Peterborough from July 10th to 12th, 2009. Trent University straddles the Otonabee River; a part of the historic Trent-Severn Waterway. It is situated close to the downtown core, which features an eclectic mix of shops, restaurants, and historic buildings. Saturday evening‘s speaker at the banquet will be television personality and owner of Chalk Lake Nurseries, Martin Galloway.
January Meeting The January meeting does not have a flower show, but instead features a display of the entries from the 2008 Photo Contest. Our speaker will be Lorraine Johnson, who will talk about ―Gardening for Pollinators‖ The Photo Contest What a great response to the call for photos ! What a wonderful show they will make for the January meeting! February Meeting Our speaker in February is the owner of Hortico Nurseries – a place known for their roses. John Vanderkruk will speak on‖ Rose Propagation in Your Own Backyard‖ – a topic which will enable all of us to increase our rose collections! The February Flower Show schedule is as follows: Theme: COLD WEATHER Class Class Class Class Class 1: Seeing Red: A small design. 2: From the Heart: A design in a cup. 3: Be My Valentine: A design. 4: Snowflake: A water viewing design. 5(a): Sweetheart: A miniature design (b): Novice Class: same as above *A Novice is a person who has NOT won a red ribbon in a design section in ANY previous show. 6: Herbs, potted 7: Forced Bulbs, excluding amaryllis 8: Pot of Aloe Vera. 9: Amaryllis, potted, any cultivar 10: Forced paperwhites in any container.
Class Class Class Class Class
In Jen’s Garden Happy New Year, everyone! The Christmas season is now finished, although I have not yet been able to empty the urn arrangements – each time I decide to try, it either snows copiously or freezes hard as a rock. I certainly hope that I can clear them up before I leave for Africa – Christmas lights look so tacky in deepest February! The winter has been long – I got my mulch onto the garden and it then froze solid – on November 10! That is even earlier than last year and we have not had a significant thaw since then – even the heavy rains did not thaw out more than a thin layer of soil – just enough to get the dog covered with mud. The weather is predicted to be extremely cold over the next while, so I am actually glad that there is a layer of snow over the mulch – the plants will be protected. As an aside, I find shoveling snow the most frustrating activity ever. Hours of back breaking labour are eliminated the next day by another dump of snow. At least when you dig a garden, it stays dug! January is a time for reading, rest, and reflecting on the successes and failures of the past season. I purchased a ten year garden journal as a New Year‘s gift for me – I have resolved to keep track of purchases and plantings so I can be more aware of what thrives (and how much money I actually spend in a season!). This book even has space for garden layouts and, since I changed and enlarged the back garden last fall, this will be extremely useful to keep maps and photographs of each year. One of my great delights at this time of year is to sit with the new catalogues that have jammed the mailbox and dream up new planting schemes for both my garden and my containers. I discovered last year that Dominion Seed House sells already germinated microplugs and slightly larger macroplugs of many annuals. I used these last year to do all of the urns and hanging baskets in the Allendale gardens, and they were a great success. Given the number of plants needed for twenty-five containers, this was the most economical way to fill them. The selection was excellent and the trays were delivered to my door at the time I was ready to plant. Other than very special seeds, this is the way I will grow in the future. Those of you who are itching to do something gardenish can get your pots and containers ready to plant slips and summer flowering bulbs at the end of February or beginning of March. Wash out the pots and trays to be reused and then rinse them in a mild solution of bleach to ensure there are no nasty disease carriers lurking on them. I save 4 inch pots from the year before to plant up slips of coleus, geranium and irisene for the coming season. Large pots are useful for giving begonias, dahlias, callas and cannas a head start. I am going to try to grow slips of brugmansia – I was given one to housesit last fall and it is in bloom now – the flowers fill the living room with scent and are quite dramatic in form. They might look good in containers outside, although they droop easily at the slightest drying out of their soil. I have signed up to work at Canada Blooms in March – it is a great way to meet old and new gardening friends (and does get you a free ticket) For me, this is the start of the actual gardening season as I always go overboard buying summer flowering bulbs, interesting seeds and even perennials that have to be babied for a month in the house. Between now and then I will try to be patient with the foul weather and dream of spring. See you at the first meeting of 2009 – in a little over a week. The speakers arranged for the year are great – try not to miss any of them. Jennifer M.
Membership 2009 Yet another year has passed and the time has come to renew your membership in the Society. We have many great speakers lined up for the year as well as gardening activities, flower shows and several workshops on flower arranging, planter making and of course garden tips and techniques. Fill out the form below and bring it to the meeting to make the process faster. If you cannot attend the meeting, take the form to Charlie at the Spice o‘Life or mail it to Milton Horticultural Society, Box 201, Milton, On. L9T 4N9 If you have an email address or if you have changed your address, please let Tammy Lambert at Lambertta@yahoo.com know so your newsletter will save $.52 and a lot of shoe leather! Benefits of Membership Subscription to 5 newsletters per year Yearbook with calendar of events and flower show information Sharing in the growth of gardens in Milton through membership The opportunity to exchange information with other enthusiasts at every meeting Invitation to special members‘ appreciation events including the Potluck and OHA dinners Voting priviledges Access to ―members only‖ events, tours and lectures Open garden tours Spring Plant Sale
2009 Membership Form Gift: Name: Street Address: City: Telephone: 905 -
Family $15.00 New:
___ Single $10.00 __ Renewal:
Postal Code: E-mail:
New Members – How did you find out about us? O Newspaper O Web Site O Word of mouth O Other ____________________________________