Manotick Horticultural Society - May Newsletter
MONDAY, May 14 @ 7:30 p.m. RCMP Club House, Long Island Locks
Speaker: Richard Hinchcliff The Garden’s at Ottawa’s Central Experimental Farm
The Gardens were started in the late 1800’s, and many of the plants exhibited today are ‘made in Canada’, bred at the farm for our climate. Richard will describe how the Gardens came to be the beautiful Ottawa attraction they are today, with a look at their history and at the people who were behind the made-in-Ottawa flowering plants on display.
Richard is author of: Blooms: An Illustrated History of the Ornamental Gardens at Ottawa’s Central Experimental Farm. He will have copies of the book for sale at the meeting, for $35 cash. Book proceeds will help enhance and preserve the Central Experimental Farm. ______
FLOWER SHOW – MAY 14 *all entries must be labeled and placed on tables by 7:00p.m. Designs no wider than 24 inches.
Division 1 – Horticultural Specimen Classes
Class 1 Any iris in bloom, 1 stalk Class 2 Muscari (grape hyacinth), 3 stems, same variety, same colour Class 3 Narcissus, trumpet, 1 scape Class 4 Narcissus, double, 1 scape Class 5 Narcissus, large cup yellow, 1 scape Class 6 Narcissus, large cup non-yellow, 1 scape Class 7 Narcissus, miniature, 1 scape Class 8 Narcissus, small cup, 1 scape Class 9 Narcissus, multi-flowered, 1 stem Class 10 Narcissus, any other type not mentioned above, 1 scape *Trumpet applies to the cultivars that have coronas, as long as, or longer than the petal. For the large cup, the trumpet is more than 1/3 of the length of the petal; but less than the full length;the small cup is less than 1/3 the size of the petals.. Class 11 Tulip, lily flower, 1 bloom Class 12 Tulip, parrot, 1 bloom Class 13 Tulip peony type, 1 bloom Class 14 Tulip, red, 1 bloom Class 15 Tulip pink, 1 bloom Class 16 Tulip, yellow or orange, 1 bloom Class 17 Tulip, white or cream, 1 bloom Class 18 Tulip, purple or black, 1 bloom Class 19 Tulip, fringed, 1 bloom Class 20 Tulip, bi-coloured, 1 bloom
Class 21 Tulip, any other type or colour not listed above, 1 stem *No more than 2 leaves should be attached to the tulip stem. Class 22 Any spring bulb other than any mentioned above, 1 stem Class 23 Perennial, any other, 1 stem, named Class 24 A collection of perennial flowers other than above, 3 varieties, 1 stem of each in 1 Container, named on index card. Class 25 One branch of a flowering tree or shrub, max. length 36” above the table Class 26 Asparagus – 3 stalks, max. 8” in length, exhibited on white paper plate Class 27 Rhubarb – 3 stalks, heels left on, leaves trimmed to a 2” fan, on white paper plate Class 28 Houseplant grown for foliage. (paper plates will be available) Class 29 African Violet Class 30 Cactus in a pot Class 31 Succulent – other than cactus Class 32 A plant or plants grown in an unusual container
Division 2 - Design Classes “Spring is in the Air”
Class 33a A monochromatic flower design. You may include green foliage. Class 33b Same as above, but for advanced exhibitors Class 34a A hand-tied bouquet in a glass vase. Class 34b Same as above, but for advanced exhibitors Class 35a A mass design incorporating lilacs. Class 35b Same as above, but for advanced exhibitors
Division 3 – Photography *1 picture per person taken in 2018
Class 36 Show off one of your flowering bulb beds. *Digital pictures will be judged in November.
Winners of April’s People’s Choice Flower Show: For the "Easter Design of your choice" Helen Crozier was the first place winner and for the "Salt and Pepper Shaker design" it was a tie for first place between Linda Gilmer and Helen Crozier. Thanks to Maxine, Linda and Helen for entering and the 53 voters and to Nicolette Bravo for helping out. Wilma Gerroir, Flower Show Convenor
Plant Sale - May 26, Watson’s Mill
The annual plant sale will soon be upon us. Hopefully the weather will cooperate between now and then so that we can dig up some perennials from our gardens, pot them up nicely to sell at Watson’s Mill. As always we depend upon the generosity of our members to provide plants, help out at the sale with setting up, labelling, pricing and taking down.
We used to have access to Annie Clapp's garden before demolition started but all we will get now are a few wood chips.This was a big source of our income last year. It is sad to
see the old property departing and making way for a retirement residence. If anyone has leads on a garden that will be demolished let me know and we can try to get permission to resurrect some plants to dig some up for sale on May 26. I will be sending out volunteer work sheets at the next meeting. Thank you everyone in advance for all of your help. Cathy Langtry, Plant Sale Chair
Thank you!
A huge thank you to all of our members that helped to make the District 2 AGM such a great success! We had 165 in attendance, and everyone truly enjoyed themselves. Here are a few photos of the day…
We always knew we had the best volunteers, but so does District 2! We clocked the most volunteer hours/member in the District last year. Well done! ***Please keep track of your hours spent volunteering for MHS activities. We need this information for our City of Ottawa grant each year, as well as for D2.
Field Trips: Sign up at May meeting!
The Burnt Lands with Brian Carson & Whitehouse Perennials On June 20th we have planned a tour of the Burnt Lands Provincial Park with Brian Carson, and a trip to Whitehouse Perennials near Almonte. To get the most out of our time, we will divide the group into two groups
with half going first to the Burnt Lands and half going to Whitehouse Perennials, and then switching around lunch time. There will be a sign up sheet at the May meeting. We have limited space, so it will be Members first, with any additional spots offered to non-members if space permits. Please note: to keep the trip affordable, we will be travelling on a school bus. The trip will be from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The cost will be $15.00, payable by cash or cheque made out to Manotick Horticultural Society.
Rideau Hall - and Central Experimental Gardens On Monday August 13th we have planned a visit Rideau Hall. We will learn in May if we are able to combine the house tour with a tour of the gardens including the greenhouse, once the summer diplomatic schedule has has been established. We are limited in numbers so we will offer this tour first to our members & will have to cap the numbers at 48. This tour will be followed by a guided tour of the ornamental gardens at the Experimental Farm. There is a $5.00 Friends of the Farm fee that has been included in the cost of the trip. We will have a ‘brown bag’ lunch…and ask your opinion if you’d like it on the grounds at Rideau Hall (they don’t have picnic tables, so it would be truly ‘on the grounds’ with picnic blankets) or if you’d rather eat on the bus, enroute to the Experimental Farm. The trip will be from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Garden Tours: June 11: So far we have two gardens to tour but ideally would like one more. Please call Heather if you’d like to show your garden. Heather Blair, Director Garden Tours and Field Trips (613) 692-2429
We need your help!!!!
Beautification: Please sign up to help in our of our Gardens! We look after: AY Jackson Park, Veteran’s Walk (near Watson’s Mill), Dickinson House/Herb Garden, the Library, and the Post Office. Contact Nicolette Bravo for more information.
Dickinson Days: Please sign up to assist in our booth at Dickinson Day’s, June 2nd. Donation of plants and rhubarb to sell would also be most welcome. Contact Frances White for more information.
Plant Sale: May 25 for set up, and May 26 for sale at Watson’s Mill
Christmas Awards Dinner: We are looking for someone to head up a team to organize the annual dinner. Susan Killeen-Ramsay has great notes from the past few years, and has offered to meet with the new team to pass over this information.
Book Review by Josephine Norton: Niki Jabbour’s Veggie Garden Remix: 224 New plants to shake up your garden and add variety, flavour and fun: Storey Publishing 2018.
Niki Jabbour is a best selling author & blogger who works out of Halifax, Nova Scotia as a radio host for “Weekend Gardener”. So upfront we can tell that if it grows in Halifax it can grow in Manotick. The book is an attempt to guide vegetable gardeners away from the normally cultivated varieties to something more adventurous that can provide different flavours of high nutritional value.
The introduction reveals how the author’s interest in “diversity in the vegetable plot” developed, then the the text quickly moves on to a variety by variety chapter headings that form the majority of the book. Such
as “Like tomatoes?, Try ground cherries, Cape gooseberries, tomatillos” “Like asparagus?, Try hosta shoots, (I kid you not), asparagus peas.” “Like potatoes? Try day lily or dahlia tubers”. It would seem in some cases our favourite flowers could be eaten before they make a bouquet! Anyhow it is an enjoyable read with inset panels that give you cooking preparation tips. Order online at BiblioOttawaLibrary.ca or by calling your local library.
Glass Plate Workshop There were 18 participants at the Glass Plate Flower Workshop held on April 7 at St. James Anglican Church. Many beautiful “flowers” were created with guidance from workshop leader Anne Clark- Stewart. Many attendees requested additional workshops for similar “garden art”, so watch this space for
future workshop dates.
A great article submitted by Sharon Smith: Coping with Clay Soil*
Those of us in our clay-rich area know full well the challenges of gardening with dense, heavy clay soils. Clay is composed of very fine grained particles, in our case derived from glacial grinding of rock. Soil is a combination of minerals, organic matter, water, air and micro-organisms. The proportion of each component determines the texture and structure of your soil. Ideal soils are a balanced mix of clay, sand and silt, along with the other components. An overabundance of clay is dense because the tiny particles fit so closely together. That is why clay is so difficult to dig, turns into concrete if dried out, and neither absorbs nor drains water well. As bleak as all that sounds on the up side the fine nature of the particles means that there are more nutrients available to plants compared to sandy soils.
While working with clay is tough on gardeners, improving its texture will increase drainage while opening up its nutrients to plants. With careful management and generous additions of organic matter over time your clay soil will improve. The soil will become much more workable even as it will take a few years of regular amendments before you will notice an appreciable difference. Here are some useful pointers:
1. Avoid walking on and thus compacting your soil especially when it is wet. Digging wet clay compromises its structure setting back your efforts to improve it. 2. Amend the clay soil by adding plenty of organic material such as well aged manure, sawdust, or partially decomposed or shredded leaves. Coarse materials are best. In a new bed dig in amendments at least 20cm deep. Fall is the best time to amend because soil is less wet than in the spring. When moving or adding plants throw in a shovelful of compost. 3. Hand digging is preferable to a tiller which pulverizes the soil too finely. Using a shovel creates clumps of various sizes to allow better exchange of oxygen for plant roots. 4. A 5 to 8 inch surface layer of organic mulch helps keep the soil from forming a crust and adds to the quantity of organic material. Reapply as necessary. 5. Adding sand can make matters worse. To have a positive effect use only builders coarse sand (not horticultural or play type). Adding too fine sand creates the perfect conditions to make bricks! 6. When planting trees backfill the hole with the removed soil amended as needed with organic matter. 7. Do not add gravel to the base of the hole in the hope of improving drainage as that will cause a perched water table keeping more water above that level than below.
*information based on an article by Beckie Fox in Canadian Gardening
News and Upcoming Events:
• Active Aging Through Gardening – Innovative Solutions, May 9, 2018 | 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm presented by The Council on Aging of Ottawa, 1247 Kilborn Place. Info and registration: www.coaottawa.ca • Gorgeous Grannies and Friends Plant and Bake Sale, May 12, 9:00-12:00, Cornerstone Church Prince of Wales Dr., North Gower. (proceeds going to the Stephen Lewis Foundation Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign which assists sub-Saharan African Grandmothers raising their AIDS-orphaned grandchildren.) • Art of the Plant is a landmark art exhibition by Canada’s leading contemporary botanical artists featuring native plants of Canada. Canadian botanical artists are gathering in the nation’s capital for the exhibition and for a Botanical Art Conference on May 23-25, which includes
botanical art workshops, guided tours and speaker presentations led by specialists. Visit their website at artoftheplant.com • Fletcher Wildlife Garden - Native Plant Sale, June 2, 9:30-12:30, Prince of Wales Dr. south of Arboretum • Red Trillium Studio Tour. Visit the Studios & Gardens of West Carleton. June 2 and 3, 9:00-5:00 https://www.redtrilliumst.com • Garden Days is Canada’s country-wide celebration of the vital role of gardens and gardening in our communities and in our lives. National Garden Day is Saturday, June 16, the opening day of Garden Days 2018. We will list the gardens we look after on the City’s web site, and have volunteers in the gardens on June 16 for a two-hour period. Stay tuned! gardendays.ca • Water Garden Tour - Sat. June 23 9:00 a.m.-5 pm. Tickets for this self-guided tour are $20.00 Visit www.ottawawatergardens.com for more information • OHA web site for the Trillium newsletter, articles and information http://www.gardenontario.org • From Shore to Shield July 27-29: Come celebrate with us at the 112th Convention of the Ontario Horticultural Association from Friday to Sunday, July 27 to 29, 2018, Kingston, ON. gardenontario.org
June 11…..Stay tuned for more information on our Garden Tour and Flower Show, followed by Dessert and Tea!