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”.