Kanata-March Horticultural Society |
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March 2009 |
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In This Issue
Members' Corner: Certifying your wildlife-friendly garden
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Our Meetings
Regular meetings are held
the first Tuesday of each month at the
Guests are most
welcome The $5.00 charge can be applied to membership of $15.00 single,
$25.00 family.
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Alpine Plant Container Gardening with Judy Wall Just in time to get you starting thinking about your
spring planters, Judy Wall from
A
few of the smaller hypertufa containers will be available for you to
touch, look at and purchase. These containers are very similar to the
containers that were built by a couple of members two years ago at one
of
Judy Wall is the owner and operator of
The 2009 Interiors Edition of the Ottawa Magazine
(which many of you may receive for free with your Citizen newspaper),
contains a lovely article on Judy and her wonderful hypertufa containers
on page 165.
Elizabeth Stokely, KMHS Program Director
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Our 2009
special project:
an online map
of the Molly Wilson Garden
A small group of KMHS members is getting ready to map out the Molly Wilson Garden. They will be providing an online, interactive landscape plan for our website. This is a huge task, as it involves not only creating the garden plan on the computer, but also adding detailed growing information about each plant in the garden. To ease the load it has been suggested that if each KMHS member selected at least one plant to research and document on a standard template, the job would be done considerably faster.
At our next meeting, we hope to have available the list of all the plants in the garden, as well as the template to be completed. Please look through this list and select one or two that interest you. Consider this an opportunity to learn something new and participate in a project that will benefit the whole community.
When the landscape plan is complete, it will be
available on our excellent KMHS website. Visitors to our site will be
able to point and click on pictures of the gardens. As the visitor uses
the mouse to select a plant in the picture, a previously hidden
information box will pop up. The information you have researched will
become available to the reader. Technology can be a wonderful teaching
tool. Please get involved.
Heather Lee, KMHS Secretary
William Halpenny:
it is with sadness that I have to inform you that William Halpenny
(Bill) passed away unexpectedly last Friday the 13th February at the age
of 70. Bill was a well loved family man, farmer and agriculturist. He
was very involved with activities in his
Helen acted as District Director for District 2 and
served her five year term on the board of OHA from 1997 - 2001. During
that time she chaired a very successful OHA Judging school in District
2. At the 2006 OHA Centennial Convention in The Halpenny farm will continue in the well trained hands and boots of Bill's only son, and in his words "a hard footprint to follow”. Sheila King, District 2 Director, OHA
Lug-a-mug:
What does this mean? In an
effort to be kind to the environment it has been suggested that, for our
coffee breaks at the monthly meetings, each of us could bring our own
mug. Right now, it’s time for the social committee to re-stock our
supply of disposable cups for our coffee breaks. However, as you
probably know, in the city of
You have heard sayings such as “gardeners know all the dirt” or “compost is a gardener’s gold”. These cute ditties all refer to the fact that we are close to nature and like to play in the earth. We appreciate simplicity and value unspoiled elements. By being stewards for the environment we are leading by example. I think reducing our waste and carbon footprint at a gardening meeting is not a lot to ask from a group who plays in Mother Nature’s backyard.
I have noticed that a handful of members already bring their own mugs. It’s a simple habit to get into, just like taking cloth bags when buying groceries. Of course, we’re all human and there will continue to be cups available to those who have forgotten or choose not to Lug a Mug. However, it would be nice to see more people get involved. Perhaps some members would like to recommend to the KMHS Board that we sell travel mugs with our logo on them?
If you are interested in learning more about what is
and is not recyclable in
Heather Lee, KMHS Secretary
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ANOTHER
BIRTHDAY FOR KMHS!
On March 5, KMHS will be celebrating its 39th birthday!
Our Society has existed all these years not only for the benefit of the members, but also to assist in the beautification of the community. In order to continue to accomplish these objectives, it needs the enthusiastic support and the active participation of all members. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KMHS!
Solution to the Puzzle: Last month I asked if you could guess the reason why slogans such as “Come Grown with Us”, “Lettuce Beet Pollution” etc, were submitted to KMHS. I only received one response. George Malcolm, a long time member of the Society, knew it was a slogan that the Society was going to use for some project but he did not know what the project was. Since he responded and knew it was a slogan, I do believe he deserves the prize. I hope he can pick it up at the next regular meeting. And the answer is…… KMHS launched a “Bumper Sticker Contest” in
the spring of 1989. Members as well as the public were invited
to submit gardening slogan. The bumper stickers would be sold at
the
A First Prize: KMHS was awarded First Prize by The Ontario Horticultural Association for their 1989 Yearbook.
Floral Failure Fantasia: At the October 1987 regular meeting of the Society, a “Floral Failure Fantasia”, a wacky upside-down failure show was tried for the first time. According to the newsletter of that time, it was an opportunity for all the gardeners in the Society to show that they were human and not every seeds that goes in the ground ends up as a specimen. The “Failures” submissions could include gangly plants, unusual number of flowers either too many or too few, unusual colouring, etc. Diseased or insects laden plants were not welcomed! The whole event was intended to be an educational as well as a fun evening. Members enjoyed it so much they asked that it be repeated. Gisèle Robertson, KMHS Historian |
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Key links
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Floral stamps:
For the past few years, Canada Post has been issuing new stamps in
March, usually in conjunction with the Canada Blooms Show. The stamps
feature flowers in
Karl Siemens, KMHS Director
Flower of the month:
February’s flower, the violet, is a symbol of faithfulness, modesty, and
simplicity. Used medicinally over the centuries, sweet violet (Viola
odorata) is an expectorant, diuretic, and antiseptic. Folklore lists it
among the powerful forces against evil, which is perhaps why the Greek
city of
For the Birds: (but the squirrels love it too!) For an easy winter project, mix up a batch of bird food to put outside.
2 cups fat (lard, suet, or bacon/roast
drippings) Heat the fat and the peanut butter. Add cornmeal and
rolled oats to make a fairly stiff mixture. Add seed mixture. Place in a
log with holes drilled Elizabeth Stokely, KMHS Program Director
Caring for your Cannas:
at our December Pot
Luck Supper, many of us were beneficiaries of Sarah Brown’s oversupply
of canna rhizomes and, since then, some of us have been wondering how to
handle these very large and healthy rhizomes. With the help of the great
god Google, I have found a site that gives a good overview of canna
growing. The link to this site is on the left.
To summarize briefly: in order to get
earlier flowers, start the rhizomes in March indoors, using 1-2 litre
pots and damp compost. Keep in a coolish, but light place and plant out
in a well prepared, compost-laden site after danger of frost. It appears
that they will grow in just about any soil, but, as tropical plants,
need full sun or dappled shade. Rhizomes can be planted out directly
after the last frost, but will flower later in the year.
Margaret Turner, Newsletter Editor
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Key links
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Members’ Corner: Certifying your wildlife-friendly garden
Gardens truly come alive when they welcome wildlife—such as songbirds, butterflies and other winged friends. The basic element of gardening for wildlife is ensuring that a garden includes the necessities that create a wildlife habitat: food sources, water, and shelter. Additionally, and most importantly, the garden must be free of harmful pesticides. There are a plethora of resources (links on left) to help gardeners create wildlife-friendly landscapes. Canadian Wildlife Federation’s (CWF) website is just one good example.
Lorraine
Johnson, who will be speaking in
Another program is through U.S.-based Monarch Watch. As the name implies, Monarch Watch focuses on encouraging gardeners to include host and nectar plants for Monarch caterpillars and butterflies.
Best of all, with the right elements in place, gardening for
wildlife is carefree gardening—leaving you plenty of time to sit
back, relax and enjoy your garden with its lively friends
Sarah Dehler, KMHS member
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Key links
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·
March 14th
Room
T130, Building T,
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March 18-22nd:
Canada Blooms, The Toronto Flower and Garden Festival: explore over 6
acres of stunning
creative gardens in a dazzling display of colour, texture and
fragrance designed by Metro
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March 24th,
Tom Brown arena
Margaret Turner, Newsletter Editor
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Contact us |
All general newsletter input is due to me,
Margaret Turner, by the third
Friday of the month.
A big thank you to all of you who have been submitting ideas and
articles for the newsletter. As I hope everyone can see, it’s making a
big difference to the quality of the content. As always, all general
newsletter input
is due to me, Margaret
Turner,
by the third Friday of the month.
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