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Kanata-March Horticultural Society |
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May 2008 |
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In This
Issue ·
President’s Message ·
Next meeting: May 6th Self-contained ·
KMHS website ·
Annual Plant ·
Down the Garden Path ·
Parks maintenance ·
Upcoming events Our Meetings Meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at the Hall, March Road, Come at coffee and gardening chat. Guests are most welcome - $5.00 (can be
applied to membership of $15.00 single, $25.00 family) |
Acting
President’s Message for May
Looks like we really have spring now, as the
temperature has soared to above 20 degrees today and spring flowers are
actually bursting into bloom. We have crocus, Dutch iris and pansies out.
Tulips and daffodils are coming through, so be careful raking any leaves off
the flower beds; you do not want to damage the new shoots. During the spring clean up, don’t get too eager to
start pruning. Remember you can only prune lilacs, azaleas, forsythia AFTER
they have flowered. If you prune any spring flowering shrub now you cut off
the flower buds that have over wintered ready for a bit of warmth. Once the soil dries out a bit after the snow has
melted, you can think about sowing annual flowers such as marigolds, zinnias
and bachelors buttons—unless you are like our grandchildren who have already
sown their marigolds in trays. They are delighted to see that they are 3-4
inches high and ready to plant out, after the last frost. You can start melons, cucumber and squash seeds
indoors or, towards the end of the month, in a cold frames. Planting out in
the open should not be done until the night temperature is 13 Celsius. To help them along you can cover the ground
with black polythene which does three things: it keeps the soil warm, keeps
it moist and prevents weeds. Cover the prepared ground, make a small slit in
the polythene and plant the seedling. It is time to start thinking of the plant sale.
We have 200 heritage tomatoes about 12” to 18” high and doing well. I just
hope we can keep them watered and fed until the plant sale. Any perennials that need dividing can be split
now and the spare bits potted up for the plant sale. That way they will have
a good chance to get well established in the pot. Our customers always like
to buy healthy well established plants. Please remember to label what you
have potted up. Happy gardening. David
Davidson, KMHS Past President |
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Our Next Meeting: May 6th, Self-Contained:
Sheila King Sheila,
who is the enthusiastic and hard-working president of the OHA District 2
committee, will be sharing her wealth of gardening experience wit us next week,
as she inspires us to make more use of containers to brighten the garden
throughout the summer. She will tell us about how she tackles container
gardening, sharing some of her techniques and favourite plants with us and
will also show us how she does this. P.S. Don’t forget to bring your mug for coffee beforehand. |
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KMHS Website Looking After Ourselves (as well as the plants): if, like me, the recent warm weather brought
a rush of blood to the head, which led to extended hours in the garden, your
back has probably told you by now that new activities need to be undertaken
with some caution and preparation. To help you with this, we now have a link
on our website for a printable poster of some stretches and also to the
Ontario Chiropractic Association, where you can find other exercises and
information. Local Nurseries:
for those of you who may be new to the area or to
gardening, we have a list of local nurseries up on the website, which may be
of help to you. It is not comprehensive – it’s hard to keep up with new
ventures starting up, but it should be useful as a starting point for your
garden purchasing. 2008 Photo Competition:
Check out the new
Photograph Competition classes. With the help of Mary Stuart and Karen
Haddon, we have modified the competition. Thanks to Mary for her
wonderful ideas and creative imagination. So, everyone, get out there and start clicking
your cameras. Pay special attention to Class 7 - Four Seasons. You might want
to start on that one right away. |
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KMHS Annual Plant Sale: May 31st, This is our main fund raiser for the club. We
hope you will bring along some plants from your garden for the sale. We will also
be dividing and potting up some of the plants from Tom Thomson & Molly
Wilson gardens. We will need help on the day, before, during and
after the sale and also on the evening before—Friday, May 30th from We will have our ‘Heritage & Heirloom Tomato
Plants’ again this year. I have picked different varieties from the ones we
had last year. A table of these is below.
Norma Davidson, Parks coordinator |
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Down
the Garden Path Equipment: in 1975, garden tools and equipment were
purchased and made available to the members on a loan basis. Mayfair
parade: in
May 1975, a float was entered for the first time in the Mayfair parade and
won a prize. Bursary: from 1975 to 1995, KMHS
offered a bursary to a qualified student who was graduating from a Carleton
Board of Education secondary school and was pursuing further post-secondary
education in horticulture or a related field. LONG
TIME MEMBERS Congratulations to the following members who have
been with the KMHS for the past 30+, 25+ and 20+ years. 30
YEARS + 25 YEARS
+ 20 YEARS + Arnold By Stella Koros
Dieter Hedlich Cheryl Ford John Koros Shirley Monkhouse George Malcolm
Norma Malcolm Some membership lists from the early years of
KMHS were not available. If I have
missed someone from the years 1970 to 1988, please contact me and I will add
your name to the records. Gisele Robertson, KMHS Historian |
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Contact
us: Email us at KMHS with
your ideas and comments |
Parks
Maintenance It’s that time of year again! We need to get the Tom Thomson and Molly
Wilson gardens into shape. We find a
big effort at the beginning of the season makes it easier to keep the gardens
looking good for the rest of the season. We had a
sign up sheet at the April meeting and are still short of people for Tom
Thomson. The May 4th clean up, planned for The dates for Molly
Wilson clean up are Wednesday May 14th from Norma
Davidson, Parks Coordinator |
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Key links |
Upcoming Events: May - June: May 3rd Refreshments
will be served. Footwear for damp conditions may be needed. St. John’s Anglican Church, 325, Sandhill
Road, Briarbrook, Kanata. May 6th Tom Brown Arena, 141, Bayview Avenue. May 10th and 11th .
“Red Trillium 18th
Annual Studio and Garden Tour Brochures for the
Spring Studio and Garden Tour are available at many retail locations
throughout the May 11th-12th Parking lot, K.W. Neatby Building, Carling Ave, Central Experimental
Farm May 13th, 7.30 pm
The Ottawa Botanical Garden Society will have Des Kennedy talking about “The
Gardens of Ireland”. St. Paul High
School Auditorium 265 Draper Avenue, Ottawa May 13th, Glen Cairn United Church, 140 Abbeyhill Drive, Kanata May15th, 1:30 p.m.
Ottawa Valley Rock Garden and Horticultural Society presents John Gyer, talking about “The Secret Life of the Trillium”. Room T117, Building T,
Algonquin
College, Woodroffe Campus May 24th – 25th Upper Canada
Village presents and “Heirloom Plants and Gardens Weekend” with heirloom
varieties for sale, plus experienced horticulturalists on hand to answer your
questions. 13740, County Road 2,
Morrisburg June 12-15th The Ottawa
Valley Rock Garden and Horticultural Society will host the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
