Don DeGenoava, Cathy Anderson from the Tweed Public Library and Diana Cassidy-Bush.
Don DeGenova of Tweed was one of the guest speakers at the April meeting of the Tweed and District Horticultural Society. Don and Diana Cassidy-Bush of Fresh Landscape showed a clip of Don’s garden that was featured in the television show, My Backyard in an episode that focused on “Mega Garden Makeovers”. After viewing the clip, members agreed that this garden certainly underwent a “mega makeover”. When Don approached Diana to work “her magic” on his garden his only request was to keep the setting looking natural. Two ponds with fish, a river bed flowing among evergreens, vegetable gardens and a wildflower garden were incorporated into the landscape. Diana, known as a “rock artist” invited Don to accompany her to select the “perfect” rocks for the limestone waterfall. The wildflower garden is filled with milkweed, golden rod and asters with pathways meandering throughout. Through careful planning, flowers bloom at different times of the year ensuring that the garden always has colour. Diana’s design has created rooms within the garden for the owners to relax and enjoy the marvelous views of the surrounding area.
Colin Campbell, Campbell Orchards in the County.
Colin Campbell, of Campbell Orchards on Rednersville Road in the county was the second speaker for the evening. The orchard has 12-15 acres with 25 varieties of apples, vegetables, cherries, strawberries, pears and peaches. There is a store on site that sells the fruit and veggies and homemade pies as well as small gifts. Space is also rented off site for storage. According to Colin, it is very difficult for the average homeowner to grow apples. At his orchard he is always trying to improve the quality of his apples through grafting, pest control and balancing his fruit crop. New apple varieties that are coming soon are “zestar” and “snow sweet”. Colin did give the members a hint about apple pies…..use a variety of apples and even toss in a pear….delicious!
May Meeting:
Kathleen Lang, graduate from the Algonquin College Horticulture and Landscaping Program and Master Gardener will speak about poisonous plants. Through her presentation, she will discuss how to identify these plants, precautions to be taken and what to do if you come in contact with them.
NOTE: The presentation will be at the White Building at 7 pm. Admission $3.00 for non-members.
Looking ahead…..
Peterborough Garden Show at Evinrude Centre, 911 Monaghan Rd, Peterborough. Friday April 12-Sunday April 14. Cost is $6.00 per person.
David Morgan of Lee Valley Tools will speak at the Land O’Lakes Garden Club on April 11, 2013 at 7 pm. He will speak about how to irrigate your garden.
District 3 Spring AGM on April 27, 2013 in Brockville.
May 4…Spring Clean-up of flower beds in Tweed. Meet at the Moira Garden at 9am with your tools and lots of energy!
May 18…Plant Sale at Tweed Memorial Park. Please have plant material at the park by 7am. If you have a large quantity of one plant, having a colour photo wrapped in plastic will help to entice the buyers!!! For more information or if you need your plants picked up, please contact Joan@613-478-6115
May 29…Bus Trip to Ottawa…opportunity to explore several nurseries and shop, shop, shops for plant materials. Cost is $45.00 per person. For more, please contact Linda @613-478-6850.
Conrad Grol discusses sharpening pruning tools during his recent talk for the Tweed Horticultural Society.
Tweed and District Horticultural March Meeting really had its members gearing up for spring with two speakers. Conrad Grol started the evening by talking about pruning shrubs. According to Conrad shrubs should be pruned to improve their appearance both visually and artistically. Clean plants look better to the eye than shrubs filled with dead wood. Another and more important reason to prune is what Conrad calls the “3Ds”….disease, damage and dead wood.
He provided many pruning tips for the members….
•roses-cut out dead damaged wood, diseased wood, and then shape leaving 4-5 canes
•dogwood-cut back to 6 inches above ground; clean out all dead wood
•spirea-blooms on new wood; prune after blooming just under the flowers; prune the roots using a sharp spade about 18 inches out
•weigela-blooms on last year’s wood; need to be thinned out in the spring; prune roots
•potentilla-blooms on new wood; prune after flowering; does not need a lot of fertilizer
•boxwood-prune only an inch at a time to keep its shape
•forsythia-prune when flowers are done; very short window to prune; needs granular feed
•junipers-cut long tips; may not look great when you prune but will grow back next year; can prune in spring or fall
According to Conrad, sharp shears are key to successful pruning. He also reminded members that shrubs are like humans…they need food and water!
John Bagshaw
The second presenter for the evening was John Bagshaw who shared a video on Dahlias. John is the Hort Group’s “dahlia expert” as he is always offering advice and recommendations to the members who strive to grow dahlias like his…which are outstanding! The excellent video demonstrated the journey of the dahlia from the single eye of the tuber, to the beautiful plant in the summer/fall and storage techniques for winter. John has donated the video to the Library for the public to borrow.
Here's short three minute video of dahlias in a U.K. garden for you to watch.
April Meeting:
Colin Campbell of Campbell Orchards, Belleville will discuss growing fruit trees in our area.
Don DeGenova of Tweed will share a video of his garden that was part of a gardening show, My Backyard, in an episode that focused on “Mega Garden Makeovers”.
Looking Ahead:Bus Trip to Canada Blooms and Toronto Home Show at Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto on Friday March 15, 2013. Cost $55.00. Price includes admission to both shows and motor coach. For more info call 613-478-6850.
Peterborough Garden Show at Evinrude Centre, 911 Monaghan Rd, Peterborough. Friday April 1Sunday April 14. Cost is $6.00 per person. Members are invited to car pool on Saturday April 13. Meet at the Boldrick’s Parking lot-leaving at 8:40 am. For more information, call 613-478-6850.
David Morgan of Lee Valley Tools will speak at the Land O’Lakes Garden Club on April 11, 2013 at 7 pm. He will speak about how to irrigate your garden.
District 3 Spring AGM on April 27, 2013 in Brockville.
Elizabeth Churcher (left), Joan Morton (President), George Thomson.
George Thomson and Elizabeth Churcher presented a power point presentation entitled, “Wildflowers through the Seasons” at the February Tweed and District Horticultural Meeting. Both George and Elizabeth’s love of nature was evident as they spoke and shared outstanding photos taken by George. This passion for nature started when they were young children. George grew up in the Toronto area and he would bike through the many ravines in Toronto to get his “fill of nature” whereas Elizabeth who spent her early years growing up east of Bancroft merely had to step outside “get her fill”.
Now, Elizabeth and George are fortunate to be surrounded by nature at their home in Tweed known as Hepatica Hill -named after the white, pink and violet wildflowers that bloom there on sunny spring days.
Their presentation took the members on a walk through the seasons to see the many wildflowers that grow in our local area. Interesting details were given about each wildflower as it was shown on the screen and heads nodded in the audience as members recognized them.
The information provided for each wildflower displayed the presenters’ wealth of knowledge on the subject; for example,
• trout lilies can live more than 100 years
• Jack in the Puplit can be male or female in the same year
• the Ontario trillium grows very slowly and will have only one leaf for 6 years
•purple asters attract butterflies while white asters attract bees
•orange hockweed attracts butterflies due to its colour not the nectar
•native people ate succulants as a vegetable as it is high in Vitamins A and C
Their talk highlighted the colour, structure, pollination, habitat and even uses of some of our local wildflowers.
As Elizabeth said at the conclusion of the presentation, “You simply have to look to enjoy the wildflowers as they are everywhere!”.
March Meeting:
Conrad Grol, past owner of Brighton Garden Centre, will speak about pruning techniques. John Bagshaw will show members how to start their dahlias for summer and how to store the bulbs over winter.
Looking Ahead...
Bus Trip to Canada Blooms and Toronto Home Show at Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto on Friday March 15, 2013. Cost $55.00 or $50.00 if purchased before Feb.9, 2013. Price includes admission to both shows and motor coach. For more info call 613-478-6850.
The Tweed and District Horticultural Society held their annual Christmas Potluck dinner on Tuesday December 4, 2012. The tables were beautifully decorated with poinsettia plants, fresh evergreen boughs trimmed with ribbons and dozens of colourful balls. A delicious turkey and ham dinner complete with stuffing, gravy and mashed potatoes gave the members an early Christmas feast. And the desserts….well the table resembled a bakery with several varieties of pies, squares, Christmas cookies and even yummy toffee! The poinsettias and beautiful outdoor arrangements were won by several lucky members.
Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2013!
The next meeting will be Tuesday February 5, 2013 at the Tweed Library. Memberships will be on sale at the meeting…. $12.00 individual and $16.00 family.
Steve Nicholson of Thomasburg was the guest speaker at the October Meeting of t he Tweed and Horticultural Society. Steve is a chef and instructor in culinary management at Loyalist College. During the meeting, he used local produce to cook some unique and interesting dishes for members to sample!
Bulb Fundraiser…There are two types of bulbs available….Crocosmia and Camassia. There are 3 different varieties of each. The number of bulbs per package will vary but all are $7.00 per package (with $1.00 from each package sold going to our club). The forms and pictures are at the Library. All orders must be in to District 3 by November 1st.
November Meeting: Annual General Meeting.
Members are asked to consider taking an active part in the club by becoming a member of the Executive. Elections will take place at the meeting.
Members are asked to get into the spirit of Christmas by bringing a decoration or food (to be share at the meeting) made with cranberries.
Looking ahead…..
Annual Christmas Pot Luck Dinner on Tuesday December 4th beginning at 6 pm. Bring your favourite dish to share, plate, cutlery and wine glass and of course your appetite!
Christmas Luncheon at Loyalist College will be held Friday December 14 at noon.
An intense working session! A few of the members creating corn husk dolls.
Lauri Alderson of Stirling had both children and adults working to create corn husk art at the September meeting of the Tweed and District Horticultural Society.
Lauri brought a wealth of natural materials…milkweed pods, wild flowers, rabbit fur and a bucket of corn husks. Lauri had softened the corn husks by allowing them to soak in a mixture of water and bleach. Members worked together to create corn husk dolls, cornhusk angels and even corn husk warriors! Simply by tying, snipping and gluing, the husks were transformed into corn husk art…even members who claimed they had no artistic talent were busy trying their hand at creating the dolls.
October Meeting: Steve Nicholson, chef and instructor at Loyalist College will be cooking some unique dishes using fresh garden produce. There will be samples for everyone to try so bring your appetite.
Looking ahead…..Christmas Luncheon at Loyalist College will be held Friday December 14 at noon. More details to follow.
As I reflect on the accomplishments of 2016, I am filled with gratitude for all the wonderful support and encouragement that I received from so many. As a team, we cared for and renewed gardens, learned from one another and from guest speakers, hosted garden tours and initiated fundraising for the improvement of the pathways in Moira Memorial Gardens. We reached out to young people by offering workingshops and providing local schools with butterfly kits. Our desire to collaborate wit othr community groups resulted in displays and monetary support for the Tweed Fair. And our very successful plant sale helped community membrs fill their own gardens with flowers and vegetables. Yes, we had a busy year with lots to celebrate.
Now it's time to put up a new calendar and launch into 2017. Taking the successes of the past year with us, we'll continue to share, to learn, to dig and to plant together. From our handiwork, residents in our community and guests from afar will see the fruits of our labour and will undeerstand our commitments for and pride in Tweed and its surroundings.
We are proud to have been selected as one of Canada's communities that will showcase a 150th Birthday Celebration Garden for all who visit the area. Our picturesque town will be enhanced with floral displays of Canada's flag and splashes of red and white throughout all of our gardens. We look forward to enhanced memorial gardens with accessible paths for all to enjoy. And we are thrilled that we will be able to share our beautiful community with members of Region 3 when we host the AGM in the spring.
Let's put our gardening gloves on and join hands to make 2017 a memorable year of growing together.
Elizabeth Churcher
President
Wildflowers
Photos by Elizabeth Churcher and George Thomson.
Library Garden
Click on pic to see more.
Tweed and District Horticultural Society
Regular meetings are held on the first Tuesday of the month in the Tweed Public Library (side door), 230 Metcalf St., Tweed.
Meetings start at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted in the blog.
Note: some meetings are held offsite. Refer to information elsewhere on the blog for changes to current meetings locations.
Visitors and guests are always welcome. Visitor/guest fee per meeting is $3.
Membership dues are $12 single and $16 family. Junior members: $1 per year (ages 8 to 17). Non-member fee per meeting is $3.
For more information, leave a comment on one of the posts on the blog and we’ll get back to you. Or, send an email to info@tweedhort.ca. Or, send regular mail to:
PO Box 591, Tweed, ON, K0K 3J0
Here's a Wealth of Gardening Information for You -
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