Hort Folks Weave Baskets

Basket making class with Naneen Tyner...a great day with Naneen making baskets at her home on Lime Lake Road....everyone was so proud of their finished basket....even though it took over 5 hours to complete the baskets with LOTS of help from Naneen!! Naneen recently spoke and demonstrated at a Tweed Hort meeting, generating interest from some of the members for a class.

A Fix for Tiny Spaces

Only have a small space to grow a veggie garden…no problem according to Square Foot Gardening Instructor, Carolyn Klickermann.  Carolyn, one of 4 Square Foot gardening instructors in Ontario was the guest speaker at the September meeting of the Tweed and District Horticultural Society. Carolyn’s enthusiasm for this type of gardening had members eager to start planning their 2016 vegetable gardens. Perhaps it was the idea of no weeding, no digging and no tilling that appealed to the members.

Using a power point presentation based on the work of the founder of this concept, Mel Bartholomew, Carolyn walked the members through the stages of this unique type of gardening.

Several key points….

-area for the garden needs to receive 6-9 hours of sunlight daily

-construct boxes to measure 4 feet by 4 feet and a depth of 6 inches; staple landscape cloth to the bottom and use Venetian blind slats for the grids, do not use pressure treated wood

-allow for walking aisles between the boxes

-soil…use a mixture of 1/3 compost (made from a variety of different ingredients…shrimp, leaf, kitchen, mushroom…at least 4-5 different types of compos), 1/3 peat moss and 1/3 coarse vermiculite…DO NOT USE EXISTING SOIL FROM YOUR GARDEN

-plant seeds in each square foot…2-3 seeds in each hole

-use rainwater to irrigate

-when you have finished harvesting a square, add compost to replenish the nutrients and replant

Carolyn suggested adding flowers to the boxes for some colour. She also suggested vertical planting for beans, squash, peas and yes even pumpkins! Keep the trellis on the north side of the box to maximize sunshine on the plants.

Due to the rising cost of seeds, she keeps left over seeds in their package in a mason jar with a bit of rice in the bottom. Store the jar in the fridge or cold cellar.

For more information on this topic, check squarefoot.com

COMING UP….

September 8…Fall clean-up of flower beds. Meet at 5:30 at Moira Garden.

September 12…Basket making course with Naneen Tyner.

September 19…Children’s Program….nature walk with Jim Pederson. Meet at Erin Palmateer pool parking lot @ 10:00.

October 6…Cooking with Trevor Telford, renowned chef at Black River Retreat. Trevor will share his culinary skills as he cooks dishes using fresh fall ingredients.

A Little Food, A Little Hosta

Kevin Elchuk of Giboshihill Hostas talks hosta with members
of the Tweed and Area Horticultural Society.

The Thomasburg Community Hall was filled with tantalizing smells and lots of chatter on August 4^th as the Tweed and District Horticultural Society held their annual summer pot luck dinner. Hot dishes, salads, veggies and breads filled the “main course” table. Everyone still had room for one of the many desserts…homemade pies, carrot cake, coffee cake, date squares and cheese cake. Icy cold punches were enjoyed by the members on a hot summer evening.

Kevin and Olga Elchuk of Giboshilhill in Cobourg were the evening’s guest speakers. Their slide presentation and commentary was enjoyed by members as they relaxed after their dinner!

Kevin and Olga’s garden contains over 1400 varieties of hosts-a hosta lover’s paradise….and their garden is open to the public to visit! For dates and times…email k.o.giboshihill@gmail.com

Kevin pointed out that hostas are native to Japan, China and Korea. As all gardeners know, hostas are very adaptable and the top selling perennial in North America.

KEVIN’S HOSTA TIPS…..

·        All hostas needs some sunlight…white edged hostas should be placed in late afternoon sun to prevent the white on the leaves from burning

·        Some hostas can have a different appearance depending on the amount of sunlight they receive

·        To get the maximum size for your hostas, plan your garden to minimize the necessity of digging up a hosta when it gets too big

·        Hostas have a variety of leaf shapes, colours, textures and edges

·        To divide…try to dig up whole plant, wash dirt off, break where there are “natural breaks”, use a fork that has been washed in a mixture of bleach and water to prevent the spreading of disease; soak plant overnight in a pail of water; plant using Root Booster to stimulate root growth

·        Feed hostas with Miracle Grow (one for tomatoes)

·        Hostas are great in pots, window boxes, planters, wheel barrows, baskets etc…..rather than purchasing annuals that will be discarded in the fall, Kevin suggests using hostas

·        To overwinter hostas in pots, place pots in garage; once a month water using snow (melts slowly); place pots outside in April to start to acclimatize plants for the next seasons

·        “minis” should be planted in the ground before Thanksgiving…not left on pots over winter

At the conclusion of the slide presentation, members shopped for hostas for their gardens from the selection that Kevin and Olga had brought to the meeting.

COMING UP….

August 16….Clean-up of flower beds in town.

September 1…Speaker Carolyn Klickermann will talk about “Square Foot Gardening”….saves time, space, seeds and virtually weed free! A great way to add a veggie garden to a small space.

Horticulture at the Fair

Pictures of a couple of samples of the creations submitted by Tweed residents in the the horticulture competition sponsored by Tweed Hort at the Tweed Fair on July 10 to 12.

A Country of Gardens

Members of the Tweed and District Horticultural Society traveled across Canada at their July meeting. The navigator of the excursion was Penny Stewart, District 3 Director for the Ontario Horticultural Society. Penny’s power point presentation took members through many of the outstanding gardens in Canada.

First stop on the trip was Vancouver Island with visits to the world famous Butchand Gardens and Royal Road Hately Estate Gardens with its large collection of rhododendrons and azaleas.

VanDusen Garden in Vancouver is located on property originally owned by BC Rail. The property was purchased by a group of citizens to prevent the building of a housing development. This is a teaching botanical garden with many ponds incorporated into the property.

Travelling across the prairies to Ontario, the next stop is the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington. It is the largest botanical garden in Canada and the Queen’s blessing makes it “royal”! This garden houses a large number of native plants and a spectacular dahlia collection.

Next members stopped in Montreal to visit the Montreal Botanical Gardens. This garden boasts the largest Bonsai display in Canada. Also in Quebec, Bleu Lavanda which is one of the largest lavender farms in North America.

Redford Garden (Garden de Metis) is located in the Gaspe Bay region of Quebec. Once a quarry, the site is home to a woodland garden and a large peony display garden.

Last stop is in Nova Scotia at the historical garden, Annapolis Royal. This cottage garden has a typical building and vegetables that the settlers would have brought over and planted many years ago.

After all the travelling, members sat back and enjoyed cake and berries with ice cream and strawberry punch!

COMING UP….

August 4…Pot Luck Dinner at Thomasburg Community Hall. Remember to bring your favourite pot luck dish to share and your own utensils.  START TIME...6 pm.

Kevin Elchuk of Giboshihill Hosta in Cobourg will have a slide show on hostas. He grows over 1300 different varieties and sells 250-350 different varieities. He will have some hostas for sale.

August 16….Clean-up of flower beds in town.

Delightful Delphiniums

Christine Gill (left) and Tweed Hort President Joan Morton

Christine Gill and her husband Peter from Nestleton (near Port Perry) were the guest speakers at the June meeting of the Tweed and District Horticultural Society. Christine is a member of the Ontario Delphinium Club. Using a power point presentation, she shared photos of delphiniums in Canada, England and Iceland...the photos of these magnificent plants were stunning! Some grow as tall as 8 feet and the colours were equally as impressive!

According to Christine, these hardy perennials will grow in any soil with 6-8 hours of sunlight. She suggested planting them where they will NOT get the hot afternoon sun as it is too strong. Always keeping the plants damp not wet was one important piece of advice Christine gave members. She also suggested placing ashes around the base of the plants to enhance the colours. The plants come in a variety of colours….pink, purple, blue, white and lavender-mauve-violet. The plants with purple flowers tend to be stronger. Members asked about red delphiniums….the plants with red flowers do not come back…they are  like an annual! Due to their height delphiniums often need to be staked. The flowers will bloom from June to the end of September.

The plants do not like to have their crowns sitting in water in the spring. After the spring thaw, it is important that the plants do not dry out. It is suggested that the plants are watered deeply every 2-3 days during a hot summer.

To produce stronger plants, Christine recommended leaving 3 spikes at the end of the season and don’t let the plant go to seed during the first year.

Growing from seed requires the use of promix and clean trays with domes. Simply grow the seeds (using seeds from a reliable source like the Ontario Delphinium Club) in the trays rather than using the small peat pots…this encourages a stronger root system. When plants are 2-3 inches tall, transplant to pots and put outdoors to harden…end of April…depending on the weather. Root cuttings can also be done to grow new plants

In the spring, Christine suggested cleaning out the old stalks close to the crown…cut with snips rather than pulling the stalks. 

An invitation to the Ontario Delphinium Club Field Day was extended to all members. The event will take place in Brooklin (just north of Oshawa) on June 27 @11:00. Christine’s husband will be manning the barbeque….and apparently he is a great cook…according to him!!!! There will be plants/seeds for sale, a flower show and an auction….a fun day for all! For more information, check the website…www.ondelphiniums.com

COMING UP….

June 13….Clean-up of flower beds in town.

June 15…Bus Trip to Winery and Gardens…contact Linda @  613-478-6850 for more information.

July 10-12…Tweed Agricultural Fair…The Club will be having a floral display and a collage of club events. Fair entries must be set up by noon on Friday July 10.  Set-up for the club is Saturday July 11@ 8am.

July 7….Strawberry Social and Power Point Presentation with Penny Stewart. Penny will be showing some of the outstanding gardens she has visited.

Plant Sale 2015

Some random shots of a beautiful and successful day.