SARNIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY SEPTEMBER 2016 NEWSLETTER

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1 SARNIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY SEPTEMBER 2016 NEWSLETTER MISSION STATEMENT To increase interest in Horticulture by encouraging private and public gardening by holding meetings, exhibits, plant sales and field trips. PRESIDENT S MESSAGE Welcome to our new season of meetings featuring excellent guest speakers on a wide variety of topics. It was an old-fashioned summer of heat, humidity and, at the same time, drought, a challenging growing season. The Board of Directors and members thank Diane Dorgeloos for once again hosting the very successful plant sale in May. It is a very hectic couple of weeks for Diane and she endures with great patience and good humour. (Read her message below.) We also extend appreciation to all the members who assist with the plant sale and Mary Rastall and Lyn Coulthard for organizing the Show & Tell Garden Tours which are a highlight of the summer. If you wish to submit an article for the OHA Trillium magazine, please submit to me. Ideas for guest speakers and articles for the HS newsletter are always welcome. (Barb Toye) UPCOMING EVENTS, PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE FOR OCT. Sept. 21, HS meeting, DeGroot s, 7 pm, Karen Paterson-Durance, Attracting & Raising Butterflies in My Garden Oct. 1, Germain Park Seed Day, 10 am Oct. 19, HS meeting, Redeemer Christian Reformed Church, 7 pm, Marg Dudley, Shade Gardening Nov. 5, OHA District 11 Fall Advisory Meeting, Tilbury Nov. 12 & 13, Essex County Orchid Society Show, Colasanti s Tropical Gardens, 1550 Road 3 East, Kingsville, ON, 10 am - 4 pm Nov. 16, HS meeting, DeGroot s, 7 pm, AGM, election of Board of Directors, Christmas social, seed and bulb exchange Jan. 18, HS meeting, DeGroot s, 7 pm, Holly Chaytor, How to Grow Your Garden Photography Skills Feb. 15, HS meeting, DeGroot s, 7 pm, John DeGroot, The Dos and Do Nots of Landscape Design Mar. 15, HS meeting, DeGroot s, 7 pm, Eddie DeJong, Designer, Vita Garden Co., Into Africa The Discovery of Keyhole Gardening Apr. 19, HS meeting, DeGroot s, 7 pm, speaker TBA COLLEGE AVENUE GARDEN The end of the 2016 season is approaching quickly. Autumn is here and with it, the end to the terribly hot, dry and humid days of summer. The College Avenue Garden came through it all well. Many flowers, annuals and perennials, are still blooming and many visitors give a compliment as they walk through. Unfortunately, a graffiti artist left his mark again this summer. In past years, he (she?) wrote with coloured paint on the wooden walls, and it was easy to paint it over. This year, the damage was done to our new Horticultural Society sign, prepared for us by Doug Chaytor s father. This cannot be just painted over. We will be deciding on a course of action in the near future. Many perennials in the Garden are being divided and potted up for the Society s May sale in So far, there are Lilacs (from the Garden s excellent selection), Clematis, Sedums, Liatris, Joe Pye Weed, various Shasta Daisies and much more. Please consider preparing some pots now (while you can still remember colours). Stay warm over the winter and remember that Spring 2017 will bloom better than ever. (Heather Ashe)

2 HEATHER ASHE S LETTER TO THE EDITOR RE GARDEN VANDALISM The Sarnia and District Horticultural Society Garden, at 231 College Ave., was damaged by graffiti a week ago. One of our large handcrafted wooden signs was painted over with white spray paint. I was informed by police that there have been several similar instances in the city this year. This Garden is always open to the public, so we count on them to use it responsibly. Many people walk through every day and express their admiration and gratitude that this oasis in the centre of the city is available to them. Almost all of our visitors respect the Garden and would never think of doing damage. It only takes one disgruntled person to inflict damage. The Garden is ninety years old this year. It was initially leased, then bequeathed to the Horticultural Society by Maud Hanna, who was very active in the betterment of Sarnia. It is maintained by volunteers with help from the city. We welcome all visitors and their dogs. Heather Ashe, Garden Coordinator for the Sarnia Horticultural Society (Published Sarnia Observer, Aug. 20, 2016) SHOW & TELL GARDEN TOURS We had another successful set of Show & Tell Garden Tours this summer, thanks to the generous gardeners who opened their gardens for touring AND to all the people who participated in viewing the gardens. I would especially like to thank Grace White, who had her garden on the tours in July in Mooretown and made the initial contacts with 3 of her neighbours to include their gardens as well. We appreciated Darryl and Lisa Winters and Diane Dorgeloos having their gardens on the June tours. Thanks to Linda Manicom for inviting members to her lovely garden in Wyoming on July 17 and to Santo and Netty Giorno for opening their beautiful native garden on August 7 for Short Notice Garden Tours. If anyone has a garden of their own or knows of a garden they would like considered for future tours, please let Mary Rastall know at rastalls@gmail.com or Thanks. (Mary Rastall)

3 36 th ANNUAL PLANT SALE It is hard to believe that it is September already. It has been a hot summer (too hot). Prior to that, we had a successful plant sale last May. Thanks to all those who donated plants and garden items. It was much appreciated. It always amazes me to see how much and the varieties of plants that are donated. Hopefully, we can keep it going for next year and those following. Also, a big thank you to all the helpers the two days prior to the sale and on the day of the sale. Many hands make light work. The Plant Sale will be held one week later next year, Sat., May 13 which will allow the perennials to display more growth. (Diane Dorgeloos) HIGHWAY OF HEROES The section of Hwy 401 from Trenton to Toronto was renamed the Highway of Heroes in 2007 to honour our fallen soldiers returning to Canada from Afghanistan. Highway of Heroes Tribute and Forestry Ontario are making this a living tribute by planting over 117,000 trees, one for every soldier who has fallen since Confederation. The motto is A Tree for Every Hero. Special trees need to be planted to accommodate the soil conditions along the highway. At the board meeting of Sarnia Horticultural Society last spring we decided to donate $100 to this project. District 11 also voted to make a donation at their annual meeting. At the Ontario Horticultural Convention in Kitchener this past summer it was announced that societies have given a total of $27, Donations are still coming in and the fall newsletter of The Trillium announced donations stand at $28, We can be proud to be listed as a donor to this wonderful memoriam. To learn more about this project and how you can donate click on A couple of years back our society donated money to plant trees at the park near Modeland Rd. as a memorial for WWI veterans. The trees were planted in the shape of a cross. Recently I have been reading the journal of our society meetings in 1920 when we started. A recommendation then was that 200 evergreen trees be planted in memory of the fallen from the Great War. We are and will continue to remember our heritage. (Marilyn Rawson) CANADA S 150 TH ANNIVERSARY The official tulip for Canada's sesquicentennial celebration is a white tulip with red flames. The flames bear a resemblance to the Maple Leaf flag. The SDHS decided to plant some of these bulbs at our garden on College Avenue this fall. Next spring they will bloom for the 2017 celebration. Our society is also planting bulbs at the Sarnia Legion on Front Street. Besides being the 150th anniversary of Canada, 2017 also marks the 100th anniversary of Vimy Ridge. Canadians played a decisive role in this battle of WW1. The bulbs will be available for sale at Home Hardware stores this fall. (Marilyn Rawson) SARNIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY HISTORY In 2020 the Sarnia Horticultural Society will celebrate its 100th anniversary. We want to make this a special celebration. Recently, Barb Toye was given records dating back to It has been interesting reading the notes from the early minutes. The Society was active in the community and planted flower beds at the schools, hospital and some churches. There is a record of Mrs. Maud Hanna being president and initially renting the property on College Street for our garden. The society also had a garden along the river at Ferry Dock Hill which started in If anyone has information or pictures of the society please notify Barb Toye or myself. (Marilyn Rawson)

4 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF BARB TOYE S CUP PLANT Netty and Santo Giorno gamely dug out my humungous clump of 12 tall cup plant (Silphium Perfoliatum) to transport it to their property and give it a good home. The clump was stunning but much too large for my small back garden and was casting shade on smaller perennials. I have saved many babies for the plant sale next May and a good size plant for my own garden. As you can see from the photos, they managed to fit it into their vehicle and even had room for the driver and passenger. I was picturing Netty running alongside or strapped to the top of the car. (Barb Toye)

5 ANNUAL COLLEGE AVENUE GARDEN PICNIC & DEDICATION OF MAUD HANNA PLAQUE Approximately 40 HS members, family and friends attended the 5 th Annual Garden Picnic and BBQ. The weather was perfect, the potluck dishes were yummy and Doug Chaytor BBQ d delicious hotdogs and burgers. Holly Chaytor entertained with selections on her keyboard. Thanks to Doug for affixing the plaque to the huge boulder in the Garden. A new sign, Sit Down Park (a local name for the Garden) was also installed. Barb Toye submitted the group photo below to the Sarnia Journal which published it on their community news page. (Barb Toye) L to R, Front: Heather Ashe, Gwen Spinks, Marilyn Rawson, Dolores Serafin-Berzins, Barb Toye, Mary Curran, Monika Deleersnyder. Rear: Frank Van Delft, Doug Chaytor

6 HOBBYFEST, JULY 17, 2016, CENTENNIAL PARK L to R: Marilyn Rawson, Eileen Zinn, Jean Hibbert, Barb Toye, Diane Dorgeloos The Horticultural Society set up a canopied booth with scrapbook, books, brochures and photo albums and engaged with the public to promote our Society. Thanks to the many volunteers who contributed their time to this very enjoyable event. Many others helped out who are not in the photo. (Barb Toye) FOUNDATION OF THE SARNIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY Common lore held that the SHS began in Now I have confirmation. Seonaid Laidlaw brought me two large Rubbermaid containers of SHS documents recently. Inside, I found a large bound journal with the following entry, written in copperplate, dated, Sarnia, Apr. 9/20. Meeting called for the purpose of forming a Horticultural Society for Sarnia was held on the above date in the Public Library. Moved by A.F. Wade, seconded by Mr. Dent that D.N. Sinclair be chairman and Geo Wenino secretary of the meeting. Motion carried. Owing to a lack of attendance on account of conflicting meetings it was moved by Mr. Dent, seconded by Mr. Giff that meeting adjourn to Tuesday evening the 12 th. Carried. Meeting adjourned. The next entry, dated Apr. 13, 1920 confirms the formation of the SHS. The journal includes minutes up to (Barb Toye) GARDENING TIPS When applying winter mulch, wait until after the garden is frozen. Be sure to water all evergreens thoroughly before the onslaught of winter. For simple winter composting, gather up all extra leaves and put them into plastic bags, dampen slightly and add a little soil or manure. By spring, it will be a nutrient rich compost for your garden beds. (Barb Toye)

7 GARDEN QUOTES We come from the earth, we return to the earth, and in between, we garden. Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds. Life begins the day you start a garden. Where flowers bloom so does hope. To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. Why try to explain miracles to your kids when you can just have them plant a garden? (Marilyn Rawson) A LITTLE HUMOUR

8 BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2016 President, Barb Toye, , First V-P, Marilyn Rawson, , Second V-P & Refreshments, Doug Chaytor, , Secretary, Marlene Jackson, , Treasurer, Monika Deleersnyder, , College Ave. Garden, Heather Ashe, , Membership, Dolores Serafin-Berzins, , Plant Sale, Diane Dorgeloos, , John Vanden Hoven, , Pam Hansen, , Alice Walent-Bellar, , Gwen Spinks, , Frank van Delft, , Darryl Winter, , Mary Curran, , MEMBERSHIP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE Please present your membership card before the sale is rung in. Canadale Nurseries, 269 Sunset Dr., St. Thomas Canadian Tire, Lambton Mall, Sarnia Cojan Nurseries, 5727 London Line, Wyoming Country Lane Greenhouse, 5480 London Line, Wyoming DeGroot s Nurseries, 1840 London Line, Sarnia Sipkens Nurseries, 3621 London Line, Wyoming SS Greenhouses, 5663 Waterworks Rd., Sarnia Up At Sunrise Hostas, 8278 Ridge Rd., R.R. #2, Thedford Walnut Gardens, 4162 Old Walnut Rd., Alvinston Westland Nurseries, Lakeshore Rd., Grand Bend Windover Nurseries, 3663 Petrolia Line, Petrolia (trees and shrubs only) 2017 MEMBERSHIP FORM Jan. 1, 2017 Dec. 31, Single membership $12, double membership $20. Please complete the following information: Name: Address: City: Postal Code: Phone: Please include your to receive e-newsletters and updates. Submit to: Dolores Serafin-Berzins, 1213 Lakeshore Rd., Sarnia, ON, N7S 2L , DSerafin@teksavvy.com