LFHS Newsletter April 2013

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2 LFHS Newsletter April 2013 Growing with our gardens! As of writing this newsletter at the end of March, we are prying ourselves from winter s grip degree by degree. These cold grey days prevent us from getting out in our beloved gardens. However, with the longer daylight hours and rising temperatures, spring s arrival is just around the corner! Spring bulbs, woodland perennials and flowering trees lie in wait to colour our world. Tools sharpened, gardens planned, and seeds planted, we wait, and hoping that, unlike last year, the work will be spread out over the season and not leave us breathless. No matter, intrepid gardeners, we will take what nature doles out, revel in the busyness of it all, and take pride in our landscapes. This is the busiest time of year at LFHS as well. District meetings convene, our big fundraising plant sale gets underway, and our community volunteer projects start to ramp up. We will participate in spring home and garden shows, and we have a wonderful 10 th Anniversary Celebration and a fabulous bus trip planned for May. Our once a month general meetings at Siloam United church are packed full of great speakers, gardening tips, door prizes and draws, meet and greet time with fellow gardeners and great baking and coffee. So let s roll up our sleeves, shake off the dust, and get our hands dirty! Membership has its benefits! If you haven t already done so, it s time to renew your LFHS membership! With spring planting season just around the corner, renew your membership and take advantage of the 10% garden centre discounts and of course, take part in all the other great activities the LFHS has to offer! Renewal info is at the end of the newsletter, or you can visit the friendly crew at the Membership Table during one of our meetings.

3 Our program this spring! At LFHS we pride ourselves on getting the best and the most varied speakers possible. Here is our line-up for the spring. April 13 April 18 May 16 District 10 Annual General Meeting sponsored by Tavistock Horticultural Society. A reminder to those who have paid. Car pooling is suggested. Frank Kershaw, Garden Expert, Author and Teacher, will show us how to Use Variegated Plants to Light the Shade Garden. Many variegated plants thrive in shady places, providing eye-catching interest and contrast with less flashy shade plants. This talk will also provide helpful tips on how to design with these plants as well as how to care for them. 10th Anniversary Party!! James Graham, 1 st Vice President of the OHA uses humour as he takes us on A Walk Down the Garden Path, looking at various aspects of vegetable and perennial gardening, lily beetles and invasive plants, and will also be discussing roadsides and naturalizing. His presentation will be a great way to celebrate gardening on our 10th Anniversary. May 17/18 Annual Plant Sale, 8 a.m. to noon on May 18 th at the Order of the Eastern Star Temple on Fanshawe Rd. E. Consider dividing your perennials and donating some to help our sale and to renew your perennials. May 26 June 20 The Bus Trip more information below Walking Tour, of the Arboretum at Western, with Dr. Jane Bowles, Curator of the Sherwood Fox Arboretum. Much of the beauty of the Western Campus is due to its many and varied trees. We will take a guided tour to see some of these exceptional trees. Wear your walking shoes and bring your bug repellant, as there is a lot to see and learn We propose to meet at the Talbot Parking lot at 5:30pm. It is a pay and display lot and we believe the rate is $4.00 per hour, but it may be cheaper in the summer and in the evening. If you come onto campus through the main entrance from Richmond Street, cross the bridge and turn left at the lights, it is the first entrance on your left. If people are prepared to walk a bit, they can park for free at the Elgin parking lot. To get to this lot you turn right at the lights just BEFORE the bridge and go down the hill to the lot which is open. It is perhaps 500m to get to the Talbot lot from there. There are vending machines, washrooms and drinking fountains in Talbot College, just across the road from the parking lot. Please me if you plan to attend.annlarkin@rogers.com, call me at or sign up at the May meeting. The bus trip deserves its own paragraph! This year's not to be missed spring bus trip is to the Niagara area. A sumptuous lunch is included at the Benchmark Restaurant at Niagara College. Some of the stops include Mori Gardens in Niagara on the Lake and the Niagara College Winery. This college, which houses the Winery and Viticulture Technician program, is the first of its kind in Canada where graduates get a well rounded business education, required for the successful operation and future growth in the Canadian wine Industry. Wow! For just an extra $10.00 per person you can enjoy a fun-filled winery tour and tasting. This one hour tour takes you to the vineyards to discuss the grape growing season, the terroir, the college curriculum and the Canadian wine industry as

4 a whole. A visit to the on-site wine making facilities informs about the wine making process. The tour culminates in a wine tasting! On the way home we will stop at Northland Nursery where each 1 Gallon perennial is $5.95.Book early to save your seat! They are going fast! See Ann Larkin at the general meeting on April18 The 10 th Anniversary Celebration Of London Fanshawe Horticultural Society May 16, 2013 We are all very excited about the celebration of the 10 th Anniversary of the forming of London Fanshawe Horticultural Society on May 16, It is a regular monthly meeting with lots of extras thrown in. The festivities will start at 6: 30 p.m. (one half hour earlier than usual) at our usual meeting location at Siloam United Church. There will be special guests, including some of the founding members, giveaways, cake and coffee and tea, and a great power point show. Our speaker for this special event will be James Graham, 1 st Vice President of Ontario Horticultural Association, whose presentation is mentioned in the program notes. We hope all our members will plan to attend and help us celebrate this important date. LFHS Annual Plant Sale May 18 th 8:00a.m. 12:00 p.m. Our yearly plant and compost sale in May is our major fundraiser. It is loads of fun, very popular, and a great way to help out your society and meet other gardeners. This year we are featuring some new and exciting perennials. Look for new variety hosta, heucheria, sedum, ferns and euphorbia just to name a few. There will also be herbs galore, and heritage tomatoes with strange names but great taste! This year our society is growing them from seedlings in a rented greenhouse, so we will need volunteers to water them. We always need lots of plants, so if you have any to donate please pot them up as soon as you can get them out of the ground. They will look much better if they have been growing in the pots for a few weeks. Vince, our go-to plant sale coordinator will have labels for them at the April general meeting. Many thanks in advance! We also need lots of volunteers at this sale. On Friday May 17, an army of buff volunteers will shovel mounds of compost into plastic bags, and on the Saturday, help is needed with purchases, inquiries, set up, snacks and cleanup. Sign up sheets will be posted at the April 18 th general meeting

5 And then there are the potting parties and the watering crews Potting Parties Come out to Dig, Label, Price or Water To prepare for our big sale on May 18 th, we'd love to have more volunteers to pot some plants or do some watering at Rath s greenhouse to keep our little transplants healthy and beautiful! If you can lend a hand, add your name to the Sign-up sheets on the Community Board at the next meeting or contact the coordinator. April 6 Potting new Rath s Greenhouse - 10am Coordinator Vince Chicoine or chicoinev@sympatico.ca April 15 Splitting & Potting 30 Redford Road - 10am Coordinator Linda Armstrong or lrarmstrong@sympatico.ca April 7 to May 17 Watering Crew at Rath s Greenhouse Coordinator Vince Chicoine or chicoinev@sympatico.ca OUR COMMUNITY PROJECTS: In keeping with the OHA s mandate, whose mission is to promote education through horticulture and beautification of communities, LFHS is involved in several community projects: McCormick Home: Every year, volunteer members, armed with gardening tools, help with the spring and fall clean-up of the many gardens at the Long Term Care Residence. During the season members also provide maintenance of these gardens. The staff is always so appreciative of our efforts and we enjoy the camaraderie and interest of the residents as we work away. We can always count on a pizza lunch! If interested in helping please contact Vince Chicoine or chicoinev@sympatico.ca Salvation Army Adult Day Care Partnership: The Salvation Army grounds have certainly undergone an amazing transformation over the past year, thanks in no small part to a dedicated group of LFHS volunteers. Many more activities are planned for this season. If interested in volunteering please contact Bob Crowhurst or robert.crowhurst@sympatico.ca Covent Garden Market Project Last year LFHS completed the renovation and planting of the 16 raised concrete planters surrounding the Rotary Square at the Covent Garden Market Building at King and Talbot Streets. A mix of annuals and perennials made a big splash on the square and were tended lovingly all summer by one of our society members. We received many positive comments on our beautification efforts at the market and this year we plan to continue the project. If interested in volunteering please contact Ann Larkin or annlarkin@rogers.com

6 Part-time gardener needed: To water and weed the planters during the season, from May to Sept. This is a paid position for approximately 20 hours per week. If interested please contact Dee Biggar or deebiggar@rogers.com OHA Loblaws Garden Centre Associate Required: Dave Money, OHA Representative for the Loblaws Program contacted us to let us know that there is a position at the Loblaws Fanshawe Garden Centre from May through June on weekends. The rate of pay is somewhere between $15.50 and $ Dave Money, OHA Representative for the Loblaws Program, is the contact or you can call the store directly and ask for Barb, Manager at the Garden Centre. LFHS is also participating in. London Home and Garden Show, April Volunteer to help at the LFHS booth and receive a free entry ticket. Volunteer with a friend! We are asking volunteers to spend about 3 hours at the booth. There will be 2 volunteers at a time to allow for a break if needed. Our booth is in the Green Thumb Market Place and will be shared with OHA District 10. If this is of interest please contact Ann Larkin or annlarkin@rogers.com Help us promote our society! Check out our great right up at: Fundraising: Just a final note to let everyone know that the plant sale, 50/50 draws, the door prize draws and the baking table are fundraising initiatives that fund our numerous projects and fabulous speakers. So spread the word about the plant sale (Vince has lots of brochures), bring a toonie for a chance at a prize or purchase some delicious baking. You could even bring your Tupperware container to stock up for the month. (Note: no baking in April Dee is away)

7 Here are two great recipes which herald the arrival of Spring! Roasted Asparagus (a simple recipe which preserves the delicate flavour of the asparagus) Ingredients 1 bunch of fresh asparagus Olive oil for drizzling Sprinkled sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste Directions 1. Preheat your oven to Meanwhile trim the woody ends from the asparagus and place in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and toss, coating each spear well. Roast until the skin begins to shrivel slightly and brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. The asparagus will be nice and tender. Rhubarb Muffins with Orange and Ginger Ingredients: 3 cups flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. baking powder 1 cup brown sugar 2 eggs ½ cup vegetable oil 1 cup butter milk 2 tbsp grated orange zest 1 tbsp finely chopped preserved ginger 1½ cups diced rhubarb Brown sugar for topping Directions: Combine dry ingredients and zest and ginger. Combine wet ingredients. Stir wet ingredients into dry then stir in rhubarb until just combined. Do not over mix. Scoop into muffins tins sprayed with Pam. Top with a sprinkle of brown sugar. Bake at 375º for 25 minutes. Happy Gardening! See you at the meeting!