Wasaga Beach Garden Club December 2013 Please mark your calendar for these upcoming meetings and events Next Meeting 2014 Plant Sale May 24, 2014 - Once again we will be making and selling hypertufa bowls for the 2014 WBHS Plant Sale. We need chicks and hens and dragon s blood sedum (red colour) if you have any extra you can donate them by contacting your executive at wasagabeachgardenclub@yahoo.ca
President s Summary for 2013 2013 began in limbo, with anticipation, excitement, and even impatience as we still had not received word when our application for incorporation under OMAFRA, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, would get the rubber stamp. So our year started as usual with Arlene our Program Director, lining up terrific speakers for the year. This lineup included Paul Zammit at a high price, which we had to put on hold, until we were sure we would have the funds to pay him. At our first meeting in April we immediately called on our members to get into the dirt and start planting up the extras in their gardens for the annual May Plant Sale! Just as soon as we got into the dirt a few of us got cleaned up and headed to the District 16 Annual General Meeting for a day of socializing with area gardeners, great food and excellent speakers. But it was then back to the garden and dividing and potting. And thanks to EVERYONE S work what a great plant sale we had. We DOUBLED our previous year s monies!! Perhaps it was because we held the plant sale at the Gazebo for $57.00, instead of the Lions Hall for $300.00, perhaps it was the giant yard sale right beside us in the RecPlex parking lot; but I think the major contribution was just the genuine hard work of our members! The executive had gotten together a couple of times at Dan s home to make hypertufa pots and then later to plant the little pots. Many members spent many units of time digging out, potting up, labeling plants, and Judy spent much time looking after the potted charges until the day of the sale. Members and friends came and loaded up in cars, and trailers and back seats and trucks and by Saturday morning at 8am everything was ready to go and we had already made a few sales. The weather could have been warmer, but everyone who could, assisted and the morning flew by. The executive could then tell Arlene Yes, we can afford Paul Zammit! Now that our major fund raiser for the year was behind us we could have some fun. We toured the Wasaga Beach Greenhouse with Brent D'Aoust the Town Gardener a couple of times. First to see all the little plugs Brent had started and transplanted into the containers for around the town, and then a second time to see the gigantic growth rate in just a few short weeks. Fertilizer and the watering regiment of his student helpers produced a great show of blooms for everyone driving in Wasaga Beach. It was quite an eye opener to see the small confines of his greenhouse and what this space with work, could produce. Thanks to Brent we also had about 100 plants for the plant sale! In July members toured the Town Gardens. Some were ones we see every day on a drive through the Beach, others were tucked away, but well worth the drive to view them. At the Goose garden many took the time to pull a huge pile of weeds. We will always be gardeners at heart, wanting our garden to look its best! At the pot luck picnic that followed, we were finally able to view the Official Documents of our Incorporation!! We were commencing a new era!, and new changes! We had a new official name being the Wasaga Beach Horticultural Society. We had grown with new members, and because of this growth we needed to change our meeting place to the Community Lighthouse Church on Sunnidale Road. Many new changes all in a short two months! With these changes brought the President of the Ontario Horticultural Association, James Graham, to our August meeting. Visitors also included District Directors from Kitchener and Bracebridge. James brought us a warm welcome into the OHA family and showed by example the best thing we can do as a Horticultural Society is to share. Share our information, share our knowledge, share our seeds and plants, and share our ideas. And of course share our time in helping our club in whatever way that we can. We immediately took his words to heart and did some sharing at our third hypertufa workshop which included members from other Societies in the area, and Trish Symons and friends from the Hockley Valley area. We had so many members interested in the July workshop we had to have a beginner s class and an experienced class. We all enjoyed a great day out in the sunshine and went home with at least one or two projects to enhance 2
President s Summary for 2013 cont. Visitors Night was a great success with Paul Zammit as our speaker and Creator of a huge Fall Planter. The Visitors 98 members Night was and a visitors great success present with were Paul willing Zammit to as make our a speaker donation and for Creator a ticket of a on huge Paul s Fall creation. Planter. The Gwen 98 members Beacock and from visitors Elmvale present was the were lucky willing recipient. to make The a donation night concluded for a ticket with on Paul s many creation. delicious Gwen foods Beacock for our from enjoyment. Elmvale was the lucky recipient. The night concluded with many delicious foods for our enjoyment. Our Famous October Potluck Dinner was again eye candy for the stomach. Several newsletters had to be utilized to share the tasty recipes from the dinner. Members present at the potluck voted for the winner in the Single Container and the Group of Containers. We have 14 great looking entries. Much to Dan Edwards surprise he was the winner in both categories and took home the Crystal trophies as well as a $50.00 gift certificate from Ritchie s Feeds n Needs. October was also the month for the District 16 Fall Seminar. It was a cold rainy day so it was very easy to sit and listen to informative speakers and chat with people from other clubs that we had not seen since spring. Wasaga Beach had ten members present, 4 repeats and 6 newbies. It was awesome for our new Horticultural Society to be present with so many members. Even more awesome was the Edna Caldwell Community Improvement Award we received. During the year members of our club were involved with the planning, raising funds, and the creation of the Wasaga Beach Community Garden. Our efforts were recognized with this award for our assistance with the Community Garden project. Other members over the gardening season were very busy helping Brent D Oust, the Town Gardener with various gardens around town. Weeding, dividing and planting bulbs was some of the work undertaken by enthusiast members of the club. Still other members chose to further their knowledge by attending other Society meetings in the area. When you attend other club meetings you always come home with more information to share, or to utilize in your own garden. Our year came to an end with our Christmas Dinner. Country Life Resort was a great host with delicious turkey buffet and cozy surroundings. The Trinity United Church Hand Bell Choir rang in the Holiday Season in a grand manor. 2013 may almost be behind us but plans are already in the works for 2014. Looking forward we are planning an Open to the Public, Garden Tour, the creation of a Wasaga Beach Garden Club Banner, and a whole new slate of speakers to peak our interest and teach us more about our favourite pastime Gardening. Quote from the floral calendar: The best of all Gifts around any Christmas tree is the Presence of a Happy Family wrapped up in each other. Wishing Everyone the Joys of the Season, and a Merry Christmas!! Maureen 3
Christmas Dinner Christmas Dinner was delicious, the room was beautifully decorated and the Trinity United Church Hand bell Choir was extremely entertaining made more-so because the conductor took time to answer questions and offer explanations about what the Choir was doing. We had a short business meeting where the 2014 garden club executive was elected and installed by our District 16 Director, Russ Talbot. Reports were presented by the Secretary, Treasurer, Vice-President and President and we voted on and passed a resolution to accept our by-laws and constitution. To top off the evening we had wonderful door prizes and almost everyone went home with a prize. Bells are lined up and ready to ring Ladies of the hand bell choir Festive table settings Some of the door prizes 4
2014 Executive The Wasaga Beach Garden Club Executive for 2014 as elected and installed on December 4, 2013 President.. Maureen Andersen Vice-President... Judy Huish Treasurer.. Linda Marshall Secretary... Trudy Rawson Directors... Arlene Edwards Carolyn Virag Eva Caulfield Debbie Johnson Susan Rankine Garden Sayings There will be a sheet available for members to contribute garden sayings at each general meeting or email Maureen with your saying. inthegardenmea@gmail.com God gave us our memories so that we might have roses in December Snacks We need a volunteer to provide cold drinks, on an ongoing basis, for our meetings. The cost of the drinks would be covered by the Garden Club. If you are able provide the cold drinks, please contact Maureen to let her know. (705) 429-8714 Archives We are looking for a member who loves scrapbooking and would be willing to continue to look after the Garden Club Archives that were started by Dan Edwards. Anyone who would like to volunteer for this position should contact Maureen. Club Banner Do we have any talented designers or artists in our group? We are looking for some design ideas for our club banner. If you have any ideas for a good design, please submit your ideas to Arlene Edwards or Maureen Andersen. 5
December Gardening Tips Mulch garden beds after the ground has frozen. Create a winter urn with evergreen boughs, pine cones and berried branches. Add gardening supplies to your holiday wish list. Pot up paperwhites and amaryllis for holiday blooms. Request seed catalogues. Hang bird feeders and fill with seed. Organize photos of your garden for a paper or electronic album. ie. Wasaga Beach Garden Club on Facebook. Sign up for gardening courses. Visit a conservatory or atrium garden. Plan design changes for next season s garden. Contributions to the Newsletter Including recipes, gardening tips should be forwarded to Eva Caulfield: Tel, 352-0767 or email: evacaulfield@gmail.com http://www.gardenontario.org/site.php/wasagahs 6