A small panel of master gardeners will talk about interesting ways to include annuals on your balconies, patios, and in your gardens. From small and sweet to big and bold, annuals with their wide variety of shapes and colours can add personality and character to any garden. Many of them play the useful role of attracting pollinators while others can offer a unique twist to your dinner plate, not to mention their role in making stunning bouquets.

COVID-19 Arrangements

In line with the Firehall’s virtual-programming approach, Garden Club meetings will be held, at least until the end of the year, virtually using the Zoom application. Members should register either for the season or on a meeting-by-meeting basis with the Firehall’s online registration process to receive the Zoom meeting coordinates. Registration for tours will be directly with the tour organizer. Mask-use and appropriate physical distancing during tours must be observed.

Meeting Fees:

2020—21 season: $25 for individuals; $40 for a family; drop-in fee—$7 per meeting. Fees for Gees Bees and Riverwood Gardens tours and the seasonal workshop are extra.

Old Ottawa South Community Centre (The Firehall—260 Sunnyside Ave.) at 613 247-4946 and www.oldottawasouth.ca

The Zoom link for the presentation will be emailed to OHS members.

Join us for an update on this exciting project, presented by Gérald Lajeunesse, Chair, Canadensis Botanical Garden Society Board of Directors.

Ottawa, as many cities across Canada and throughout the world, offers wonderful landscapes for the enjoyment of its residents and visitors, including large and small parks, landscaped parkways, plazas and public spaces as well as a few garden gems such as the Rideau Hall private gardens and Maplelawn. After 125 years in the making, we have reached a ‘tipping point’ where our greater community will be able to enjoy and boast of a major horticultural destination and attraction, a botanical garden that celebrates Canadian achievements while welcoming families, youth, international visitors to discover our national gardening and horticultural successes.

This presentation will share a vision for a national botanical garden based on a recently drafted masterplan presently under review by the Federal authorities, its benefits and new opportunities for community engagement.

No Yard – No Problem: Balcony and Patio Gardening Tips

with Lana Doss, owner of The Fine Gardener/Horticulture Instructor at Algonquin College

Zoom meeting – please pre-register. Limited spaces.

Email: presentation@wcgc.ca with your name and email address.

An invitation to join the Zoom session will be sent to you a few days before the event.

With the beginning of Spring only weeks away, many people are excited about buying new plants or planting seedlings they started from seed themselves.  To ensure success with your plants and garden, it is important to master the basics of gardening.   Paying attention to the basics is the best way to have healthy, well-grown plants.  Join Master Gardener Claire McCaughey to learn about the basics, essential to gardening success whether you are a novice gardener or an experienced one.   The basics include among others the following topics: soil and soil conditions, watering, soil amendments and fertilization, pests and diseases, and plant selection and planting.  

About the presenter:
Claire McCaughey  has a life-long love of gardening. She spent her childhood in Ireland and got her love of gardening from her grandmother.  Six years ago, Claire began to formally study horticulture and landscape design through the University of Guelph.  She joined Master Gardeners of Ottawa in 2015 and became a fully certified Master Gardener in 2018.  She also has a small gardening business.   She really enjoys working with people to provide advice about  gardening problems and challenges.   Her current gardening interests include native plants and edible gardens.  
 

This year, the AGM will be held via Zoom on Saturday, April 17, starting at 9:00 AM.

There will be a business meeting, an activity, a speaker and Door Prizes.   No cost to attend!

 The scheduled guest speaker will be: Larry Hodgson, The Laidback Gardener  

 https://laidbackgardener.blog/lectures/ 

 Candace Dressler, coordinator, would like to give all of you the opportunity to influence the choice of topic so please email her at candaceinthegarden@gmail.com before March 5 with the topic from Larry’s website that you would like to have him talk on.  She will compile the results and that will be the topic that is chosen.

 We will share the meeting links and full agenda closer to the date.

What is a bog garden? How do you build one? Why would you want to build one? Do they attract mosquitoes? What plants grow best in a bog garden? Do they need sun or shade? This presentation will answer these questions and many more. Bog gardens are environmentally friendly, use very little water, and can be created in any kind of garden.

email maria.sievers92@gmail.com for zoom link

In A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency, Seth Klein explores how we can align our politics and economy with science to address the climate crisis. The book is structured around lessons from the Second World War – the last time Canada faced an existential threat.  Join Seth Klein in conversation with lawyer, journalist and activist Dimitri Lascaris. 

Register for a reminder and for the Zoom Link. 

You can join us on Ottawa Public Library’s Facebook Live (no account needed) 

This program is offered by the Ottawa Public Library in partnership with the Ottawa International Writers Festival.

DETAILS:

This presentation by Master Gardener Lesley Peace will discuss climate change and its impact on our gardens. She will offer strategies and techniques to maintain resilient gardens, and suggest how, as gardeners, we can be better stewards of our changing environment.

COST: Individual Lectures: $8 FCEF members, $10 non-members. Purchase the full set of 5 lectures: $35 FCEF members, $45 non-members.

All payments can be made by PayPal or by credit card (email membership@friendsofthefarm.ca to get instructions for credit card payments to complete the transaction).

Member: $8     Non-member: $10       Series for Members: $35     Series for Non-members: $45

INFO: Email info@friendsofthefarm.ca for more information.

It’s that time of year when we are all anxious to get into our gardens and get things growing.

The next meeting of the Stittsville Goulbourn Horticultural Society on Tuesday, April 20th will take place virtually on Zoom at 7:00 pm.

Join Kim Bonin, the Garden Director of Jo-Jo’s Community Garden, who has many tips and ideas for us in her presentation, “Creative Garden Design and Tips for the Ottawa Climate.” 

Kim will share tips on how to design a new garden, using the best soil, how repurposing items can bring a creative touch to the garden, and more. She will explain some of the many successes, but also some of the downfalls, that she has had with growing and building the community garden.

Society members will be emailed the Zoom meeting invite and link. If you are not a member and would like to attend as a guest, or if you would like to become a member, please send an email to sghorticultural@gmail.com. Annual membership is $15 per person or $25 per family.

Please join us for what is sure to be an inspiring evening.

Le printemps s’en vient dans quelques semaines, et beaucoup de gens ont hâte d’acheter des nouvelles vivaces ou annuelles, ou de planter des plantes qu’ils ont fait pousser eux mêmes.   Faire attention aux bases de jardinage est le meilleur moyen d’avoir des plantes qui poussent bien et restent en bonne santé.  Joignez-vous à Claire McCaughey pour cet atelier en français –  que vous soyez un jardinier novice ou avec beaucoup d’expertise.   Parmi les thèmes discutés sont: le sol, les conditions du sol, l’eau et l’arrosage, les amendements de sol, l’engrais, les ravageurs et maladies des plantes,  et la sélection et cultivation des plantes.

À propos de Claire McCaughey

Claire a toujours aimé le jardinage depuis son enfance en Irlande.  Sa grande-mère avait un grand jardin sauvage. Il y a six ans, elle s’est mis à étudier formellement l’horticulture et l’aménagement de paysage dans les programmes de l’Université de Guelph.  Elle s’est joint à Master Gardeners d’Ottawa en 2015 et elle a reçu son certification comme Maître-Jardinier en 2018.  Elle a aussi une petite entreprise de jardinage.  Elle aime beaucoup aider les gens à résoudre les problèmes et défis du jardin et à créer des beaux jardins.   Parmi ses intérêts courants sont les plantes indigènes et les jardins de plantes comestibles. 

James Stone will give a presentation on his pond, including winterizing techniques for his fish and turtle.

7:00 to 7:30 pm – Meet and Greet

7:30 to 9:00 pm – Programme

9:00 to 9:30 pm – Mingling and pack-up

Join us for one free meeting, or be a return guest for $5.00 per meeting, which can be applied toward your membership if you decide to join later.

Butterflies come from caterpillars and caterpillars can only eat very specific
plants. To attract adult butterflies, a garden needs to have good
nectar-producing plants to feed the adults and, just as importantly, the
specific native host plants for the next generation.

Speaker Trish Murphy will look at some of the diverse species of Milkweeds that
attract Monarch and some other garden-worthy wildflowers that nurture
local butterflies, as caterpillars and as adults.

(photos provided by the speaker)

Trish has been growing native plants for more than twenty years. She was on
the board of the North American Native Plant Society and ran their
annual plant sale for several years, and then the Seed Exchange for a
couple more years. Renting 6 ft of heated greenhouse space in Toronto,
she produced hundreds of native plants for the annual sale. When she
moved to the Ottawa area seven years ago, she immediately began growing
native plants, and started selling her surplus at local Farmers Markets
in western Quebec This quickly became Beaux Arbres Native Plants
nursery. She and her partner Michael have been vendors at the
Experimental Farm’s Mother’s Day sale for 5 years, and at the Fletcher
Wildlife Garden June Native Plant Sale for four years. In 2019 they
joined the Westboro Ottawa Farmers Market, bringing a selection of
plants to Ottawa in the spring and late summer.
Trish has been a member of the Field Botanists of Ontario since 1997. She loves
experimenting with new species and new germination techniques — the only
drawback to growing plants is being too tied to the nursery to go on
botanical field trips to see new species in the wild.
—————————
This presentation will be a free Webinar. There is no registration required.
Please consider supporting the future activities of the OHS though
renewing your membership or joining for $15/yr, or though a donation at https://ottawahort.org

How to view the presentation:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMkJSn2gaoejcGCdzK6xRWg
To join the presentation, please click on the YouTube link to go to the
OHS YouTube Channel. To simply watch the presentation there is nothing
else you need to do. The presentation will also be recorded and
available at this link afterwards. The easiest way to find the channel
is using the link; if you are on YouTube and do a search please use
Ottawa Horticultural Society (we aren’t the only ones that use OHS as an
acronym!)

Starting the video:
Once you are on the site, you must click on the rectangle of the video to
start watching. Until 7:30 you will see a screen that says the
presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m., so please be patient.

This 1 hour webinar covers everything from soils, plants, design, planters, water requirements and nutrient relations. Learn all the best information available on creating and growing the best planters around!

This class includes some hands on demonstration and power point slides.

Instructor Ken Salvail

Price: $19.95

DETAILS:

This presentation by Master Gardeners Candace Dressler and Rob Stuart focuses on perennials that will introduce colour to your gardens throughout the year. Beginning with spring and on through summer, fall, and winter, we will identify those perennials that are hardy to the Ottawa area and that you can count on to be robust and colourful, whether your garden is full sun, full shade, or somewhere in between.

COST: Individual Lectures: $8 for FCEF members and $10 for non-members.

Purchase the full set of 5 lectures: $35 FCEF members, $45 non-members.

All payments can be made by PayPal or by credit card (email membership@friendsofthefarm.ca to get instructions for credit card payments to complete the transaction).

Member: $8      Non-member: $10    Series for Members: $35     Series for Non-members: $45

INFO: Email info@friendsofthefarm.ca for more information.

Blaine Marchand, leader of the Peony gardening team at the Central Experimental Farm will present an overiew of the genus paeonia and touch on its history and the different types of peonies to the Kanata-March Horticultural Society.  The talk will include discussion of species, lactiflora, tree and intersectional (Itohs) varieties. It will discuss planting, maintenance and dividing plants as well as growing peonies from seed. Reference will be made to Canadian hybridizers, peonies, and suppliers, including the work of A.P. Saunders at the Central Experimental Farm and his contribution to the world of peonies.

This talk is an introduction to the topic of organic gardening, with a focus on growing food.  Join Master Gardener Rebecca Last to learn pros and cons; tools of the trade; getting to know your garden; some simple soil tests; managing weeds, bugs and diseases; crop rotation; and companion planting. We will share a list of resources for organic gardening in the Ottawa area.

Rebecca Last is a Master Gardener of Ottawa Carleton and the NRCan Gardening for Wellness Coordinator. 

Makeovers for Tired Gardens and Tired Gardeners with Guest speaker: Mary Sherman Reid, Master Gardener, Green Thumb Nursery

Given that the current COVID-19 situation makes it impossible for the GGG to conduct monthly meetings in person for the foreseeable future, we will be presenting our upcoming speakers via on-line ZOOM meetings. GGG members will be reminded of the upcoming meetings by an email which will provide the neceesary ZOOM meeting code and password.

All of the Greely Gardeners Group monthly meetings are open to both members (membership cost is $15.00 a year) and non-members.

There are two seasons in Ottawa-winter and construction? Not so for our gardens. We can enjoy the beauty of nature and our gardens all year long with a little planning and know how. Big or small, seeing our gardens as four-season tableaus keeps our gardens “alive” in our minds and hearts.

MHS is honoured to present an evening with renowned and influential gardener, Paul Zammit. Enjoy this enthusiastic presentation filled with advice and insights from the winner of the 2019 Landscape Ontario, Garden Communicator of the Year award.

Paul Zammit is a professor of horticulture at Niagara College. Previously, Paul spent 10 years as the director of horticulture at the Toronto Botanical Garden. Paul has been a passionate voice for horticulture for over 25 years. His knowledge has been showcased in magazines, television, and radio

As climate change brings hotter weather, more extreme precipitation events, and drought, how can we gardeners adapt? Master Gardener Rebecca Last addresses strategies for water-wise gardening in four general categories: water conservation techniques, including soil building; water harvesting; plant selection; and garden design, including a brief introduction to permaculture.

COVID-19 Arrangements

In line with the Firehall’s virtual-programming approach, Garden Club meetings will be held, at least until the end of the year, virtually using the Zoom application. Members should register either for the season or on a meeting-by-meeting basis with the Firehall’s online registration process to receive the Zoom meeting coordinates. Registration for tours will be directly with the tour organizer. Mask-use and appropriate physical distancing during tours must be observed.

Meeting Fees:

2020—21 season: $25 for individuals; $40 for a family; drop-in fee—$7 per meeting. Fees for Gees Bees and Riverwood Gardens tours and the seasonal workshop are extra.

Old Ottawa South Community Centre (The Firehall—260 Sunnyside Ave.) at 613 247-4946 and www.oldottawasouth.ca

Cette présentation est une introduction au jardinage biologique, avec une emphase sur la production maraichère. Joignez-vous à Odette McIntyre, Maître-Jardinier, pour cet atelier en français sur le vocabulaire sur le jardinage biologique; les pour et les contre de cette approche; les techniques; une compréhension de votre propre jardin; des analyses simples de votre sol; des idées de gestion des mauvaises herbes, des insectes nuisibles et des maladies; la rotation des récoltes et le co-jardinage de plantes compagnes. Odette va partager une liste de ressources pour le jardinage biliogique dans la région d’Ottawa. 

À propos d’Odette McIntyre

Odette a eu le coup de foudre pour l’horticulture à l’âge de 8 ans, dans son village natal de Ste Anne de Beaupré, Québec. Elle a poursiuivi des études en Phytotechnologie à l’Institut de Technologie Agricole de La Pocatière. Après sa graduation en 1980, Odette a travaillé au Jardin Botanique de Montréal avant de déménager dans la région de Toronto où elle a continué à oeuvrer en Horticulture dans la Région de York.  Odette est devenue Maître-Jardinier en 2015. Elle vient de se relocaliser à Ottawa en 2020.

DETAILS:

Your garden is alive at night. Some scents are magnified and some plants open only at dusk. Night-time pollinators of fascinating sizes and markings appear in the dark. Master Gardener Judith Cox will help you discover how to make the most of your night-time garden.

COST: Individual Lectures: $8 for FCEF members and $10 for non-members. Purchase the full set of 5 lectures: $35 FCEF members, $45 non-members.

All payments can be made by PayPal or by credit card (email membership@friendsofthefarm.ca to get instructions for credit card payments to complete the transaction).

Member: $8       Non-member: $10      Series for Members: $35    Series for Non-members: $45

INFO: Email info@friendsofthefarm.ca for more information.

You can grow vegetables here and there and anywhere! Join Master Gardener Judith Cox for an introduction to vegetable gardening.

A Master Gardener since 2011, Judith Cox has always loved working with plants, and enjoys sharing that love with others. Heritage vegetables are a favourite of hers along with roses and herbs and fairy gardens. After working for 15 years as the gardener for Saunders Farm, she is now a garden consultant and a volunteer at Master Gardener advice clinics at local farmer’s markets. As of 2020, she is president of the Stittsville Goulbourn Horticultural Society and writes a weekly column called Veggie Bites. She also sells her watercolour/pen and ink cards.

The Friends of the Farm Board of Directors cordially invites you to attend our 2021 Annual General Meeting. Membership in FCEF is not required to attend; however only FCEF members are eligible to vote. The business portion of the meeting will be followed by a virtual presentation entitled Horticultural Therapy: Connecting with Nature from horticultural therapist Sarah Shapiro. 

Please register through our website if you would like to attend. The meeting link with be sent only to those who have registered. 

Sarah Shapiro practices horticultural therapy at the Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre in Ottawa. She runs both one-on-one and group horticultural therapy programs for veterans and and community seniors, including those with dementia and in palliative care. Sarah incorporates complementary and adjunct therapies into her programs, including mindfulness, meditation, and aromatherapy. She is a member of the Ottawa Horticultural Society, the Ottawa Herb Society, the Canadian Horticultural Therapy Association, and the Friends of the Farm. 

• The Friends of the Farm board of directors cordially invites the public to attend our 2021 Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, May 19, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. Membership in FCEF is not required to attend; however only fully paid members may vote.

• The AGM will be held virtually. Details to follow soon.

• The meeting will be followed by a virtual presentation from the horticultural therapist Sarah Shapiro.

• Please register if you plan to attend. The meeting link will be sent only to registered attendees. 

• If you are a member, please make arrangements to renew your membership, if necessary, to be eligible to vote. You can do so in one of two ways: by printing the membership form and sending with cheque payment via mail, or by renewing online prior to the meeting. Please provide adequate time for your renewal to be processed (2 weeks for mail, 24 hours for online).

Sarah Shapiro practices horticultural therapy at the Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre in Ottawa. She runs both one-on-one and group horticultural therapy programs for veterans and community seniors, including those with dementia and in palliative care. Sarah incorporates complementary and adjunct therapies into her programs, including mindfulness, meditation, and aromatherapy. She is also a member of the Ottawa Horticultural Society, Ottawa Herb Society, The Canadian Horticultural Therapy Association, and the Friends of the Farm.

COST: Admission is free, but registration is required to obtain the link to the meeting’s platform.

INFO:  The Friends of the Farm office is closed, and voicemail messages are monitored on an irregular basis. Email info@friendsofthefarm.ca for any issues.

The sale will be run through 32Auctions, the same site as we ran our Fall sale and Auction.  Before the sale site opens, you will need to create a username and password for the 32auctions site if you don’t already have one.  You can do so here: https://www.32auctions.com/ by clicking on the “Login” link and then following the link that says “Don’t have an account? Create an account now”.

All plants purchased will be available for pick-up on Sat. May 29, 2021 between 12 and 3 pm at St. Mark’s Anglican Church, 1606 Fisher Ave. at Normandy Cres. (Ottawa) in the parking lot behind the church (entrance to parking lot is on Normandy). Please wear a mask and follow social distancing rules.

Please bring your item numbers and names of items, boxes or trays to carry your plants, and proof of payment. Payment can be made through Stripe on the auction website. Credit card/debit payments will also be accepted at the time of pick-up, as well as cheques. No cash please – we are trying to be as contactless as possible.

Don’t miss the OHS’s featured speaker for 2021, Doug Tallamy!

Recent headlines about global insect declines and three billion fewer birds in
North America are a bleak reality check about how ineffective our
current landscape designs have been at sustaining the plants and animals
that sustain us. Such losses are not an option if we wish to continue
our current standard of living on Planet Earth. The good news is that
none of this is inevitable.

Professor and author Doug Tallamy will discuss simple steps that each of us can –
and must – take to reverse declining biodiversity and will explain why
we, ourselves, are nature’s best hope.

Doug Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife
Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored 104
research publications and has taught insect related courses for 40
years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many
ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine
the diversity of animal communities. His book “Bringing Nature Home: How
Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens” was published by Timber
Press in 2007 and was awarded the 2008 Silver Medal by the Garden
Writers’ Association. “The Living Landscape”, co-authored with Rick
Darke, was published in 2014.

Doug’s new book “Nature’s Best Hope”, released by Timber Press in February 2020, is a New York Times Best
Seller. Among his awards are the Garden Club of America Margaret Douglas
Medal for Conservation and the Tom Dodd, Jr. Award of Excellence, the
2018 AHS B.Y. Morrison Communication Award and the 2019 Cynthia Westcott
Scientific Writing Award.

Photo provided by the speaker.

————————-
This presentation will be a free Webinar. There is no registration required.
Please consider supporting the future activities of the OHS though
renewing your membership or joining for $15/yr, or though a donation at https://ottawahort.org

How to view the presentation:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMkJSn2gaoejcGCdzK6xRWg

To join the presentation, please click on the YouTube link to go to the
OHS YouTube Channel. To simply watch the presentation there is nothing
else you need to do. The presentation will also be recorded and
available at this link afterwards. The easiest way to find the channel
is using the link; if you are on YouTube and do a search please use
Ottawa Horticultural Society (we aren’t the only ones that use OHS as an
acronym!).

Starting the video:
Once you are on the site, you must click on the rectangle of the video to
start watching. Until 7:30 you will see a screen that says the
presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m., so please be patient.

Involving children in the garden will not only give you joy but will also give them a new look at the world.  As an honorary garden fairy herself, Judith Cox, Master Gardener, has a background as a nursery school teacher and is superb at engaging little people in simple gardening activities.  

A Master Gardener since 2011, Judith Cox has always loved working with plants, and enjoys sharing that love with others.  Heritage vegetables are a favourite of hers along with roses and herbs and fairy gardens.  After working for 15 years as the gardener for Saunders Farm, she is now a garden consultant and speaker, and a volunteer at Master Gardener advice clinics at local farmer’s markets. As of 2020, she is president of the Stittsville Goulbourn Horticultural Society and writes a weekly column called Veggie Bites.