Kemptville Horticultural Society

Submitted by Catherine Johnson

Well I think we have had enough rain already. The deficit we had in the water table last year has been well reversed. Our thoughts are with those whose worries have turned to protecting their homes from flooding.

At our April meeting, we welcomed Geraldine Baker – aka The Worm Lady. Geraldine gave a passionate presentation on the benefits of worm composting and composting in general. She is a wealth of information and passed on many helpful hints on composting. She also had some worm starter kits available for sale.

At our May meeting. I will be giving a slide presentation from my recent trip to Spain where I happened upon three beautiful gardens in my travels. The gardens were located in the cities of Malaga and Cadiz, Spain and another in Gibraltar a British Territory.

Our society hosted a very successful District 1 AGM on April 22, 2016 that was enjoyed by all.

All 8 horticultural societies in District 1 were represented at the AGM. It was a full day of presentations, fellowship, the AGM meeting and a beautiful turkey dinner catered by the Ottawa Mission. We were very happy to welcome Dave Dunn from Rideau Woodland Ramble and Suzanne Patry from Whitehouse Perennials as our presenters.

Hope you can all make our spring plant sale that is taking place on Saturday, May 13 from 9 to noon at the Ferguson Forest Center. This is an amazing chance to get divisions of plants directly from our gardens.

Do not forget to mark your calendars for our upcoming 2017 Bud to Bloom Garden tour to be held on June 24, 2017. Tickets are selling for $15 and are available to be purchased at both Brewed Awakening and Home and Beyond in Kemptville. This year we are offering 8 outstanding gardens as part of the tour, as well as a tea to be held at the Community Hall in Burritt’s Rapids.

As promised in my April newsletter, I will give you a brief glimpse of our final four gardens on the tour.

The fifth garden on the tour is an informal, work in progress garden nestled within a more formal stone wall and wrought iron fence that beautifully compliments the 1830’s stone house. This garden is full of perennials and mature shrubs that suit the shady nature of the garden. The sixth garden is located within a 45 acre plot. This garden hosts 20 flower beds, all perennials and shrubs, plus an amazing collection of 150 varieties of daylilies, an apple grove, a hosta garden and a wild garden for the butterflies and bees. The seventh garden of this Cape Cod Cottage features many perennial varieties and is a sanctuary within the town of Kemptville. The yard is divided into many gardens featuring hostas, roses, phlox, hibiscus, morning glories and much more. The owners welcome you to come and enjoy. The eighth garden is an example of an amazing garden designed on a small urban lot within a newer subdivision in Kemptville. This owner has been an avid gardener all her life and does all the work herself. She has introduced a variety of plants, with pops of bold colors and architectural elements and has managed to keep the space organic to protect the birds and helpful bugs.

We hope that you will be able to join us on June 24, 2017 for this amazing collection of gardens. All proceeds from this tour will go towards our bursary programs awarded annually to local area students.

You are welcome to be our guest at your first meeting. Our next meeting is on Wednesday, May 17th at 7:30 at 1964 County Road 43. If you are interested in joining, yearly membership fees are $15. Whether you are an experienced gardener or someone moving into one of the many new homes being built in North Grenville, we will have something of interest for you. There is also plenty of free gardening advice available during coffee and refreshments. We look forward to meeting you.

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