(Danny Kingsbury, winner of Best in Show, was in attendance at the March 19, 2024 SGHS meeting to receive the coveted Gillick Cup for his entry in the 2024 SGHS photo competition. Photos: Penny Horeczy)
The guest speaker at the March 19th meeting of the Stittsville Goulbourn Horticultural Society (SGHS) was Ottawa-Carleton Master Gardener, Andrea Knight. The topic for the evening was ‘Gardening in Smaller Spaces’. Andrea who gardens in her own small challenging yard walked the audience through many tips and tricks to increase the change of character in your garden.
Andrea had several suggestions for those who garden in small spaces, such as the use of layering plants (the use of those with longer bloom times or are repeat bloomers); creating a plant list; plan for sunny and shady area plants; and, going vertical using climbing plants or a trellis or two. In addition, hanging baskets or suspended garden boxes will also help leverage vertical spaces. Andrea says, “For me, small garden spaces continue to generate big ideas.”
Also present at the meeting was Danny Kingsbury who was a winner in three categories in the 2024 SGHS photo competition: Class 1: Purple is the Colour of 2023; Class 3: From September to Frost; and, Best in Show. Having won Best in Show, Judith Cox, President of SGHS, was pleased to present Danny with the coveted Gillick Cup and $50.00 in prize money for his photo of clusters of grapes and grape vines.
If you have ideas for next year’s photo competition, the SGHS are encouraging members to send them to: sghorticultural@gmail.com.
Kim Bonin is an important member of the SGHS. President, Judith Cox said, “she is always there to help when she is needed and we appreciate everything she does for us and the good work she does at JoJo’s Community Garden.” For this reason, the SGHS annually provides a donation every Spring to Kim to assist with the start-up costs for the garden. This year, the SGHS donated $250.00 to Jo-Jo’s Community Garden. Our annual Clean up the Capital event will be Saturday April 27, 10am, to Noon at Village Square Park. Rain Date Saturday May 4. Our Annual Plant Sale is May 25 from 9am to Noon at the Parking Lot 1469 Main Street.
The Seedy Saturday held at the Carp Agricultural Building on March 9th was another successful event for SGHS again this year. The members had fun and raised funds for three local foodbanks. The group also had a table set-up to support Seeds of Diversity with many swapping seeds. Some paid for their seeds and this allowed the SGHS to donate $50.00 to the Seeds of Diversity cause.
The SGHS has some exciting events coming up – so mark you calendars.
On Saturday, April 27 (rain date is May 4th) from 10:00am to 12:00pm at Village Square Park, they will be ‘Cleaning the Capital’ as they do every Spring and Fall. If you would like to volunteer and if you are a student your hours can be submitted for your mandatory school volunteer hours. Send an email to: sghorticultural@gmail.com to find out more.
Another event that everyone looks forward to is the Annual Plant Sale. This year it will be held on Saturday, May 25 from 9:00am to 12:00pm in the parking lot at 1469 Stittsville Main Street (Brokerlink building). This is a great opportunity to pick-up reasonably priced plants that you know will survive in your garden as the plants are from your local horticultural society members’ gardens.
The society has the lead for maintaining the Lee Boltwood Park at the corner of Malahat Way and Abbott Street, East. Each Spring there is a need for volunteers to assist in the maintenance and clean-up after the winter. If you have questions, want more details or can volunteer for a few hours, please contact Arlene Rowe at: arlene@aerowe.com, your assistance will be greatly appreciated.
To discover more about gardening or to become a member of the Stittsville Goulbourn Horticultural Society, visit their website at: https://sghorticultural.wixsite.com/website.
