September 2012 - Dunnville Horticultural Society

DHS Newsletter

Sue Mazi, DHS Corresponding Secretary

Sept. 2012 Hello everyone! Labour Day has arrived so it’s time to put away the white shoes and purses. Summer is finally winding down, and with the days getting shorter it’s time to start thinking about preparing our gardens for (oh my goodness I hate to say it!) winter.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Lori Maracle as our new Vice-President. She brings fresh ideas, lots of gardening knowledge and lots of energy to put that knowledge to work. She spear-headed the organization of teams to plant Dunnville’s flowerbeds in May and the town has looked beautiful all summer long. Volunteers are always welcomed and needed to help with the planting, maintenance and fall clean-up of the beds. Lori has also started writing articles for the Dunnville Chronicle. Articles will be published at least once a month, if not more, so please take the time to read them. They are very informative and entertaining. Betty Ballanger, our preceding Vice-President, is still on-board as our 2^nd VP and will still be organizing and running our Ways and Means draw each month. Betty does such a great job raising money each month and works very hard for the DHS.

Unfortunately we have had to cancel our annual Flower and Vegetable Show which was scheduled for September 22^nd. A scheduling conflict has made the Optimist Hall unavailable for that day. We would like to apologize to anyone that this may have inconvenienced.

Part of one of the oldest and largest beautification programs in North America, the Dunnville Horticultural Society’s Trillium Awards Program has been an institution since 1975. Hundreds of Trillium Award recipients later, the program continues to generate civic pride. The Trillium Awards Program recognizes those residents who, by landscaping and maintaining their property, have contributed to a more attractive neighbourhood and community. We had well over 50 nominations this year. 15 residential homes and 5 commercial properties receive awards each year. Property owners can be awarded a maximum of 5 awards, and commercial properties can receive a maximum of 3.

The Trillium Awards for 2012 have been awarded and announced. Hopefully you saw the pictures of the winning homes in the Dunnville Chronicle. They are: 39 Oswego Park, 2623 Northshore Drive, 124 Mohawk Point Rd., 7253 Rainham Rd., 787 Marshall Rd., 128 Concession West, 907 Cedar St., 128 Forest St. W., 97 Haldimand Rd. #17, 530 Broad St. W., 444 Broad St. W., 438 Broad St. W., 408 Ross Avenue, 205 Oak St., 315 Brace St., and the 5 businesses who won were Grand River Kayak, Ballard-Minor Funeral Home, McDonald’s, Kingdom Hall, and Haldimand War Memorial Hospital’s Courtyard Memorial Garden. Congratulations to all of our winners. Your hard work has certainly not gone unnoticed.

Our next General Meeting is Thursday, September 20^th and our guest speaker is Leanne Dykun from Blooming Designs. She’ll be talking to us about flower arranging. I’m sure this will be a very informative and entertaining evening for us. Our general meetings are open to anyone so please bring a friend. There is no cost for non-members to attend and everyone is welcome.

Garden Tip of the Month: Fall is a great time to plant trees, shrubs, bulbs, and perennials. Plants that are planted this time of year enjoy warmer soil temperatures and ideal growing conditions that allow roots ample to time to establish themselves before winter. Use starter plant fertilizer when planting. Plants and trees that provide colour this time of year include Hydrangeas, Butterfly bush, Hibiscus (Rose of Sharon), Hydrangeas, Potentillas, and Viburnums.

Happy Gardening! See you at the meeting.
Sue Mazi, DHS Corresponding Secretary.

Essential advice for the gardener: grow peas of mind, lettuce be thankful, squash selfishness, turnip to help thy neighbor, and always make thyme for loved ones. ~Author Unknown

DHS Monthly Program – Optimist Hall

Sept. 2012

Meeting was to called to order by Vice-president Lori Maracle at 7:20 p.m.

Trillium Awards: Lori welcomed the 2012 Trillium Award Winners who were able to attend the meeting to receive their awards in person. 14 winners were able to attend. Susan Lusted, director of Ontario Horticultural Society District 9, and Dunnville Councillor Lorne Boyko attended to present the awards. Thank you very much to both for taking the time to come to our meeting. Each winner was presented with a 2012 Garden Stake and each house was beautifully photographed and framed. Each picture is on display at the Optimist Hall until 2013 Trillium Awards are presented. There was an amazing spread of food and a beautiful cake. Everything was delicious and a big thank you to Maura Cooper and her assistants for their work in the kitchen.

Minutes: The minutes were handed out and read by the members. They were accepted as read by Vel LeVette, and seconded by Pauline Bradford. All in favour.

Treasurer’s Report: August’s report was displayed on the wall for everyone to see and was read aloud by Sue Mazi.

Members to date: 116
Opening balance: $ 8712.34
Income: $476.00
Expenses: $777.17
Closing Balance: $8411.41

New Mail: There was no new mail.

New Business: Lori reminded everyone about the upcoming photography contest which will be judged at our November 22^nd meeting. There are 4 categories which are: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring. You can enter one photograph in each category.

Lori spoke about the new flowerbeds that the town has built. They are near the bridge and are part of the downtown revitalization project. Bulbs have been graciously donated to us by Mary Galli, and the Dunnville BIA has donated $500 towards the purchase of bulbs, and they will need to be planted soon.

Flowerbeds: October 13^th will be our flowerbed cleanup day. We will also plant the bulbs the same day. A BBQ will be held at Lori & Rob Maracle’s home afterwards. A volunteer sign-up sheet was passed around. There will be a meeting held at the Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, September 27^th to organize the clean-up and planting. Please attend if you wish to help out.

Lori thanked the 2012 executive and directors. Their hard work has made 2012 a banner year for this organization. She introduced the executive and directors who were present to the members and informed everyone that we will have 2 openings for directors for 2013. Nominations were taken and Betty Ballanger nominated Debbie Wilson. Judy seconded the motion. Pam Blanchard nominated Janice Croft. Debbie Thomas seconded the motion.

Our October General meeting is our annual Pot Luck dinner. Members are invited to bring their favourite dish and plan on indulging in lots of great food. Please remember that the meeting starts at 6:00 p.m.

Lori introduced our guest speaker for the evening, Leanne Dykun. She owns Blooming Designs which is located in downtown Dunnville. She spoke about and demonstrated flower arranging. The beautiful rose arrangement that she made was won by Vel LeVette.

The Way & Means draw raised $70.00. Thank you to everyone who helped this evening with organizing, set-up and clean-up. Your hard work is always appreciated. The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.