Dunnville Horticulture Society

DHS Monthly Program – Optimist Hall

Sue Mazi, DHS Corresponding Secretary

Feb. 2015

Meeting was opened by Debbie Thomas at 7:00 p.m.

There were 52 people signed in. We have 91 members as of today.

Thank you to Julie Druery, Anna Lam and Barb Whyte for supplying goodies for everyone.

Debbie reviewed the 2015 brochures with our members and discussed the upcoming Lions Home & Garden show (April 17, 18th). We will be participating in Community Lane this year at the Mudcat Festival instead of being in the parade. Volunteers are needed at both events. She also talked about Trillium award committee and what is involved. Bus trips, tours and workshops not listed in the agenda were mentioned as well. Members will be informed if anything becomes available via email, website or at the general meetings.

The complete 2015 brochures were reviewed and projects for 2015 were also discussed including floral clock and a possible light up display for Wingfield Park at Christmas. The bandshell is being repaired by Haldimand County this year so now that we know it’s staying it would be nice to plant some trees there. The original Maples in the park were planted by the DHS approximately 86 years ago. Also the fountain at Centennial Park is on our radar for a possible future project. We are also hoping to partner with the Rotary Club to assist them with a planting around Muddy the Mudcat this season after they complete any necessary repairs to the statue.

Kirsten Asher and Barb Whyte received their 5 year membership pins.

Beth Powell brought in seed donations for members to try at home.

Kim Christoff presented the Treasurer’s Report.

Quint night was held Feb 18th in Haldimand County. This is where Dunnville’s service groups get together to showcase what they are about. We were invited for the 2nd time, and we are thrilled that we have been included because we are not a service group. We are finally being recognized for the hard work that we do beautifying the town. Getting together with these groups make our planning so much easier each year. Debbie Thomas, Deb Zynomirski and Gloria Hunter attended.

Sue Mazi and Ian Steel gave a demonstration of the DHS’s Website.

Our guest speaker for the evening was Paul Bolland of the Potting Shed in Dunnville. He spoke about water gardening and ponds. A very informative and engaging speaker. (View presentation notes)

The Early Bird Draw winner was Bruce Nevils. I don’t think any other member has been as lucky at winning draws as Bruce. Congratulations! Bruce won a $25 gift certificate from Vermeer’s Garden Centre.

Judy Jeffery had a table set up with a large number of free CDs, DVDs and magazines for our members. Don Davis gave a $100 memorial donation to the DHS for the ones that were left at the end of the night in the name of Judy’s husband Ron who recently passed away. Thank you to Judy and Don.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:55p.m. The Ways & Means earned $43.00. Thank you to Betty Ballanger and Gwen VanNatter for doing their usual magic.

Thank you to all the volunteers who worked so hard to make this evening’s meeting possible. Good work everyone.

DHS Newsletter

Sue Mazi, DHS Corresponding Secretary
Feb. 2015

Happy February! Brrrrrr….  ♬♪ Baby it’s cold outside ♫♬.
I hope you are managing to keep warm. It’s hard to imagine gardening right now with all the snow that’s piled up outside. For now all we can do is plan and look forward to warmer days to come. Anticipation of our spring gardens is one of the best things about gardening in Ontario.Our year has gotten off to a wonderful start. The January general meeting was well attended. Thank you so much to Judy Jeffery, Pauline Bradford, Marlene Link and Mary Fretz for kindly donating their time and expertise as our panel of garden experts. There were many questions thrown at them by our members and they graciously and humorously answered them all. We will definitely do this again next year.

Our guest speaker for this month’s general meeting is Paul Bolland of the Potting Shed in Dunnville. He is going to speak to us about water gardening and ponds. I am so looking forward to hearing what he has to share with us. I have a small fish pond in my back yard with 4 of the fish being 13 years old. I got them as feeder fish in 2002 and they travelled with us to town when we sold our farm 7 years ago. March’s guest speaker is none other than Lester Fretz. This is his 4th visit and he’ll be talking to us about “Profitable Plant Propagation”.

We have firmed up a few more speakers for this year. Your president, Debbie Thomas, has been working very hard organizing and planning the meetings for the year. We will have copies of our 2015 agendas at this meeting with updated speakers and activities on it…please make sure you grab a copy.

We’re going to be attending the Lions’ Home & Garden show this year…yay! We took last year off but we’re ready to do it again. We’ll need volunteers to man the booth during both days so be prepared to sign up for a shift or two. It’s a great way to meet people and recruit new members. The Lions’ Home & Garden show takes place April 17 & 18th at the Dunnville Memorial Arena.

We won’t be voting on the general meeting minutes any more unless a motion is made. Kim will continue to email them out to you and we’ll post them on the bulletin board at the meeting. If you have any questions about the minutes or the treasurer’s reports please feel free to approach us at the meeting or send an email.

Garden tip of the month:  Certain seeds can be started as early as February. Slow growing annuals such as marigolds, impatiens, pansies, snapdragons, and petunias can be started any time now. There’s a myriad of gardening shows on television these days—it’s always a great way to get inspired for the upcoming growing season.

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