Dunnville Horticulture Society

Haldimand gardeners encouraged to paint their gardens

Choose complementary colour combinations in the garden, writes Marlene Link

 

Take your garden from ho-hum to wow. Just like an artist choosing the right colour combinations, so too is the colour choice for gardeners.

One of the biggest challenges is to get the colours to complement each other. Here are four colour combinations that can help achieve this goal.

Combination 1: Crisp white plus orangey yellow plus fiery red all equate to a hot and happy palette. Specimen plants include cosmos, yarrow, dahlia and black-eyed Susan.

Combination 2: Mellow yellow plus pure white plus purplish blue all equal a fancy and frilly palette. Specimen plants include golden Marguerite, white echinacea, delphinium and blue globe thistle.

Combination 3: Soft white plus pale silver plus medium green result in a muted and mixed palette. Specimen plants include foxtail lily, artemisia, English yew.

Combination 4: Ruby red plus vivid violet plus deep magenta translate into a cool and collected palette. Specimen plants would include red penstemon, rose campion, hardy geranium, salvia, and rose salvia.

Of course, there are many other plant combinations that you can create on your own. Happy painting!

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Dunnville Horticultural Society has suspended member meetings. If you have questions or comments, please contact group president Deb Zynomirski at debzyn@gmail.com or check out our website at www.dunnvillehortandgardenclub.org.

Group memberships for 2021 are currently available through mail. Send a cheque or money order ($10 for a single membership, $15 for a couple) to Dunnville Horticultural Society, P.O. Box 274, Dunnville, Ontario, N1A 2X5.

Marlene Link is a members of the Dunnville Horticultural Society.

Creating Habitat Gardens for Pollinators in the Greater Toronto Area

Flower Patch for Rusty-Patched Bumblebee

Attached, is a booklet that was made available to Master Gardeners of Niagara. Our January speaker on Zoom was Lorraine Johnson whose topic was Wild About Bees which linked using Natives and attracting pollinators. She gave us the link to download this booklet. It is actually part of a larger book she is co-authoring.

Dunnville Horticultural Society awards continuous service pins

By Deb Zynomirski

To The Haldimand Press

DUNNVILLE—The new year has brought new hope that we may see a light at the end of the proverbial pandemic tunnel, as vaccines begin to arrive. Our world has certainly changed a great deal over the one year since the COVID-19 pandemic first emerged as a health threat. 

Although Dunnville Horticultural Society (DHS) Program Nights have been on hiatus for the past year, our hardworking board of directors continues to meet behind the scenes, planning for what we hope will soon be a return to normal… or least the “new normal.” Usually one of the highlights of our year is awarding our continuous service pins. Although we were not able to award these in person last year, the pins were mailed out to recipients. Help us to congratulate the following members:

5 Year Service Pin

Rose Allen, Angela Barrick, Christina Cavers, Richard Egger, Steve Ellis, Nelly Engelage, Barb Gough, Susan Milligan, Evelyn Wardell, Florence Zynomirski, Peter Zynomirski

10 Year Service Pin

Stan Carnes, Donna Cavers, Anna Lam, Debbie Thomas

As you try to navigate through the coldest of these winter months, now is the perfect time to be planning your spring and summer garden activities. If you are a “grow from seed” type of gardener, start to peruse the seed catalogs. Both online and paper versions can add colour and excitement to your days! The same is true if you are a “pick ‘em and plant ‘em” type of gardener.

Take some time to draw a rough sketch of your gardens, then fill in the locations of trees, shrubs, and perennials. Make note of colour themes you are hoping to develop.  Heights of plants are a big consideration too.  Leaf texture and variety also lend interest to your garden. Highlight those areas in your garden beds that need soil amendment before planting time.

All of these factors will play into which plants you will select for your garden. It   doesn’t matter if you prefer vegetable or flower gardening, both will provide you with endless hours of pleasure, exercise, challenge, and satisfaction!

Some members have been asking how they can obtain their 2021 DHS membership.  Please send a cheque or money order ($10 single, $15 couple) to Dunnville Horticultural Society, P.O. Box 274, Dunnville, Ontario, N1A 2X5. Your membership card will be mailed directly to you.

You can keep up with us on our website at dunnvillehortandgardenclub.org. You can also contact me for more information at      debzyn@gmail.com. Think green thoughts!

Deb Zynomirski is the president of the Dunnville Horticultural Society.

Get Growing: The seeds of life

By Brad & Susan Emery

Happy New Year to all our readers. Being in a lockdown is never a good start to the new year. The weather is wonky, the geese are flying in circles, and we have a pool instead of an ice rink. However, what a great time to start planning a garden!

What you need to know is that by May 14, our area should be frost-free and most gardeners in our zone will start planting outdoors after the long weekend in May. But there’s a lot to do before then, especially for the gardener who likes to start things from seed.

Now, is a great time to relax in front of the fire with your favourite seed catalogues. But before you start that order it’s a good time to discuss what worked and what didn’t last season, what crops/plants to rotate, and most importantly, what seeds you need to order. Since we are seed savers and starters, we’re starting to go through all the seeds we have collected and are preparing them for planting. We are also noting the seeds we need to order.

Then we’ll start to look at our favourite catalogues which are Stokes, Veseys, Richters, Matchbox, and Urban Harvest. However, there are plenty more seed companies out there and these are simply the ones we’ve had positive experiences with. The larger companies such as Richters, Veseys, and Stokes offer some seed selections in bulk but the smaller ones such as Matchbox and Urban Harvest offer some unique heirloom selections and they are untreated seeds.

We love this time, browsing through the catalogues and dreaming about the summer season. We can hardly wait for the seed orders to come in so we can get started! You too can enjoy the experience of growing a seed to maturity, harvesting and eating what your own hands grow. With this experience you can also teach the younger generation to find passion in gardening. Just get growing!

Thanks everyone for reading. If you have any questions, comments, or any subjects that you would like to be featured you can find us at EmerysHomestead on Facebook.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Dunn-ville Horticultural Society (DHS) has suspended member meetings. If you have questions or comments, please contact DHS President Deb Zynomirski at debzyn@gmail.com or check out

dunnvillehortandgardenclub.org.

Note that 2021 DHS memberships are currently available through mail. Send a cheque or money order ($10 single, $15 couple) to Dunnville Horticultural Society, P.O.Box 274, Dunnville, Ontario N1A 2X5.

Brad and Susan Emery are members of the Dunnville Horticultural Society.