[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1471633008692{margin-top: 10px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1471632072516{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text el_class=”text-left”]June 2016
Happy Summer! Finally! We’ve been waiting so long for the warm weather. The temperature has been somewhat inconsistent but it beats winter! I am enjoying watching my perennials flowering and like any gardener I keep digging them up and moving them around. Perennial gardens are always a work in progress.
The plant sale on May 14th was a huge success (no surprise there)! Thank you so much to everyone who donated plants and to everyone who helped accepting and sorting them on Friday night, and of course to everyone who helped on Saturday with the sale. The weather wasn’t very co-operative, but despite the rain we had a great turn-out of volunteers and shoppers. We raised $1918.00 and signed up 17 junior gardeners!
Planting day on May 28th was a resounding success, largely in part from President Debbie Thomas’s hard work organizing things and doing a lot of preparatory work along with Steve Elgersma, and George & Shirley Hoto. Mother Nature was on board, too, and she made it a beautiful sunny day. Thank you so much to the 25 adult volunteers who came out to plant the beds in town and the 10 junior gardeners who came out to plant the bed at the Floral Clock. Planting was finished early and the flowerbeds look awesome!! Konkle’s Greenhouses kindly donated 250 trays of annuals and 64 grasses this year. They have teamed with us for many years now-we don’t know what we’d do without them. Prior to planting day DHS also planted numerous perennials in the town beds in an ongoing effort to have sustainable plants that are resilient and drought tolerant. Russ Savage of Landscapes with Russ has revamped our East & West Dunnville signs with new perennials, donating all the material and labour, and in partnering with the Rotary Club we were able to get George Byleveld to install the beautiful concrete edging around these beds. Thank you, also, to Egger Truck & Machine for taking care of the watering. Each year the town looks better and better during the summer. You may have already noticed that there are many more flower pots on display downtown thanks to the BIA who has been working closely with the DHS for the past few years to dress up the downtown core. Everything has come together beautifully.
At our upcoming program we will be holding a spring flower show. The Fall Flower & Veggie show has been a big hit the past 2 years so this year we are having 2 shows: June and October. There are divisions for both junior gardeners and adults. Our members are so talented at putting together creative and beautiful arrangements. Our speaker that evening will be Frank Kershaw from the Toronto Botanical Gardens. He’ll be talking to our group about “Recycled and Repurposed Garden Art”.
Make sure to mark Sunday, July 10th on your calendar for our members’ only garden tours. So far there are 8 gardens confirmed. This is to be a self-guided tour. You can start and end where you like. Gardens will be open from 10:00 am to 4:00 p.m. Each home will have a sitting area but unfortunately washroom facilities will not be available nor food or refreshments. Please keep this in mind when you are planning your day. An updated list of gardens with addresses and directions will be available at the program on June 16th. More information will be on our website and you can also contact President Debbie Thomas at 905-774-3064.
The next thing on the agenda for the summer is our bus tour to Niagara on Saturday, August 13th. Deb Zynomirski has arranged a coach and driver to take us to Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens, then on a tour of three distinguished wineries of the region: Reif Estate Winery, Southbrook Vineyards, and Konzelmann Estate Winery. Tickets are $50 per person and we’ll be leaving Dunnville at 9:00 am and returning late afternoon. Ticket prices do not include meals, but food and drink will be available at a reasonable cost. Bringing a ‘brown bag’ lunch is another option. Tickets are going fast-get yours before it’s too late. Please call Deb at 416- 566- 9337. It should prove to be a great day!
Since most people are busy with family activities and vacations during the summer there’ll be no monthly program at the Optimist Hall in July or August. Our next monthly program will be on Thursday, September 15th. As the weather heats up remember to take it easy, don’t get too hot working out in your gardens, and most of all take the time to sit back and really enjoy the fruits of your labour: our gardens are a great source of mental and physical therapy as well as a great source of pride. See you at the upcoming program!
Sue Mazi, DHS Corresponding Secretary.
Essential advice for the Gardener: grow peas of mind, lettuce be thankful, squash selfishness, turnip to help thy neighbour, and always make thyme for loved ones.
~ Author Unknown[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]