Well, the good weather is finally here…I think. It hasn’t been the warmest but with the longer days I’ll take it. No more winter coats and boots. Plants are popping up everywhere and it’s always exciting to see how my perennials fared over the winter. So far so good.

Our appearance at the Lions’ Home & Garden show was a huge success. We had lots of visitors to our booth and we managed to sign up quite a few new members. I think people were especially impressed with our demonstrations. Thank you to everyone who came out to help. The Lions’ Home & Garden show is our best form of advertisement each year promoting who we are and what we do.

District 9 has awarded us the “Doris Lightheart” award for the biggest increase in membership in our district for 2015. We actually had the biggest increase for all of Ontario. We have a strong society and our presence in Dunnville gets bigger every year. Someone said recently that the DHS is the best kept secret in town. Well, not anymore! With 91 in attendance last month I guess our secret is out. The Doris Lightheart award will be on display at the upcoming program. As of last week we have 215 members, not including our junior gardeners. Congratulations everyone!

Our “world famous” plant sale is coming up on Saturday, May 14th (you may be reading this after the sale in which case I’ll fill you in on how successful it was in my next newsletter). We decided to hold it one week later than usual (after Mother’s Day) because of the crazy weather we’ve been having the past couple of years. This way everyone’s plants will have an extra week to develop in what hopefully will be some warm sun. Donations are being accepted on Friday, May 13th at the Farmer’s Market parking lot from 5 pm to 7 pm. Please have your donations clearly labeled with the plant’s name, colour and sun/shade requirements. The sale starts at 8 am on the 14th at the Optimist Hall parking lot and usually runs until noon.

Planting day is Saturday, May 28th this year. Planting and maintaining Dunnville’s flowerbeds are what our society is all about. Each year the town looks better and better. A volunteer sign-up sheet will be passed around at the upcoming program. Please volunteer some time. Planting the beds usually takes about 3-4 hours. Many hands make light work. The annuals are donated by Konkle’s Greenhouses and all you need to bring with you is a trowel, gloves and some elbow grease. This is a great opportunity for high school students to earn some volunteer hours if they need to complete their requirements to graduate. If you’d like to help on planting day please contact our President Debbie Thomas at 905-774-3064. She will be very happy to hear from anyone who would like to help.

A bus trip has been planned for Saturday, August 13th to the beautiful Niagara region to tour some wineries and gardens. Tickets are selling fast so please contact Deb Zynomirski at 905-774-8453 if you want to purchase a ticket. Tickets are $50 per person and will also be available at the upcoming program.

I would like to thank our guest speaker for last month, Karen Richardson. She is the curator of the Haldimand County Museum and Archives. She spoke to our members about early kitchen gardens. Our guest speaker for this month is Lester Fretz. Lester is an annual favourite with the DHS. I’m looking forward to learning about backyard greenhouses. It is also our annual Rose Draw so be sure to attend the meeting. You must be signed in and present to win one. June’s guest speaker will be Frank Kershaw from the Toronto Botanical Gardens. His topic will be recycled and repurposed garden art.

At the June program we’ll be holding our first annual Spring Flower Show. There will be divisions for both the junior gardeners and adults. There will be more information at the upcoming program and the class list will be posted on our website. It’s amazing to see how creative our members can be.

The Ontario Horticultural Society is holding their 110th annual convention in Kitchener this year. It’s taking place at the Crown Plaza Hotel, 105 King Street East from July 29th to the 31st. They have quite the list of speakers this year, including our very own Lester Fretz on the first day. There is a flower show and numerous bus tours. You can find more information on our website. I read that one of the tours is to Langdon Hall. It’s one of the swankiest restaurants in the Kitchener area and their English gardens are gorgeous.

So now is the busiest time of year-it’s what we gardeners live for: sunshine and warm soil and of course garden centres! Don’t forget to show your DHS membership card when purchasing plants. Most of the garden centres in this area will give you a discount if you’re a paid-up member of the DHS. Happy planting!