Three member of the society recently attended the 2006 OHA annual general meeting in Ottawa. Below is a report on some of the excellent speakers at the convention.
Of the 400 different species and 3000 different cultivars he has 300 growing in his garden. Being a member of the delphinium family, most grow in the more temperate zone 3—7 and come from all over the world.
Best grown amongst other plants it will grow 4” in an afternoon and can control insect population if grown with roses. Should plant 3year old clematis, not younger, with 3 eyes under the soil ,in a place where the roots are kept cool but does not retain water. Give support to keep in place till it produces a woody base. Let winter prune your plants and then cut to a live shoot.
Discovered in 1901. Wilt will kill large flowering varieties with in a week, this gets into the leaves and climbs up the plant so prune below dead material and burn all dead vegetation. Very few insect attack clematis however mosaic virus will change the flowers.,
Some examples in the order of flowering are:
--- Submitted by Barb Downey
Ernie showed slides of his travels to mountain sides and hidden valleys. Alpines grow above the frost line and have a 90 day growing period. As a rule they are easy to germinate. He showed such examples as penstemons, phlox, primula and marigolds. Some of the plants were actually growing in cold streams.
The trough garden society was formed 70 years ago. The Ottawa Society made trough pots for all the banquet centerpieces. I was lucky to win the one at our table. They create the pots with a mix of equal quantities of cement, peat moss, perlite and sand. They add polypropylene fibre for strength and the troughs can winter outside. The set quickly in 45-60 minutes. Various moulds are used such as Styrofoam containers re-inforced with nails on corners and the trusty duct tape. Then lard or pam is applied and tubes for drainage wholes.
Alpines plants don’t like cold and wet. Store under eaves in winter raised 1 ½ inches from ground. Choose the plants from a large range of centrafugas, bonsaied trees and try to depict an alpine scene. Try to include interesting rocks.
Sue began her demo by showing us the mixture they use for growing medium. It is a mix of coco peat (soil sponge), Compost, topsoil, Limestone in a mix of large and small grit. Then a combination of bone meal, myke, green sand and horticultural charcoal (K) is added to promote root growth. An aluminium metal 1/8”screen is put over drainage hole the covered with a piece of window screening. Take all the soil off of the plant roots. She used acer genela (amer maple) Hosta venusa, dianthus nethedua, viola sietta and a nice selection of tumbled river stones in her trough. She suggests putting under the eaves after the second hard frost and tipping it slightly to prevent water pooling. She certainly was enthusiastic and so was the lucky per son who won the demo trough in a lucky draw.
--- Submitted by J. Gellatly
Mary who is President of the Canadian Peony Society certainly knows her peonies. Peonies have been grown in China for 2000 years. Mary showed us slides of her trip to China to see their treasures. There are three types of peonies: herbaceous, tree and Ioto. More information can be obtained at their web site- www.peony.ca
Loto is a cross between the other two types. Their leaves are fernie and come in a variety of colours, textures and heights. They have much stronger stems then the herbaceous. Some are drought tolerant. Some have lovely seed pods which are lovely in flower decoration. Cut them in the marshmallow phase and they can be stored in fridge for weeks. Some are not fragrant. Some suggested varieties were- Moonrise an early single, long lasting with huge white blooms with yellow center. Also Henry Boxtos a double red with huge thick stems. Friendship was a lovely pink with whiter center with a long lasting bloom.
Tree peonies should be protected from wind and sun in winter. They come in many different colours. Usually early bloomers and have a lot of yellow flowered varieties. Age of Gold and Saunders, a lovely early yellow were two mentioned verities. Loto have shiny leaves with red edges. Cut back in the fall. They are long lasting and have a fragrance of lemon. Hillary a lovely peachy yellow pink, Morning Lilac, and Golden Treasure. Elsie Redford is a new variety from The Quebec garden.
--- Submitted by J. Gellatly
Results of the various compititions are available at the OHA website)
Kathleen stated many of the reports are being sent in very late. 229 of the 289 societies had submitted their reports totalling 305,023 hours of volunteer time. Adding to that figure those from the district reps the sum came to 312935.5hrs. This shows what an amazing job we are doing covering on many diverse projects. A big thanks for helping to keep Ontario beautiful. November forms will be sent in the package to secretary. Please submit by due date of February 28th!! Linda Stewart will be taking over the position of volunteer hours. A reminder was given to please use the proper form and total the hours.
Newsletter – Linda Hugli
Linda is the editor of the Trillium Newsletter. She thanked Bonnie Warner and the board for all their help in producing the anniversary addition. Her philosophy of the newsletter was to use it as a tool for assimilation of ideas and an interactive tool to share ideas. She was impressed with the quality and appearance of the local newsletters. She would like the societies to use the Trillium newsletter for material for local articles. Just credit the author and society and mention it is reprinted by permission. She complimented Elaine Lister for her column Inspired by Nature and thanked Margaret Lietch and Alison Laurie for their sharing of info. Special thanks went to Liisa Wolfgram. She would like feedback, both positive and negative, on the special 100th anniversary issue. She said she enjoyed working with Brenda Heenan and Margaret Turner on this issue. Work is actively being done on the fall issue with an August 21 deadline for contributions.
Long Range Planning --- Liisa Wolfgram
Committee had 5 meetings to discuss
Social Marketing --- Brenda Heenan
For the social marketer the bottom line is to meet the society’s desire to improve the citizen’s quality of life. Five members met to discuss
For the 100th anniversary, 2500 posters of the centennial tulip were sent out; these could be used as signs for the tulip beds. Special Trillium issue of which $9400 was collected towards covering the cost.
Special Speakers
Madame Leger and Madame Mayou from the Ministry of Culture and Social Services announced a new Trillium grant of $229,000 available over 36months