September 12th 2020

Member's Garden Expo

A series of short presentations of 5 member's gardens in the Ottawa area:

• Judy Wall presents her newly constructed smaller rock garden that fits in her new space 

• Nora Lee's garden

• Jeff Hurtig's alpine troughs

• Josie Pazdzior's garden

• Rob Stuart's scree garden

Click here to see recordings of these presentations

January 9th

Kayaking the Baye de Toutes Isles 

Click here to get meeting recording.

Presented by member Sue Hoegg, a multiday Kayak trip off the coast of Nova Scotia with wildlife and botanical insights

April 19th

Spring Flowers in the Ottawa Valley

Presented by Brian Carson.  As many of you know Brian is a superb speaker on anything plant related and in particular with regards to all types of plants in the Ottawa Valley.

October 24th

A GRAND TOUR: The Rock Gardens of the Czech Republic

Click here to see recordings of this presentation

The presenter Paul Spriggs has been building crevice gardens for many years. He is, owner of Spriggs Gardens Landscaping company, and President of the Vancouver Island Rock and Alpine Garden Society.

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The whole world is currently looking towards the Czech Republic as leaders and innovators of modern-day rock gardening. Paul has now journeyed to the Czech Republic 3 times. 2 as a conference attendee, and one on an independent mission to photograph these amazing gardens and their plants. While the conferences featured tours of a number of gardens in and around Prague, after the conferences Paul was treated to other private tours, which took him to all corners of the country to view the crème –de -la-crème of modern Czech rock gardens. This presentation look at the history of how the Czechs have become a rock-gardening powerhouse, and will offer a sneak peek into some less accessible and rarely seen gardens of some of the world’s most accomplished rock gardeners.

February 13th

Trough Gardening in Scotland

Presented by Ian Young, renowned speaker from the Scottish Rock Garden Club.

Showing a number of ways to make troughs including using Styrofoam fish boxes, pain and cement.  Continually updated presentation to show his latest methods.
It also includes how to landscape, plant and maintain troughs and raised beds.

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Come and ask Ian any trough troubleshooting questions you have

November 14

Flowers of Gatineau Park 

Presented by Tom Delsey and Gwennyth Evans

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Gwynneth and Tom are both nature enthusiasts, and since their retirement they have been regular visitors to Gatineau Park, walking the trails from spring through fall, and skiing them in the winter.

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The presentation is centred on a selection of 32 species of native wildflowers photographed on trails in Gatineau Park. The selection is representative of species flowering in different seasons from April through September and in different habitats within two major ecosystems, the Three-Lake Chain and the Eardley Plateau. The presentation contains 22 of the native species organized around three seasons (spring, early summer, late summer). The presentation includes additional 10 native species is oriented more directly toward habitat and locale: the first section is centred on species in the forests of the Three-Lake Chain ecosystem found on trails accessed from the O'Brien and Meech trailheads; the second on species found on forest edges and wetland margins on the Eardley Plateau accessed from the Étienne Brulé and Champlain lookouts; and the third on species found in marshes and on shorelines accessed from trails skirting smaller lakes – Brown, Renaud, Fortune, and Black – in the two ecosystems

March 13th

Phenology for You and Me

Presented by Rebecca Last

No, it's not the study of the bumps on your head. Phenology explores the timing of cyclical events in nature. The turning of the year, seasons, cycles of the moon and daily circadian rhythms all have an impact on life on earth. The earliest hominins were expert phenologists. They had to be to catch game from migrating herds and know when to look for the tender sprouts of edible plants. Scientists today are increasingly turning to phenology to understand how climate change is effecting the natural world. As gardeners, an understanding of phenology can help us plan for continuous blooms, use natural pest control effectively, and contribute to climate research as citizen scientists. This talk introduces the subject of phenology, discusses its history, the current state of the science, and how gardeners can benefit from this information.