Monthly President's Emailers & Official Newsletters

Click Here for the Official December Newsletter

Merry Christmas to all!

Click Here for the Official November Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2020 Contests Rules

Good evening everyone

November 1st already! – Where has the year gone in this COVID world.  Hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween.  Did you hand out treats??  I didn’t since I live on a busy hilly street and rarely get any kids anyway.   I did walk around the Massey Victory Heights neighbourhood to see the many decorated homes and all the goblins and witches roaming around. 

NWHS Annual Meeting – This normally occurs at our November meeting where we vote on the next Executive and vote on any changes to the Constitution.   Since we are not having a November Meeting this year the Executive have decided and hopefully you are in general agreement that the slate from this year will continue for another year.   Mind you we still have a vacancy for a Secretary but are not bothering to fill this until we again start meeting.   If anyone has any objections, please let me know.

Community Floral Project - Want to help spread some cheer in New Westminster? Got some vases or old canning jars collecting dust on a shelf? Please consider donating them to three club members for their community-based project. Since mid-March Sherri, Trudy and Anna have each made a Saturday floral arrangement. So far, they’ve made over 90 arrangements. Now they are planning to expand their weekly floral arranging to include donating a small arrangement to a local business, non-profit, or thrift store to bring a bit of joy and colour to them and the community they serve. In the spirit of thrift and recycling the three are looking for small (4”- 6”), waterproof containers and, if you can spare them, seasonal flowers, and foliage. Donations can be dropped off on at Trudy Findlay’s carport on Friday mornings. Please contact Trudy for address at findlay_t@shaw.ca.

Iris Tubers need a home - Hello NWHS people--Would any of you like some iris tubers? It is a lovely blue and white variety (not sure of the name, though). But it has a lovely fragrance--like vanilla and baby powder, so a bouquet is doubly lovely. If you are interested contact Terri Clark-Kveton grdngrrl@shaw.ca

Fresh Bay leaves anyone?- As some of you may know I quite often bring branches of bay leaves into our In House Plant Sale in the fall.  Well this year due to COVID I cannot do that.   I did do a major prune of my Bay Tree – so if anyone is interested in fresh bay leaves (you will have to wash them first before drying or using) I will leave some branches in my front driveway so come by and help yourself (after Tuesday evening this week – I need time to put them out) but remember to bring some pruners as you may need to cut a small branch off a larger branch – try to leave about a 3” stub.  I am saving the larger 1”+ branches for Audrey for her Xmas light display.  My address is 333 East 8th Ave New West between Cherry & Richmond on the right side as you come up the hill.  I am the only house in that block with a driveway in the front.

WE WANT YOUR INPUT FOR OUR DECEMBER NEWSLETTER - In early December, we want to send out a mega newsletter to all members.  As well as looking forward to 2021, we want to look back to this most weird year of Covid.  We want to hear about your experiences.  The more we share, the better the newsletter.  Just write a short piece (100-150 words) and send it to Audrey at audrey@newwesthortsociety.org.  Related photos would be great.  Make sure they are of relatively high resolution.  The deadline has been extended to Nov 8 (firm!).  Thank you for contributing.

Some suggestions:

·         How did you spend the unexpected free time during the shut-down?

·         Did you take advantage of the time to work on a previously “in your mind only” project?  Photos please.

·         Did you try new gardening experiences or start a new hobby?

·         Were you able to socialize with others while maintaining social distancing?  How did you to do it?

·         Do you have examples of the amazing growth for vegetation during our weird weather?

·         Do you have some Garden Glory (photos please) you would like to share?

·         We know of 3 outstanding Christmas light displays by NWHS members (Fairfax, Fehr, Barnes).  Are you making a big splash with lights this season as well?

·         How about writing a poem or limerick?  “Ode to Masks”?  “Strange Days”?  “My Garden”?  

·         Anything else?

SNAIL MAIL ADDRESS UPDATE - We know that some members have moved during 2020---but have not told us your new addresses. As we plan to send out the December newsletter via Snail Mail, please send your new address to Terry Koziel, our treasurer, at terry@newwesthortsociety.org as soon as possible.  Also if you have made or will be making any changes to your email address we need to know that as well.

CONTAINER & PHOTO CONTEST 2020-2021 - Watch for the article in the December Newsletter for all the info.

NWHS Emailer – Garden Chat –

Facebook Group page - NWHS Garden Chat – We now have 28 NWHS members on the page.   Search for NWHS Garden Chat if you are going to join which we hope you will.  We are allowing a few currently non members to join as they were previously members and plan on joining NWHS next spring.

BCCGC Fall General Meeting – Oct 25, 2020 – How many of you signed up and went on the Zoom BCCGC meeting?  If you didn’t you missed a very informative event.  There were 3 main speakers plus 2 of the Scholarship Trust Fund recipients gave very interesting and thought-provoking talks.   The Spring Mtg – March 27, 2021 will again be a Zoom Meeting so I encourage you to bookmark the date!   This year is the Scholarship Trust Funds 50th Anniversary so the Committee put a list together of the Noteworthy Donors from 1982 to June 2020 (they couldn’t find many records prior to 1982) and the top of the list is NWHS with a total amount of $25,800 with 35 donations so that is just about every year since 1982.  The next donor is about $4000 and 6 donations below us.   So, way to go NWHS!

FLORISSA – The sale is finished – The club made a net profit of $381.50.  Thankyou to all of you that ordered bulbs.

Don’t forget to check out the following resources:

West Coast Gardens “The Social Gardener” – Reminder about the online (Facebook) streaming program of Garden Inspirations with Jason.  Either go to the Facebook link or to West Coast Gardens website.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/WestCoastGardensBC/714984495966530/

https://westcoastgardens.ca/

On the website under Inspiration – Social Gardener Livestream – You can find some of the past programs.  These are being done about once a week there are now over 24 ranging from 30-60 minute duration on a wide variety of topics.

Amsterdam Nurseries – Many of you have maybe visited this nursery out in Pitt Meadows.  I get their regular e-newsletter and Blog.  https://www.amsterdamgreenhouses.com/blog  Check it out.  You can also just go onto the website to see all the blogs.   

Click Here for the Official October Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2020 Contests Rules

Shop the Florissa Fundraiser Here

Good evening everyone – Just a few updates for the beginning of the month emailer

In person meetings: I only heard back from 7 of our members that were interested in attending a ZOOM meeting for our club.  Not sure if we will be proceeding with this format.  We will keep you informed

NWHS Emailer – Garden Chat – I haven’t had any pictures from any members this month other than the one I put in the Sept 20th emailer.  Pics below are of my Autumn Crocus - Colchicum Waterlily.

I did have a comment from Shelagh Penty on our Garden Chat - I enjoyed seeing everyone else's photos and send them congratulations on a summer well spent.

Facebook Group page - NWHS Garden Chat – We now have 20 NWHS members on the page.   There has been great sharing of photos and commenting on as well as questions asked and others providing answers.  A suggestion has also been to use it as a forum to swap plants. If you are a Facebook member or have considered it at some time I encourage you to join our Group page as it is a good way to get some chatting & sharing done with other members of our club.   I have actually discovered another New West Gardeners Facebook group page but it is not ours.  Be sure to do a search for NWHS Garden Chat if you are going to join which we hope you will.   IF you happen to belong to the other one please also share pictures on our club one as well.   

Plant swap and sharing of plants – If you are not a Facebook member and have plants you want to share you can send me a picture and I will put in the next emailer (maybe a mid month one) with contact information and then anyone that is interested can contact you directly and make arrangements direct with you.  

Contacting other members – We no longer distribute member phone lists as the club use to do many years ago due to privacy policies.  If there is another member you want to get in touch with please contact me (Lorna) and I can send you that person’s contact information.   If you prefer me not give out your contact information please let me know.

Virtual Floral Arts Show – Rhonda Malyuk one of our members, is also a member of the Western Association of Floral Art Clubs. She sent me the following “This month we are putting on our first virtual Floral Art Show and since many of the members of NWHS do participate in the floral arrangement section of the July show, I thought they may be interested in this.

The information is attached on the show and how to enter. Deadlines: Register for the show, Oct 15, 2020. Submission of photos and information on your completed design October 25th, 2020.   Website has all the information:  https://wafac.weebly.com 

Or contact our Show Chairperson: Ann Peters Tel. 604-581-7189.  Email: annp2212@gmail.com

The information is in the BCCGC newsletter that I just received and will be forwarding you under a separate email.

BCCGC Fall General Meeting – Oct 25, 2020 - 9:00am – 12:00pm – will be Virtual and all NWHS club members are welcome to attend.  You must pre register through the BCCGC website (Eventbrite link is in the Newsletter that will be coming) and then you will be sent the ZOOM invite in the week prior to the meeting.  In addition to BCCGC business announcements and reports, there will be three featured speakers, Linda Stanley Wilson, Alexa Pitoulis, and Claude LeDoux. See BCCGC October newsletter for further details about our speakers.  The agenda is on a link on the website.

Master Gardener’s Basic Training 2021- I will be forwarding you an email just received on the course for 2021. Cost: $700 includes all resource material.

Insects? – Linda Turnbull posed the following question for your input in the last emailer

I have noticed a sharp decline in the sheer numbers of insects this year - All kinds of insects, from bees to wasps, dragonflies, butterflies to moths, and spiders to ants.

Following are the responses received either emailed to me or posted on our new Facebook Group page:

Bernita Duke - My neighbor and I were chatting today and we agreed there were fewer insects this year.  Every year the ants drag sand out of a low retaining wall in our garden, this year it didn’t happen.  Most every summer the wasps tend to be a nuisance while we are having dinner outdoors, this summer, it didn’t happen.

Shelagh Penty - I haven't noticed a decline in insects this year.  In fact I've had an increase in bees (maybe more people with hives and mason bee condos) and other pollinating insects and ANTS!  (Am using boiling water on the ants).

Heather MacKenzie - Regarding the Insects - I normally have dragonflies zipping back and forth across the back yard, courtesy of a neighbour with a fish pond. This year, I haven’t seen them. The result is that I have been bitten by mosquitoes at night! Also, if you want to see dragonflies, go to Alberta. UofA genetically modified them a few years back. It’s like having a tiny bird zip by when they are busy. They kept their voracious appetites too.  Another observation I made is that I realized yesterday in the morning that the only butterflies or moths I have seen this year are white ones. Later, I went out into the garden and saw a brown one on a tree. I haven’t seen any coloured ones at all this summer. The pollinators are out and about but one would have to do a definite time of day count, every day, to know if decreased. 

Paul Larose - Haven't noticed a sharp decline this year over last in general bug life. Last year we had an explosion of ants and aphids, but the birds seem to have brought this back into balance. Often the natural cycle is boom and bust so it may just be that in your area. Curious what other folks may have observed.

Shona Neufeld - My yard is brimming with all kinds of pollinators. Lots of flowers, including flowering weeds. Messy but glorious for the little flying creatures.

2020: THE YEAR THAT NEVER WAS FOR NWHS:  We wrote about this in the Sept 20th emailer.  Reminder to chronicle your gardening experiences in this year of COVID.  Just 100-150 words.  Picture(s) would be great.  Please submit by Nov 1 to audrey@newwesthortsociety.org.  Or myself (Lorna) Feel free to talk with Audrey if you have any ideas.  Thanks.

SNAIL MAIL & EMAIL ADDRESS UP-DATES: Reminder if you have and changes in your contact information (snail mail and email) to advise Terry Koziel, our treasurer at terry@newwesthortsociety.org.  We want to make sure you continue to receive the emailer, December Club Newsletter and other notifications.

GETTING RID OF GREEN WASTE:  Read this information in the last emailer.  Reminder though that Audrey is looking for sturdy, well-branched, deciduous tree pruning’s to be supports for her Christmas lights.  Anything 3 feet and longer.  Please do not cut them.  She uses a lot!  In past years, she raided the recycling depot but that no longer is an option.  Contact her if you have anything.  604-526-8284 before 8pm or audrey@newwesthortsociety.org.  Thanks.

FLORISSA – The sale is finished – We thank you if you ordered anything.   If you did Audrey will be in touch with you once she receives them so that you can arrange pick up.  I have not yet heard our total from Audrey.

2020 PHOTO & CONTAINER CONTESTS: Reminder keep taking pictures all the details in Sept 20th emailer.  All entries will be submitted Oct 2021. For the photo contest category, Colour in the Garden, colours for the combined contest next year will be “Blue” and “Brown”.  Judging for each colour will be done separately.  Talk with Audrey if you have any questions She will be creating a detailed, non-ambiguous (hopefully) contest hand-out soon.  The current contest rules are on our website.

Don’t forget to check out the following resources:

West Coast Gardens “The Social Gardener” – Reminder about the online (Facebook) streaming program of Garden Inspirations with Jason.  Either go to the Facebook link or to West Coast Gardens website.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/WestCoastGardensBC/714984495966530/

https://westcoastgardens.ca/

On the website under Inspiration – Social Gardener Livestream – You can find some of the past programs.  These are being done about once a week there are now over 24 ranging from 30-60 minute duration on a wide variety of topics.

Amsterdam Nurseries – Many of you have maybe visited this nursery out in Pitt Meadows.  I get their regular e-newsletter and Blog.  https://www.amsterdamgreenhouses.com/blog  Check it out.  You can also just go onto the website to see all the blogs.   Recently there was a very good one on growing garlic.

Happy Gardening

Lorna

Click Here for the Official September Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2020 Contests Rules

Shop the Florissa Fundraiser Here

Official Summer is now over!!  - That is the summer months and school back in session – in whatever format it may be!  Still looks like we will have warm weather for September.  I hope your gardens and balcony’s have been giving you joy through either produce or flowers & foliage.

Regular NWHS Meetings – No new update for you as to when we might be able to meet again in person.   We did hear from the Arts Council that we rent Centennial Lodge from early in August that they were in discussion with the City and we might be able to resume meetings mid September but we would be limited to only 35 people due to the size of the room.  We are still waiting to hear back from them.   Since the increase in COVID-19 cases in BC we are thinking it could be longer before we resume.  As soon as I hear something we will let you know.

Garden Chat - Reminder please send me pictures of your garden along with a few words to share with the rest of the members - It is a way to connect with each other before we are able to meet in person again.  Following are a few I have received in the past month as well as a couple of mine.

	Oriental lilies – Lily virus Important Information that Linda Turnbull would like to share with the membership.   This year I added 22 oriental lily bulbs to the garden.  All my old existing ones are healthy. All my new ones have the lily virus.  The only way to eradicate this virus is to dig up the bulb and dispose of all the plant material in the garbage.   NOT the green bin. The virus does not remain in the soil. This virus spreads like wild fire in the garden.   It is like mildew, it spreads on the wind.   Unfortunately it doesn't contain itself to lilies.  So quick eradication is important.
This balcony rail planter photo was taken in early June Shelagh Penty	Diane Perry shows us her tallest sunflower reaching above the roofline. Notice also her loaded tomato plants just behind her.  She must have great soil in that bed!
“The snow peas did well this year.”  (on her balcony!) Shelagh Penty	One of Dan Tessaro’s Fruit trees Seckel  Pears
Dan Tessaro’s Garden Quite a variety of Dahlia's in bloom.  In the background you can see 8ft high corn.	Dan Tessaro’s multi talented Green Thumb Adenium Obesum grown from seed.
Luscious Raspberries Dan Tessaro tells us this Joan C primocane raspberry has been producing non-stop since June!  - Wow	Pink Dogwood flowers & Berries – at the same time. Occasionally this happens in the fall on my tree. Lorna Cloutier

Facebook?  - How many of you are on Facebook? -  The Executive has started a Facebook Private Group page called NWHS Garden Chat - We thought that maybe this would be a way for members to communicate and share their garden pictures, question and thoughts.  If you are not on Facebook it is easy to sign up.  To become a member of our NWHS Garden Chat group page just go to the Group page search and type in NWHS Garden Chat.  We would love to have as many of our NWHS members as possible.  We will review all requests for membership daily and accept you and then you can start posting your pictures etc.  We encourage all of you to respond and comment on other members posts.

Insects? – Linda Turnbull poses the following question for your input – 

 I have noticed a sharp decline in the sheer numbers of insects this year - All kinds of insects, from bees to wasps, dragonflies, butterflies to moths, and spiders to ants.

Some I like more than others but all are necessary to our gardens.

Is this specific to the area I live in, West Coquitlam, or is it more wide spread?

Could our cold June be the culprit?

I really am curious. I do grow everything that the insects need as food sources. 

So if you have any thoughts or inputs on this please send a response to me (Lorna) and I will put it into the next emailer.  I have also posted this on our Facebook NWHS Garden Chat Group – so you can comment on it there and for those that don’t do Social Media/Facebook I will copy the comments and again share in next month’s emailer.

Florissa: Reminder - Fall 2020 Program.   Our web-page is up for your perusal.  https://florissafundraising.com/new-westminster-horticultural-society/  A very colourful selection!  The deadline to order is Oct 2, midnight but, as there is always the possibility of an item selling out, so order early.  As in the past Audrey Barnes is acting as our liaison.  Orders will be shipped to her address.  Also, if you prefer not to purchase over the internet, she will submit your order on her behalf.  Audrey's contact info: 604-526-8284 (before 8pm); audrey@newwesthortsociety.org.  Florissa is a club fundraiser.  We add 50% of all orders to the club's coffers.    Not that we really need a fundraiser at this time since we have very few expenses but this is a great opportunity for you to order some fall bulbs from the safety of your own home.

Caran d'Ache Pens:  Audrey's generous neighbour has given the club another box of the colourful (and smooth writing!) pens.  At this point there a complete colour selection (purple has been replaced by fuchsia).  We know that there are some members who want specific colours for gifts.  Contact her asap for the best selection.  Pens are a steal at $5.  Proceeds go to NWHS.

PARGAR – Reminder - produce donations for Plant A Row Grow A Row.   The season is well underway and there are only 3 weeks left until it ends on Sunday September 27th.    Drop off at St. Thomas Moore Collegiate from 8:30am – 9:15am Sunday mornings.  What extras do you have?  Tomatoes, zucchini, squash, beans etc!

NWHS Survey – Your Executive met a few weeks ago and we brainstormed for reasons why you all belong to NWHS and how we could try to accommodate that in this time of COVID-19 and beyond.  We are going to put together a Survey and ask for your input.  We are thinking something like SurveyMonkey, or just a Word or Excel document that you could fill in and return directly to us.  How many of you are familiar with SurveyMonkey or similar and would be willing to fill one of these in?  Please let me know.

West Coast Gardens “The Social Gardener” – Reminder about the online (Facebook) streaming program of Garden Inspirations with Jason.  Either go to the Facebook link or to West Coast Gardens website.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/WestCoastGardensBC/714984495966530/

https://westcoastgardens.ca/   On the website under Inspiration – Social Gardener Livestream – You can find some of the past programs.  These are being done about once a week and there are now 24 of them so far and you can view them anytime.  I have viewed a few of them and several members have told me they have as well.  They are a wonderful resource for gardening information and very easy to listen to.  

Monty Don’s Gardens - This is another resource for watching gardening related videos.  Just Google Monty Don’s and you will find many YouTube Videos on a variety of different gardens that he has done TV shows on.   This was passed on by one of our Executive members and as soon as I Googled it myself I realized that I have watched him on TV in the past. 

Hope you are keeping well and safe at this time.

Lorna    

Click Here for the Official August Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2020 Contests Rules

Summer is Halfway through and the month of July did feel like summer!  How many of you have taken advantage of this slow isolation time in our world right now and got a garden project completed or started on?  If you have remember to take pictures of it and other plants in your gardens.

Regular NWHS Meetings - Still no news as to when we might be able to meet again in person but when we are finally able to we will likely have to adjust a bit in how we hold our meetings.   The City webpage advises “All City-organized events with more than 50 people, or events that could potentially exceed 50 people, have been suspended as per the provincial health officer. This includes events organized by other organizations at their facilities or parks. Under the direction of the Provincial Health Officer, this order will remain in place indefinitely.”

Reminder please send me pictures of your garden along with a few words to share with the rest of the members  - It is a way to connect with each other before we are able to meet in person again.  Following are a few I have received in the past month as well as a couple of mine.

Florissa: We have signed up to participate in the Fall 2020 Program.   Our web-page is up for your perusal.  https://florissafundraising.com/new-westminster-horticultural-society/  A very colourful selection!  The deadline to order is Oct 2, midnight but, as there is always the possibility of an item selling out, so order early.  As in the past Audrey Barnes is acting as our liaison.  Orders will be shipped to her address.  Also, if you prefer not to purchase over the internet, she will submit your order on her behalf.  Audrey's contact info: 604-526-8284 (before 8pm); audrey@newwesthortsociety.org.  Florissa is a club fundraiser.  We add 50% of all orders to the club's coffers.    Not that we really need a fundraiser at this time since we have very few expenses but this is a great opportunity for you to order some fall bulbs from the safety of your own home.

Caran d'Ache Pens:  Audrey's generous neighbour has given the club another box of the colourful (and smooth writing!) pens.  At this point there a complete colour selection (purple has been replaced by fuchsia).  We know that there are some members who want specific colours for gifts.  Contact her asap for the best selection.  Pens are a steal at $5.  Proceeds go to NWHS.

Garden Gals:  Congratulations for the mural display in the sidewalk windows of the Anvil Centre.  Well done.  Check it out Aug 10-27.  https://www.newwestrecord.ca/entertainment/new-west-art-project-showcases-hope-in-a-time-of-covid-19-1.24179465  I checked out the link and I am definitely going to go and visit this display organized by Merril Hall.  For our newer members, that are not aware, the Garden Gals evolved out of our Garden Club.

Nematodes:  If you are planning to apply nematodes to your lawn this year, this stretch of cool weather is perfect.  Since daily watering is necessary to keep those little grub-eaters alive and to transport them to further tasty tidbits, a lawn watering permit must be obtained. In New West & Burnaby, this is free for pest control using nematodes.  In New Westminster, apply online through www.newwestcity.ca/watering permits.  You will get you permit immediately.  For Burnaby, you can also apply on-line but since emailing is involved, a delay of a few days is involved before your permit is issued.

PARGAR – the produce donations for Plant A Row Grow A Row.   Another reminder the season is well underway and will run until Sunday September 27th.    Drop off at ST. Thomas Moore Collegiate from 8:30am – 9:15am Sunday mornings.

Recycling: Summer pop-up recycling events will take place on August 22 at 901 First Street (Public Works Yard).  See https://www.newwestcity.ca/services/garbage-and-recycling/recycling-depot/sb_expander_articles/1615.php for details.

West Coast Gardens “The Social Gardener” – Reminder about the online (Facebook) streaming program of Garden Inspirations with Jason.  Either go to the Facebook link or to West Coast Gardens website.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/WestCoastGardensBC/714984495966530/

https://westcoastgardens.ca/

On the website under Inspiration – Social Gardener Livestream – You can find some of the past programs.  These are being done about once a week there are now 21 of them so far.  

Hope you are keeping well and safe at this time.

Lorna

Click Here for the Official July Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2020 Contests Rules

Click Here for the Official 2020 Show Schedule

Happy July everyone – Let’s hope July is sunnier than June was.  The weeds and plants are generally loving it as everything is so lush and the grass green!

Regular NWHS Meetings  - Still no news as to when we might be able to meet again in person  but when we are finally able to we might have to adjust just a bit how we hold our meetings.   

It was great to hear from a few of you after my June emailer – Thank you.  Only a couple of people responded to me as to whether they were interested in participating in a Zoom type meeting with the club.  I did have someone come forward to offer to set it up but the Executive have decided that we are not going to proceed with doing it as none of us are really tech savvy and also felt that many of our members (especially the older ones) would not be able to participate .   So  I will continue with sending out an emailer at least once a month with whatever information is sent to me.  Gardening events happening or any gardening video  links you might find. The more I receive the more often I will send it out.  I am still working full time though – no COVID time off for me. 

Membership roster – We do not circulate our membership roster for Privacy reasons but if there is one of our members that you would really like to get in touch with at this time and you do not have their contact info drop me an email and I will forward onto that member your contact information so they can contact you.

Pictures of your garden along with a few words to share with members.

As a way to connect with each other before we are able to meet in person again a suggestion came to have members share pictures of their gardens with a few words about what is happening for them.    What I will do is if members send me a 100kb or less jpg photo of their garden with a few words I will add it into an emailer.   Not promising how often as it will depend on what I receive.

BC Council of Garden Clubs Newsletter – I have attached it to this emailer for your reading pleasure.  You will read an update on the threat of both Japanese and Chafer Beetles among other things.  Suggest that if you want to print it that you print in black and white.

PARGAR – produce donations for Plant A Row Grow A Row.   Just a reminder the season has started and will run until Sunday September 27th.    Drop off at St. Thomas Moore Collegiate from 8:30am – 9:15am 

Recycling: Summer pop-up recycling events will take place on July 18 and August 22 at 901 First Street (Public Works Yard). See https://www.newwestcity.ca/services/garbage-and-recycling/recycling-depot/sb_expander_articles/1615.php for details.

Summer is here! Lawn watering regulations are in effect now to October 15.
Residential lawn watering allowed on the following days and times (includes town homes and apartment buildings):

·         Even-numbered addresses: Wednesdays and Saturdays from 4:00 – 9:00 am 

·         Odd-numbered addresses: Thursdays and Sundays from 4:00 – 9:00 am 

·         Watering trees, shrubs and flowers with a sprinkler is allowed any day between 4:00 – 9:00 am

Just in case you haven’t heard - FortisBC, our natural gas utility has proposed a project in Burnaby. Direct impacts will be centred around Gagliardi Way, Cariboo Road and 16th Avenue. FortisBC is reaching out to residents in the area to gather their feedback on how to make the project less impactful. A virtual information session is being held on July 14th. Register and find project details here: www.talkingenergy.ca/pattullogasline

West Coast Gardens “The Social Gardener” – This is an online (Facebook) streaming program of Garden Inspirations with Jason.  Either go to the Facebook link or to West Coast Gardens website.

https://www.facebook.com/WestCoastGardensBC/     https://westcoastgardens.ca/

On the website under Inspiration – Social Gardener Livestream – you can find some of the past programs.  These are being done about once a week there are 17 of them so far.  I have watched a few and they are very informative.   Below is a snipet of the add for this coming weeks program.  Looking at the past programs they range anywhere from 25 minutes to over an hour on a vast variety of topics.

Free Fruit  tree – Janet Butts neighbour has a couple Damson Plum trees she needs to get rid of.  If you are interested contact Janet at 604-435-3008 or tjbutts@telus.net  and she will  put you in touch.

Free Composter – Our Vice President Diane Perry has a composter she would like to give away.  If you are interested contact her at 604-341-1239 or dperry2@telus.net  She says she will be happy to deliver if needed.

Happy Gardening

Lorna

Click Here for the Official June Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2019 Contests Rules

Good evening members and welcome to the electronic June 9th meeting of NWHS!   

If not for COVID-19, tonight would have been our normal June NWHS meeting.   Hope your gardens are all doing well and thriving in all the rain we have had recently!   

I apologize we don’t have a speaker for you this evening but I have a bit of agenda that I would like to share with you.   We have good news and a little bit of sad news.

First for the good news – Our Outhouse Plant Sale was a success!!  Between the 3 different afternoons of sales we raised a total of $963.15.   Thanks to Terri Clark-Kveton and Diane Perry for hosting the sales.   Thanks also to the various members that grew the seedlings for our sale.  We had lots of variety of vegetables and a multitude of Dahlia tubers thanks to Dan Tessaro.   Thanks also goes out to the various helpers on all three sales days as well as the members that attended and made purchases both for themselves and family and friends.   Our club easy ups/canopies worked out very well keeping the sellers and buyers dry the first weekend and keeping members in the shade the second weekend.

Florissa Bulbs – Audrey advised we made a net profit of $229.  Thanks to Audrey for coordinating this and getting the bulbs out to the members and thanks to the members for purchasing.  Hope the bulbs are all in the ground and growing.   

Donation - One of our members made a suggestion just before our plant sale that we should make a donation to the Food Bank with some of the proceeds from our plant sale, being good community members in these uncertain times.  The Executive discussed it and agreed but also felt that we should donate as well to Union Gospel Mission.   NWHS Constitution permits the Executive to spend up to $250 without going to the membership for a vote.  The Executive have decided to donate $125 to the New Westminster Food Bank and $125 to New Westminster Union Gospel Mission.  

PARGAR – More good news – the produce donations for Plant A Row Grow A Row is a go for 2020.  The season starts Sunday June 21st and will run until Sunday September 27th.    Drop off at ST. Thomas Moore Collegiate from 8:30am – 9:15am – see the attached flyer from Claude.

ZOOM Meetings or? – A couple of members have spoken to a few of us on the Executive about the possibility of organizing a ZOOM meeting so members can get together and chat online about how our gardens are doing.  We felt this is mostly what it might be as we don’t have a lot of business at this time and unsure whether a garden type speaker would be comfortable in this sort of a format.   None of us on the Executive are really Social Media savvy – as one of our members put it she is a Boomer not a Zoomer!  Our club might even be too large to have everyone participate on a get together like this if a large number wanted to connect.   Is there someone out there that is knowledgeable in this type of online meeting format that would like to organize something?  We could get the info out in a number of ways.  I could put the organizer’s name and email contact in an emailer and interested members could contact them directly.  OR the organizer could set it up and I could just send out the details, date, time, link up information etc.   IF you are that person please contact me.  

Pictures – There has also been a suggestion that members could post pictures of our gardens for other members to see – but what sort of format could we use for that?  Any members have any ideas?  The only formats I am use to are Facebook and Instagram but people have to join up to those and friend each other.  Any other formats out there that someone knows about that members could post and other members can view?  If you do let me know or maybe set it up for us.

NWHS Photo Contest – Don’t forget about taking pictures for our Photo Contest.   We hope we will again be meeting by October.

In Person meetings – I read in the New Westminster City Online Newsletter last week the following: The reopening of additional facilities for in-person services, including community centres, City Hall, public library branches for general access, New Media Gallery, and cultural facilities is anticipated for fall 2020. While physical access may be limited at City facilities, various virtual programming and access is already available with more programs and services to come. Community members are encouraged to check facility websites for more information and updates.

There was more about other facilities but this was all that was applicable to us.  Last message Terry had from the Arts Council was that bookings were cancelled until end of August.  Guess we will just wait until later in the summer for more info.

Link for Videos – If you know of or come across any links for garden videos or garden seminars please forward to me so that I can share with the rest of the members.

Sad News – Most of you likely knew or remember one our life members Elsie Ansdell she moved over to the Victoria a year of so ago to be closer to her family. I received an email in mid May from her daughter Louise advising me that Elsie passed “Thank you for continuing to communicate with my Mom via your interesting and informative newsletters, she loved getting them and keeping up with the news. My dear Mom passed away at Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital December 2nd 2019. Although she missed her home and friends in N/W she had settled nicely into her new home in Victoria, even creating and maintaining a beautiful flower garden, and was enjoying being close to family, especially her two Great Grandchildren.  Thank you and your colleagues for the many years of the precious friendship you shared.

Treasurers Report: The May report is attached to this email.

This is the point in our meetings where we usually have refreshments so I hope you will now go have yourself a cup of tea and goodie in your kitchen!  

Have a good month of June in your Gardens, - Be Kind, Be Calm and Be Safe.

Lorna

Click Here for the Official May Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2020 Contests Rules

May

Click Here for the Official April Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2020 Contests Rules

Good Sunday afternoon

The NWHS Executive hope you and your families are doing well and staying safe in this crazy COVID-19 time that we are going through.  We hope that this slow down has enabled you to get out in your gardens or balconies.

NWHS “OUTHOUSE” Spring Plant Sale – What you have all be waiting to hear.  One of our long time member growers suggested the name and we thought it sort of catchy.  “Outhouse” being out of backyard as opposed to our normal monthly “In-House” Plant Sales.  The NWHS Executive has decided that we will cautiously proceed with our Spring Seedling only plant sale.  We have come up with some procedures for our sale as follows

1.       We would like to hear from any “grower” member out there that have started seedlings for our Sale.  Are you willing to sell from your back yard (to members only) or do you have just one or two flats that you would drop off to another “grower” member’s backyard the day before the sale?  If you are one of these “grower” members please contact Sharon Seki sharon@newwesthortsociety.org  our Plant Sale Lead or myself lorna_cloutier@telus.net  by April 11th weekend to let us know.

2.       Once we have a list of “growers” Sharon will send out a grower email to all of you asking for what specifically (seedlings/bedding plants) that you will have for sale.

3.       With input from the “growers” & the Executive we will decide on 2 dates for our sale.  Possibly one weekend or 2 Saturdays, early May.

4.       Towards end of April we will send out date and list of what will be for sale at each “Outhouse Sale” location including pricing to all of you.

5.       The plan is that the selling will be by appointment only (as is happening at some nurseries).  Specific time slots would be set aside for each member to purchase seedlings.   This process is still to be finalized but we will follow all the COVID-19 protocols.  Possibly having a separate cashier from the sale table at each location.  We will accept personal cheques.   Pricing is anticipated to be in even dollars so that in advance you might be able to have exact cash ready when you come.  We will also ask that you bring your own boxes to take plants away in.

6.       As this will be members only as noted in bullet 5 PLEASE DO NOT share the locations and dates with non-members.   You can if you want have a list from family and friends and purchase for them.    We must keep social distancing and as you know from past sales that would be extremely hard to control around the tomatoes if we opened to other than members!!

Fall Perennial Plant Sale – For all of you that have already potted up perennials from your garden for our “normal” Spring Plant Sale the Plant Sale Committee and Executive are now proposing (anticipating that the COVID-19 situation will be over ) that we have a perennial sale in the fall open to the public.   So if you already have pots ready please keep them watered over the summer or maybe just share with friends and family.   More information later in the summer.

Florissa Spring Bulb Fundraising Sale – Still on.  Check out the details of the Spring offerings in the March Newsletter or webpage.   Deadline is midnight, April 21.  Our webpage for this is https://florissafundraising.com/new-westminster-horticultural-society/    We had a message from Florissa This week “I hope all is well with you. I just wanted to give you an update on your sales totals as of today. Your current sales amount is $296. We do not have any plans to shut down, so rest assured, things are business as usual here. I believe it is the perfect time for people to buy bulbs and get outside to relax in the garden. Come summer, the flowers will be a welcome, cheerful pick me up. 😊“   Remember our club portion of this is 50% of the sales so why not share this with friends and family.   I encourage members to take advantage of this.  Audrey will call people when she gets the bulbs.   Depending on how much is ordered Florissa will either ship to Audrey or she will go and pick them up.  She will only handle them enough to make a phoning list.  She will use nitrile gloves.  

NWHS Photo Contest- Just a reminder about our annual Photo contest with all the time you will be spending in your yards and balconies why not take pictures for our contest.  I have attached the rules for any of you that might not have picked them up at the February or March meetings. 

July Club Garden Tour: In anticipation that, by July, NWHS will be in full club mode, Audrey has started organizing the garden tour.  Following feed-back last year from members, the tour will start in Burnaby near Metrotown (or beyond) and work its way back to New Westminster.  The date will be Sat, July 18.  If interested in being a garden host, please contact Audrey at 604-526-8284 (before 8pm) or via audrey@newwesthortsociety.org.  We are eager to see how you have spent your confined-at-home time.  At the moment, one garden is confirmed.

Plan now for the Fall Bring to Share:  During the social distancing, have you tackled a long-waiting gardening project?  If so, take some before and during-progress (and finish!) photos of your accomplishment.  In Sept, there will be a special category at the Bring to Share "Finally got it done!”  We're looking forward to seeing your projects.

BCCGC Floral Arts Classes - Despite mass closures and the need to self-isolate, three club members—Sherri, Trudy and Anna--are challenging themselves to make a floral arrangement a week. The three had attended the first session of the BC Council of Garden Clubs six-week Floral Arts course. When the course was cancelled, Sherri suggested they “home-school”, making their own arrangement Saturday morning, then email a photo of the finished product. The other two readily agreed. The first arrangement, an oval table centrepiece, had been demonstrated at the first session; for subsequent arrangements the three are “winging it.” With most sources of plant material closed, they rely heavily on what they can forage from their and friends’ gardens, at a safe distance of course.  Following are a few of their arrangements.

Further to the above Sherri was sent the following link via the BC Floral Arts Society. Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands is posting videos as it is closed to public. Perhaps something you might would enjoy. https://keukenhof.nl/en/nieuws/parkvideo-april/   Trudy advised us that she has visited these gardens.  Says it is her favourite place in Holland!  Her cousin lives close by so when she visits they take their bikes through the fields of Hyacinths, tulips and narcissi.  The smell is absolutely delicious!!!  Too bad there was not smell-o-vision!! 

Sad News -  Bert Garbuio, that some of you may know as the organizer of the bus to the Northwest Flower and Garden Festival  passed away Mar 13th just a couple of weeks after this year’s trip.  Our member that advised me said he was on the trip this year but he was not his normal self.  Says he was quite quiet and his daughter and son-in-law did most of the arranging of the trip.  She did not know the cause of death.

Amsterdam Nurseries – Many of you have maybe visited this nursery out in Pitt Meadows.  I get their regular e-newsletter and a point of interest for you is that they are open for shopping plus they are having free seminars on their website, https://www.amsterdamgreenhouses.com/seminars many with Mike Lascelle who as spoken at our club in the past.   Check it out.

Feel free to send me comments or questions any time.   I do not promise to answer immediately as I am still working full time as I work in the construction industry and we are considered essential.

Click Here for the Official March Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2020 Contests Rules

Hi Folks

This is very trying and stressful times with the COVID-19 Pandemic. Our Executive hopes you are all well and taking care of yourselves and your families. We realize you have likely have had countless emails and phone calls of events or appointments being cancelled or postponed. Hopefully you are able to be out in the sunshine and fresh air in your gardens or balconies – great way to distress!

It is not unexpected that our NWHS April 14th meeting has to be Cancelled and the May 12th meeting as well unless this epidemic comes to a fast conclusion. You have likely heard that City of New Westminster along with other Lower Mainland cities have closed all city public facilities and recreational centres. This includes our meeting place in Queen’s Park. Our Vice-President Diane got hold of her contact at the City and was told that all City rentals were cancelled until the end of May.

Large Gatherings at City run facilities. - All City-organized events with more than 50 people, or events that could potentially exceed 50 people, have been suspended as per the provincial health officer. This includes events organized by other organizations at City facilities or parks. This suspension will remain in place until May 30, 2020.

Our April meeting was to be your last chance to renew your annual membership of $15 and not lose your consecutive year of membership and stay on the emailer list. We will extend this until the first meeting that we are able to come back. We will not be taking anyone off the emailer list until after then. In the meantime if you would like to mail your renewal to our Post Office Box it would be welcomed. Just send a note with your contact information and your cheque to:
New Westminster Horticultural Society
Box 392, 104 – 1015 Columbia St.
New Westminster, BC V3M 6V3

NWHS Annual Spring Plant Sale - Saturday May 2nd at New West Secondary School is also cancelled. We just received word today that the school is temporarily suspending community group rentals at their facilities until further notice. The Executive and the Fundraising/Plant Sale Committee will be discussing the Sale further. Several of us have brainstormed a couple of possible alternatives. A few members have already contacted us about what they should do with seedlings they have already started. We are asking that you continuing growing your seedlings until we come up with a solution. We also have people who have already potted plants for the sale. We are pleased to hear all of this. We will let you know by early April what we decide.

Florissa Spring Bulb Fundraising Sale – Unless you hear otherwise from me it is still on. Check out the details of the Spring offerings in the March Newsletter. Deadline is midnight, April 21st. Our webpage for this is. https://florissafundraising.com/new-westminster-horticultural-society/ Audrey will call people when she gets the bulbs. Depending on how much is ordered Florissa will either ship to Audrey or she will go and pick them up. She will only handle them enough (with nitrile gloves) to make a phoning list. We don’t see any reason why Florissa Fundraising program would be cancelled; It is like any other order-over-the-internet purchase.

The BC Council of Garden Clubs AGM & Spring Meeting April 25th - IS CANCELLED

NWHS at Gardenworks Mandeville – Sunday March 22 – We decided to cancel our participation in this as it would be really hard to maintain 6ft distance from someone when we are sitting at a table and they come up to us. Breaking News - Just received an email as I am writing this that Gardenworks has closed all 7 of their locations from March 20th to April 2nd due to COVID-19. They are working on the option of ordering for curbside pick up or delivery. Amsterdam Nursery in Pitt Meadows has already set up an online ordering and curbside pickup. Check out both of their websites.

Hanging Baskets – Sharon Seki was contacted by her contact at Normanna Care Home where we got the Hen & Chicks from a couple of years ago. – There are 2 metal hanging baskets that she wants to sell for $50 total. She advises they cost $100 each. Sharon would like to help her out by asking the membership if they are interested. Pictures of baskets attached. If you are at all interested contact Sharon for the contact information.

Our Contest Organizer Audrey has suggested – Members should spend some of your down-time with camera in hand. Take some photos now for entry into the contests in Oct.

And as Dr. Henry (Provincial Health Officer) says - Be Kind, Be Calm and Be Safe.

Click Here for the Official February Newsletter

Click Here for the Official Contests Rules

Click Here for the Official December Newsletter

Merry Christmas to all!

Our next meeting is our Annual Christmas Dinner and Party on December 10th. Doors open at 6:00pm with buffet dinner starting at 6:30pm. We are sold out again this year so unless you already have a ticket you will be unable to attend. Sorry. If you are new to our Xmas Party be prepared for a tantalizing Christmas trivia quiz.

Food Bank – For those attending the party remember to bring non-perishable food items to donate to the Food Bank. The bins will be in the foyer.

Christmas Draw & Charity – Half the proceeds of our Christmas craft draw at the Party will go to the member’s choice: Just a little bit about Aunt Leah’s – When many teens in foster care “age out” of government care at 19, they find themselves completely alone. Aunt Leah’s Place fills that gap through providing guidance, housing, job training and coaching in essential skills. Aunt Leah’s is New West based. So buy lots of draw tickets.

Christmas Crafting – As usual for the past two weeks now, the elves have been busy in Audrey’s basement creating prizes for our Christmas Party Draw. Only 1 week left to participate. Contact Audrey at 604-526-8284 or audrey@newwesthortsociety.org ASAP to get on the calendar. Hours are 9am to 9pm except on Tues, Dec 3rd when the basement closes at 3:30. Sat & Sun, Dec 7 and 8 are reserved for working with fresh materials. Fresh materials will be worked with during daylight hours only (outside). Crafting takes place in Audrey's basement at 117 Seventh Ave.

Green materials: We are in dire need of fresh materials to work with on the final two days of crafting. If you have any you can offer, please tell Audrey. Delivery to her place would be appreciated. Thanks.

Help needed for Party Day: If you can help with any of these tasks, please tell Audrey. Got a question? Ask her. Even if you think Audrey already knows you are coming since you did it last year--that is not the case. Confirm that Audrey has you on the list. She will be mentally assigning tasks to the volunteers before work commences. Thanks for helping out.

Transport of prizes and party stuff to lodge: For this we need closed vehicles with a fair amount of interior space. Your vehicle will be loaded in the morning with the loaded contents held in the vehicle until noon when we get access to the Lodge. All vehicles arrive to the lodge at noon. Unloading is then one vehicle at a time with everybody helping unload. Setting up the room: We get the room at noon. Arrival at that time would be great. A huge variety of tasks. Tearing down after the party and transport of stuff back to Audrey's.

Northwest Flower & Garden Festival discount tickets: For 2020, the big Seattle show runs Feb 26 to Mar 1. Until 11:59pm Monday, Dec 2nd, they are offering 1 day adult tickets at half price. Regular at-door price is $25US. Purchase any number on-line at http://northwestflowerandgardenfestival.tix123.com/ Use the discount code GREENFRIDAY

A reminder and for those of you new to the club we don’t meet in January. Our next regular meeting will be Tuesday, February 11, 2020 at 7:30pm. Our In-House Plant Sale will be up and running again. Details for the meeting will be in our February Emailer. Hopefully there will be no snow so we don’t have to cancel again like we did last year!!

On behalf of myself and the rest of the NWHS Executive Committee we want to wish you and your family a happy holiday season and all the best for the New Year.

Click Here for the Official November Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2019 Contests Rules

Hope you have been enjoying the beautiful sunny (but chilly) weather we have been having this past week. I imagine many of you have been out raking leaves or mulching them and as good gardeners you are putting them in your compost or using them as mulch in the garden.

Our next meeting – Tuesday November 12th 7:30 pm – Our speaker is Kathy Friesen of Bloomsbury Designer Gardens. She will be speaking on “How do I leave my garden” or “Finding your quiet Centre in a new space”

November is also our AGM – but that part will not be long as all we have to cover is the elections of next year’s Executive. Positions up for election are President, Treasurer, and three 2 yr and one 1yr Member at Large Positions. We do have either existing Exec members that are willing to continue on or people that have already come forward. We will still call for nominations from the floor so if you are interested in joining the Exec (or want to nominate someone) in one of these positions let me know before or at the meeting.

Xmas Party Tickets – As of this past Saturday Ellen advises there are only 6 Xmas Party tickets left! If you are thinking of attending don’t wait until the November meeting to get your ticket as they may all be gone. Contact Ellen at 604-526-7827 or ellen@newwesthortsociety.org

Sad News – Dorothy (Dot) Pegler passed away on Oct 30th. Dorothy and her husband Roy joined the club in 1993 and quickly became involved in the club. Her dry sense of humor and sharp wit will be missed. More info about Dorothy will be in the Newsletter. Celebration of Life arrangements have not yet been made but will be passed onto the membership with we have it.

Christmas Charity – We will vote on this at the November meeting. The following are the organizations that have been submitted for consideration. I have noted a very brief description that either a NWHS member gave us or I located on the internet. More details will be in the Newsletter. I encourage you to do a bit of research yourself prior to the vote so that you can make a more informed decision. Ideally it should be a local charity or group and not one we have supported previously or at least not in the past 5 years, but it is up to you the members. Last month’s Newsletter had a list of past recipients to assist in making your decision.

• Honour House – Provides a free of charge, temporary home for members of our Canadian Armed Forces, Veterans and Emergency Services Personnel and their families while they travel to receive medical care and treatment in the Metro Vancouver Area. Situated in New Westminster https://honourhouse.ca/
• Technology for Living - Provides Environmental Control Systems (ECS) that assist people with high level physical disabilities to control devices in their homes and on the go. They work with clients who have respiratory problems suffering with conditions such as ALS to live as independently as possible with technological solutions and supports to optimize independence. https://technologyforliving.org/how-we-help/technology-for-independent-living-program-til/
• Aunt Leah’s – They help foster kids transiting out might become homeless and help mothers in need losing custody of their children. They have retail Thrift stores and Christmas tree lots. https://auntleahs.org/about/
• L’Arche – Neighbours Helping Neighbours – Runs homes and day programs for people with developmental disabilities. Its Neighbours Helping Neighbours program puts some of those individuals to work, helping seniors and people with physical disabilities with gardening and light repair chores. https://www.larche.ca/communities/greater_vancouver
• The Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver is a charitable organization that supports some of society’s most vulnerable populations – women, girls and children at risk, involved in or affected by the justice system. https://elizabethfry.com/donate-now/
• Last Door Addiction Treatment Centre for Youth, Adults & Families Last Door opened its doors to in 1984. For 35 years their recovery community of certified counselors, support workers and volunteers has supported families in healing from the impacts of substance use. Specialized effective and coordinated residential recovery programs are offered for youth, emerging adults and adult men. https://lastdoor.org/about-us/

Opportunities for Christmas Shopping at the Nov meeting: At the At-Meeting Sale Table, we will be having a blow-out of all the Silent Auction jewelry---only 25¢ per bag. At the Fireplace Table, Audrey is selling the colorful Caran D'ache pens for $5 each. She will also be taking orders for Original Garden Brooms until Dec 1st (5pm). They are only $20 each.

Flowering Arranging Course – Great news it is a go, as so far there are 11 registered but they will accept more. See the info in the Newsletter.

Lost & Found – Just a reminder to look around your chair etc when you leave the meeting and if you have brought goodies (which we thank you very much) to pick up the plate or container you have brought your goodies in. After the October meeting we found a mug (“Wag on” – with a Basset hound stretched around the circumference) and a metal shortbread cookie tin.

BC Council of Garden Clubs - Those who attended the meeting heard Julia Commons speak about the movie, The Pollinators. The award-winning movie is coming to Canada for limited showings. Watch the trailer: https://vimeo.com/341704838 If you are interested in seeing the movie, you can find out more about screening locations throughout BC and how to order tickets at https://tickets.demand.film/ticket/search Local date in Monday Nov. 11th.

Click Here for the Official October Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2019 Contests Rules

Shop the Florissa Fundraiser Here

Happy Fall - Where did the summer go!! I am just back from the Maritimes and the fall colours are just starting to appear in the more inland areas there. The coastal trees are still green although some bushes & shrubs were showing many shades of red. Alberta has had snow this past weekend!! Aren’t we so fortunate to live where we do.

Our next meeting - Tuesday October 8th 7:30 pm is our Annual Silent Auction. For those of you new to the club there will be no speaker but as you may have been hearing there will be great deals for you. Detailed information was in the September Newsletter (attached to this emailer)

Pre Silent Auction – Audrey is still looking for help with transporting items to the lodge during the day on October 8th and take down at the end of the evening. Please call her if you are able to assist. (604-526-8284). There will also be a few duties you can volunteer to do the evening of the Silent Auction. Sunday Oct 6th at 5:00pm is the deadline to drop off any donations you might have to Audrey’s or you can take them to the lodge by 7:00 on Oct 8th. We thank you for any help you can give.

75th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands – May 5 2020 is the Anniversary date and both the Dutch Canadian 2020 Liberation Society and the Canadian Tulip Festival have come up with 2 different tulips to honor this event with proceeds going to the Royal Canadian Legion. They are hoping to create awareness among the younger generations of the role Canadians played. Consider planting some. Read more about it in Brian Minters article in the Vancouver Sun – Sept 5th. https://vancouversun.com/homes/gardening/brian-minter-commemorative-tulips Florissa has one of these tulips for offer “Canadian Liberator”. $6 for 6 bulbs. You have until October 1st at midnight to place your order for them - http://florissafundraising.com/new-westminster-horticultural-society/ Remember NWHS gets about 50% of the cost of the bulbs as a fundraiser.

NWHS Christmas Charity – For those of you new to the club we select a charity to donate half the proceeds of our December Christmas Party draw to. Please bring in any names you might have for a deserving recipient group to the October meeting. Please give us a brief description on who they are. Box for nominations will be in the kitchen where you will pick up your coffee/tea & goodies for this meeting. You can also email your nominations to me. We will be voting at the November meeting for the recipient so need to have all nominations before then. Priority will be local charities with horticultural / gardening mandates. There will be a list of past recipients in the October Newsletter.

The November meeting it is also our Annual General Meeting and Elections. We need to fill 2 Member at large positions, one for a 1 yr term and one for a 2yr term. We do have a couple of interested members but more are welcome. If you are interested in the position yourself or know of someone that would be an asset to our Exec Committee please contact Anna Camporese until Oct 8th and after that Audrey as they our nominating committee. Besides voting on executive positions and the Xmas Charity we will also be voting on the container contest entries.

Photo Contest – Don’t forget to bring your entries for the photo & container contests to the October meeting. Submit them at the podium. If you are not going to make this meeting and are submitting photos talk to Audrey.

Christmas Party Dinner - tickets go on sale at the October meeting. $20 for members and $25 for guests. We will accept cash or cheques. Cheque for dinner to be separate from Silent Auction payment. Paul Larose is the lucky winner this year of a free ticket. (Selected from members of over 20 years)

UPCOMING EVENTS (Non NWHS)

TD Tree Days - Oct 5 9:00am – 12:00pm in Glen Brook Ravine. https://www.newwestcity.ca/citypage/index/articles/7199.php

UBC Applefest – Oct. 19th 11:00am – 4:00pm – UBC Botanical Gardens

BC Council of Garden Clubs Fall Meeting - Oct. 26th 9am-4pm - Bonsor Community Centre. Those attending please remember to bring your own mugs, soup bowl, plate and cutlery. (Bring your own place setting: prizes for the most creative!)

BC Council Floral Design Show – Dreaming of England – October 26, 9am – 3:30pm. – 10 classes, Novice and Open. Show is open to the public so you don’t have to be going to the meeting to enter. No entry fee. Floral Design exhibits must be registered in advance no later than Saturday October 19, 2019. For more information download the Show Schedule

Glenbrooke Ravine Invasive Species Removal – Planting – Oct 26, 10:00am – 1:00pm

Century House Craft Sale & Tea – Nov. 2, 10:00am – 2:00pm – 620 Eighth St. NW

Click Here for the Official September Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2019 Contests Rules

Shop the Florissa Fundraiser Here

Happy Labour Day Weekend this last weekend of the summer for those of you that have children going back to school. In reality we still have 3 summer weekends left. Sometimes these are the best days of summer as they are not so hot and we get nice cool breezes. It is actually my favourite time of the year. This weekend also signals the resuming of many community activities that are put on hold over the summer holidays.

Our next meeting is Tuesday Sept. 10 at 7:30pm. Our speaker is Amanda Jarrett and her talk is entitled Garden Mistakes and Misconceptions, which is pretty self-explanatory. Amanda is an avid gardener, freelance writer, lecturer, horticulture photographer and author of the successful book, Ornamental Tropical Shrubs. Her website, The Garden Website.com, is a website designed for gardeners. It includes instructional articles and beautiful pictures to help all types of gardeners.

Bring to Share September meeting – Don’t forget to bring items you would like to share with the rest of the club. The details were in last month’s Newsletter. It is a participation event not a judged event. Reminder the categories are: Garden Glory; Photos (garden related); Plant ID; Insects; Weeds & Disease; Other; Garden Gals; Botanical Prints (from the June workshop). If unsure what to do or bring or if you didn’t get last month’s Newsletter just contact Audrey for more details at audrey@newwesthortsociety.org

Reminder – All of our meetings and events are fragrance free. There are several members that are very allergic to scents and others that don’t really like a lot of fragrance. So please be considerate of others. And remember it is all fragrances – both women and men.

Silent Auction - As you may know, this is the final year that Audrey will be handling the pre-processing and pre-organization of the auction items in her basement. We have a bit of glitch this year in that Audrey tripped and cracked her knee cap recently. She is still collecting for the auction but has a bit of an added request for people who drop items off. Please knock very loud at the kitchen door (use the acorn knocker to the left). If Audrey is home, she will open the basement door for you to take your items in yourself. Of course, if she is not home, leave the items under shelter at the kitchen door. Never leave items outside the basement door (even under the deck). They will be exposed to the elements. Thanks. Audrey lives at 117 Seventh Ave, email: Audrey@newwesthortsociety.org, phone 604-526-8284 (before 8pm please). At the Sept meeting, there will be a sign up sheet for people who are willing to help Audrey with working on "the goods". We also need people to help with the transfer, set-up and tear down. You can sign up at the fireplace table or by connecting with Audrey. Bidding slips will be available at the meeting for you to take home to make up for any auction donations that you plan to bring directly to the auction.

Special Item Auction: We have been given a "very lightly used" 18" push Reel Yardworks lawn mower. Climate friendly + a bit of exercise--win, win! At the Sept 10th meeting, you will have the opportunity to bid on the mower. New, these mowers retail for about $200 at Canadian Tire. Our starting bid will be $50. Minimum bid increments will be $1. The bidding sheet will be at the In House Plant Sale Table. Currently the mower is in Audrey's basement. You are invited to stop by (alert her first) and check it out--and even test it on Audrey's lawn. Bidding ends at the end of the break. The winner will be announced after the monthly draw and they will pick up the mower at Audrey’s ASAP after the meeting.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Able Auction – This info was forwarded on by one of our long time members as he felt it might be of interest to NWHS members. $250,000 Garden Store/Supply Liquidation. Beat the Public – Thursday Sept 5th 12 noon to 4:30pm if you have the attached email. Public Opening is Friday Sept. 6th 9:00am to 4:30pm. Able Auctions #5 – 22720 Dewdney Trunk Road, Maple Ridge.

Fraser Valley Dahlia Flower Show – Sept 14 & 15 – Spectacular judged dahlia show. Free Admission. Wheelchair accessible show open 12 to 5 on Saturday, 10 to 3:30 Sunday. Pick out the dahlias you want to grow next year. Sponsored by the Fraser Valley Dahlia Society. www.fraservalleydahliasociety.ca

Vancouver Rose Society – Sept 21 – 10:30 am – 2pm at The Burnaby Hall 7837 Canada Way – Featuring Thomas Proll – Head Breeder for Kordes Roses. As seats are limited, pre-registration is mandatory. Please email vanrosesociety2015@gmail.com with names of attendees. Upon confirmation of seats please follow up with payment in the mail.

BC Council Fall General Meeting – October 26, 9am – 3:30pm. - Bonsor Community Centre. Once again NWHS will be subsidizing members to attend as long as you signup and pay with the club at the September club meeting at the Treasurers desk or with Ellen by Sept. 15th. Your final cost will be $30 instead of the advertised $40. After Sept 15th you will need to register and pay thru the BCCGC website and there will be no NWHS club subsidy Main speaker this year will be Dr. Richard Hebda – Curator of Botany & Earth History – Royal BC Museum, speaking on “Climate Change Impacts & Actions Gardeners can take”. BCCGC Executive is promising more vendors and a slightly different format this year. Besides 2 speakers there will be 2 – 1 hr breakout workshops that you will be able to attend from a choice of 4. BCCGC are asking you to “Lug a mug and Pack a Sack” They are also hinting there might be a prize for the best place setting. BCCGC is providing the food of course.

BC Council Floral Design Show – Dreaming of England – October 26, 9am – 3:30pm. – 10 classes, Novice and Open. Show is open to the public so you don’t have to be going to the meeting to enter. No entry fee. Floral Design exhibits must be registered in advance no later than Saturday October 19, 2019. For more information download the Show Schedule https://bcgardenclubs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/BCCGC-Floral-Design-Show-Schedule-October-26-2019.pdf you can also contact Cindy Tataryn at ctataryn@telus.net or phone 604-585-6786

Happy Gardening

Click Here for the Official August Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2018 Contests Rules

It was wonderful to get the rain on Thursday night saved us all from a bit of watering on this BC Day long weekend. Hope you have all had a nice relaxing weekend whether away or at home. If home maybe you got a bit of summer cleanup done in your yard.

Our next meeting is Tuesday August 12th at 7:30. This meeting sounds like it will be an interesting if not a fun evening as Conway Lum and Carole Forsythe both from Mandeville’s GardenWorks will be going head to head or toe to toe on Turf Lawn versus the Alternatives! Carole is also a past president of NWHS and has herself an alternative (no turf) lawn.

NWHS Garden Tour & Picnic – A Big Thanks goes out to Audrey Barnes for once again organizing a great tour. This year we visited several non-member gardens and may even have a couple of new Potential members as a result.

NWHS Silent Auction – October 8th - It is that time of year again to go through your closets and cupboards to see what you may have to donate to what may be our last club Silent Auction. You can start dropping off items at Audrey’s kitchen door now. 117 Seventh Ave. If you have any large ticket items let Audrey know by sending her a picture of it.

BC Council of Garden Clubs Newsletter – This Bi-Monthly Newsletter is once again in production. Following is a link to access the pdf document. July 2019 Bulletin You can also find link on BCCGC website under resources. If you wish you can subscribe to receive it directly.

Name Tags – The Executive has discussed having a method of identifying New Members during their first year of membership. We will tell you more at the Next General meeting. Idea is to encourage the existing members to go over and welcome a new member, and have a little chat to get to know them. This may start to take effect at the August meeting.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Vancouver Dahlia Society Annual Show – Sat. Aug 31st 1 – 5pm & Sun. Sept 1st noon – 3:30pm at VanDusen Floral Hall. Admission by Donation. (Does not include admission to the Gardens)

Vancouver Rose Society – Sept 21 – 10:30 am – 2pm at The Burnaby Hall 7837 Canada Way – Featuring Thomas Proll – Head Breeder for Kordes Roses.

BC Council Fall General Meeting – October 26, 9am – 3:30pm. - New Venue this year at Bonsor Community Centre. Once again NWHS will be subsidizing members to attend as long as you signup and pay with the club at the August or September club meeting at the Treasurers desk or with Ellen by Sept. 15th. Your final cost will be $30 instead of the advertised $40. After Sept 15th you will need to register and pay thru the BCCGC website and there will be no NWHS club subsidy. Price rises to $45 after Sept 27th thru to Oct 13th. Main speaker this year will be Dr. Richard Hebda – Curator of Botany & Earth History – Royal BC Museum, speaking on “Climate Change Impacts & Actions Gardeners can take”. BCCGC Executive is promising more vendors and a slightly different format this year. Besides 2 speakers there will be 2 – 1 hr breakout workshops that you will be able to attend. They are trying to keep the meeting Green so are asking you to “Lug a mug and Pack a Sack” Just like you do for the club picnic. They are also hinting there might be a prize for the best place setting. BCCGC is providing the food of course. More details in the September Newsletter.

BC Council Floral Design Show – Dreaming of England – October 26, 9am – 3:30pm. – 10 classes, Novice and Open. Show is open to the public so you don’t have to be going to the meeting to enter. No entry fee. Floral Design exhibits must be registered in advance no later than Saturday October 19, 2019. For more information download the Show Schedule https://bcgardenclubs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/BCCGC-Floral-Design-Show-Schedule-October-26-2019.pdf You can also contact Cindy Tataryn at ctataryn@telus.net or phone 604-585-6786

BC Council – Possible Flower Arranging Workshops in New Westminster – Spring 2020 – for anyone interested in flower arranging as a hobby, not professional purpose – more info will be in the September Newsletter as well as at the September NWHS club meeting. Stay tuned.

Happy Gardening

Click Here for the Official July Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2019 Contests Rules

Click Here for the Official 2019 Show Schedule

HAPPY CANADA DAY

It is now officially summer although it has felt like it for the last month or more!  I’m sure you were all happy to see the rain we had last week, well at least our gardens and lawns were happy!  I have attached the June Newsletter to this emailer since there was a low turnout to last month’s meeting due to the heat we understand.  Hope you all are having a pleasant Canada Weekend.   I myself got quite a bit of work done in my yard.

Our next regular meeting is Tuesday July 9th at 7:30pm.  Our speaker is Nicholas Wong, Project Coordinator with Invasive Species Council of BC. The topic will be "The Japanese Beetle, Popillia japonica, in Vancouver".  Nick’s talk will provide background on the beetle’s biology and the invasion of Vancouver.  He will describe the preventative measures and eradication efforts underway and discuss what we can do to help stop the spread.     He has told us that at various 2018 season debrief meetings It was recognized by the groups involved in its management in metro Vancouver (CFIA, Ministry of Agriculture, City of Vancouver, BC Landscape and Nursery Association and ISCBC) that some more public education would help in the eradication efforts of the Japanese Beetle  by getting more information out.    No beetles were found at that time in New West, but having people on the front lines that are familiar with it and know how to report is the best first line of defence.

Don’t forget that out next meeting is our Annual July In-Club Show:  Have you been monitoring your garden with your show schedule in hand?  It would be fantastic if each member could bring in at least one exhibit for the show.  Let’s have a full showbench: lots of entries, minimal bare table tops.  Check out the schedule (attached) for detailed information.  Some classes are specific, some more general.   Don't worry if your exhibit is not "perfect"--show us what you are proud of from your garden.  Who knows what weather we will encounter between now and July 9?  Remember everyone's garden is subjected to the same conditions.  If we are experiencing a heat wave July 8-9, your entries will survive better if you cut your flowers and gather your vegetables really early in the morning when it is cool.  Store your flowers in water in a cool dark place (basement if you have one) until meeting time.  Remember that flowers mature further once they are cut--select those that are almost fully open.  Loosely wrap produce in damp towel or paper towel and store them in a fridge.  Make a big sign for yourself so you don't leave them behind when leaving for the meeting (been there, done that!).  If you

have any questions about the schedule (trying to figure out what a definition or term means, what class your entry should go in...anything...), contact Audrey via email audrey@newwesthortsociety.org or 604-526-8284 (phone before 8pm, please).  

Voting for Members' Choice:  Before you cast your vote for your favorite, please refer to the July newsletter which will have explicit instructions on voting.  Let’s have no spoiled ballots this year.

Please remember to bring your mug.  As a Garden Club we try to be environmental conscious so that is why a few years ago we stopped supplying Styrofoam cups for Tea time and encouraged every to bring their own mug.   We have an incentive If you bring your mug and you buy one or more draw tickets, you will get a free ticket.   We do have a stock of a dozen mugs for guests, our speaker and if you happen to forget your mug, unfortunately last month we ran out of mugs as more than a dozen people forgot theirs!!  

 NWHS club Garden Tour, Saturday July 13th - After a slow start (equate that to "very few club members coming forward"), the tour is developing very nicely.  You will see some corners of New Westminster that you probably didn't know exist. As details are still to be finalized, you will have to wait until the July meeting to find out map, itinerary and start time but it will start between 1:00 & 2:00pm.  Remember to carpool for both the tour and picnic.  The map/itinerary will be available at the July meeting or from Audrey after the meeting.  It is your ticket for the tour.  There is no electronic version.   The tour is open to members and their adult friends.  See the write-up in last month’s Newsletter.  Goes ahead rain or shine.

NWHS club Picnic, Saturday July 13th – 4:30 pm - The sign-up sheet for the picnic will be at the head table at the July meeting.  We ask you to indicate the number of people in your party and what you plan to contribute to the feast.  It is crucial to know the number of people to expect.  Last year we set up the tables according to the numbers indicated on the sign-up sheet only to find out, during the tour, that a lot of people planned to come but had not signed up--about a 30% increase in attendees.  Yikes. Massive last minute reorganization of the tables and chairs!  Let’s not have the same scenario this year.  Also we have to make sure we pick up enough wine.  At non-meeting times, Audrey has the sign-up sheet.  Please inform her of any changes to your plans.  Her contact info: audrey@newwesthortsociety.org or 604-526-8284 before 8pm.  Kids are invited to the picnic but it is adult-oriented.  Like the tour, the picnic is rain or shine. Garden Stumps will return.   If you can help with setup on Friday please contact Audrey.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Erikson’s Daylily Gardens & Perennials Annual Open House Event – July 6th & 7th  from 10am – 4pm both days - 24642 51 Ave, Langley.   See the gardens and nursery in full bloom that you saw in pictures at last month’s meeting.  Other local vendors also with displays; The VanDusen Master Gardeners will be on hand; Aldergrove Daylily Society draw with prizes donated by Bonetti Meats, JD Turkey Farms, Krause Berry Farms and many more.  You can also just sit and enjoy the sights and sounds of the harpist in the garden.   There is also a café offering drinks and home baked items.   Admission is by donation with partial proceeds to the BC Children’s Hospital Fund.   Since these are private gardens Pam advises they are not wheelchair, walker or stroller accessible.  Children must be kept with you at all times and also no pets or smoking.  For more into call 604-856-5758

Shade Garden Society Annual Show – Saturday July 20th from 10am – 4pm.  You can find the event at Hunter’s Garden Centre 2560 West Broadway, Vancouver.  For more information contact Chris at 604-838-9504.  

Click Here for the Official June Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2019 Contests Rules

Sunday  8 club members and 2 City of New West employees planted the Pollinator Garden at Sapperton Park.  It is a very nice layout with stepping stones going through the centre of it.   Once it is established it is going to look great.   This week the City will be spreading bark mulch and installing a sign to tell the public all about the garden.   It will be mentioned that the garden was planted in partnership with NWHS in honour of our 85th Anniversary.  Picture is attached – Garden is between the playing field and the playground.

Our speaker at the June 11th  meeting will be Pam Erickson of Erikson Daylilies, an award-winning daylily hybridizer, photographer and lecturer from Langley.  She will be speaking on “The Evolution of Erikson’s Daylily Gardens & Perennials” Pam will be bringing plants for sale so be sure to bring some money with you.   Don’t forget the meeting starts at 7:30pm.  

Erikson Daylily Open Garden  - 24642 - 51 Ave Langley - Saturday and Sunday July 6th and 7th 10am to 4pm each day.  The harpist plays from 11 to 3 each day; the cafe offers drinks and home baked items from her local garden club; There are other vendors including a birdhouse maker, a lady specializing in seeds and willows and the VanDusen master gardeners.  The Aldergrove Daylily Club will also have a draw table with awesome prizes!   Please note that the gardens are not wheelchair, stroller or walker accessible. 

Apparently it is always a fun event!  

We thought it would be fun to try and go out as a club group.  There will be a sign up sheet at the meeting so we can give Pam an idea of how many members might attend.  We thought that the Sunday might be best as there is at least one bus with another Garden Club attending on Saturday.  If you can’t make it Sunday then feel free to go on your own or with a car full on Saturday.

July meeting – July In-Club Show – If you didn’t pick up the schedule last month it will be available at June’s meeting if you are interested in showing your flowers, veggies or other.

Remember “ Our meetings are scent free (except any flowers of course) so please do not wear perfume or cologne for the sake of members that may have allergies.

NWHS – Garden Tour & Picnic – Saturday July 13th – Audrey is looking for gardens for the tour – if you are interested in having your garden on the tour let us know your intent at the Fireside table.   You can also sign up for what food you will bring to the picnic at the Fireside Table.

Vancouver Master Gardener Basic Training Program – If you are interested - SPACE IS LIMITED SO PLEASE REGISTER EARLY TO SECURE A PLACE IN THE CLASS. You should be aware that the fee for the course will increase after this next session.  Their website (www.mgabc.org) provides all of the course information. TO REGISTER or if you have any questions, please contact Doreen at basic_training@vancouvermastergardeners.org

Some Interesting Upcoming Events:

• 1.       Glenbrook Ravine Restoration: The next invasive species removal will be Saturday June 29.  There are many invasive species in the park but the majority of the invasives are Himalayan blackberry and English ivy. 
• 2.       Denman Island Home and Garden Tour:  June 15-16, 2019. For more info and to purchase tickets  go online at http://www.denman-conservancy.org/home-and-garden-tour/.   A previous NWHS member – Ann Paisley is one of the homes/gardens on the tour.
• 3.       South Delta Garden Club Garden Tour 2019 – June 23rd 10am – 4pm. $15. Info was in last month’s emailer.  www.southdeltagardenclub.com   604-940-3241 for more info.
• 4.       Heritage Vancouver – Annual Garden Tour – June 22 & 23rd.  15 private gardens -Tickets $35 available at various garden centres and at http://heritagevancouver.org/garden-tour-2019/

Click Here for the Official May Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2019 Contests Rules

We had a very successful Plant Sale this year. WE SOLD OUT by 2:00pm!!! We will be announcing the total we made at our next meeting on Tuesday May 14th at 7:30 pm – so be there to hear the news. Our new location at NWSS was great and the school very accommodating and helpful. The weather started out sunny then turned a little cool but eventually the sun came back. Big thanks goes out to all the members that delivered, received and sorted the plants on Friday evening and the great crew that got us set up in record time on Saturday morning. The members volunteering for the sale were able to purchase plants starting at 9:15. Then the tables were restocked and we opened to the public at 10:00. The first hour was crazy!! At times I think we had people 2 to 3 deep trying to get to the plants. Audrey asked a number of customers how they heard about the sale and many told her it was due to our street signs. Thank to the members that allowed us to put our signs in their front yard or boulevard for a couple of weeks.

The NWSS Athletic department had their Manure Sale alongside our Sale although they were a little slow to get started. They had a glitch in that their manure was stuck behind some blacktop work going on at the rear of the school that no one advised them about!! As they could not access it by vehicle the teacher in charge borrowed one of our club wagons and wheeled 8 bags at a time through the hallways of the school! They took many orders for delivery (New West only) and sold some bags but would have sold more if not for the blacktop work. They want to do it with us again next year. It was a win win for both of us.

Our speaker at the May meeting will be Janis Matson of Shoreline Landscaping talking on “Small trees for Urban Gardens” She will let us know how to get a tree that is in scale with our garden space and suitable for our micro climate.

Our annual membership of $15 is due at this meeting. This month is the last meeting to pay without losing your consecutive years of membership and being dropped off the roster and the emailer mailing.

When you have 25 consecutive years of membership you become a Life Member and no longer have to pay our yearly membership fee.

We currently have about 20 members that have not renewed their membership. There are a few that have been members for more than 10 years so we don’t want you to risk losing you current number of years of belonging. If you are not attending the next meeting on Tuesday’s (May 14th) meeting you can mail a cheque to our PO Box or you can contact Ellen (604-525-7827) to make other arrangements:
New Westminster Horticultural Society
Box 392, 104 – 1015 Columbia St.
New Westminster, BC V3M 6V3

85th Anniversary Celebration April Meeting I think all that attended will agree that it was a wonderful evening and that there were some great door prizes. Big thanks goes out to the committee and several other members that contributed in various ways to making it a success. The Mayor even posted about it on Facebook! Hope you saw Theresa McManus article/interview on page 22 of the May 2nd New West Record with Audrey and Diane. We have a slight change in date for the planting of the Pollinator Garden in Sapperton (our 85th Anniversary project) – It will now be Sunday June 2nd – time & details will be advised at our May meeting. Our club will be doing the planting so we hope to have as many volunteers as possible. The City has prepared the ground, grown or purchased the plants (with our donation) and will have laid out where everything is to go. Diane advises the City may even be building a few Bee boxes to go in it.

Sad News- Edith Urchuk a NWHS member since 1995 passed away on April 14th. Our condolences go out to her daughter Susan, another long time member. Services won’t be for about a month. We will let you know when we hear further details.

NWHS Botanical Print Workshop – Saturday June 1st – Registration of $5 at May meeting at Audrey’s table. Details were in last month’s Newsletter.

Some Interesting Upcoming Events:

• 1. Glenbrook Ravine Restoration: The next invasive species removal will be Saturday May 25. There are many invasive species in the park but the majority of the invasives are Himalayan blackberry and English ivy.
• 2. The New Westminster Heritage Preservation Society is still looking for about 20 more volunteers for the Heritage Homes Tour on Sunday, May 26th afternoon shift: 1:15 PM – 5:00 PM. As a 'thank you' you'll receive a complimentary ticket guidebook, a Heritage Tour t-shirt and a private tour of the Ballet House on May 11. As a volunteer you also get a free tour ticket and express pass to see as much as possible by bypassing any lineups. If you, or any family or friends are interested please contact Sherri Summers, NWHPS Volunteer Coordinator at sherrijsummers@gmail.com or at (778) 789-3759.
• 3. Dogwood Garden Club Trip to Heronswood & Windcliff Gardens in Washington State – Friday May 24th There are a few seats left on the 24 seat bus. $130 Canadian Funds. Covers bus, ferry, tour of both gardens and lunch. Leaves Coquitlam at 6:00am and returning about 8:30pm. Contact Susan Fisher 604-652-4591 or email sfisher1370@gmail.com if you are interested.
• 4. London Heritage Farm Annual Plant Sale – May 11th & 12th 10am to 5pm – 6511 Dyke Road, Richmond BC. Perennials, annuals, herbs, over 100 varieties of tomato seedlings including many cherry tomatoes and much more. See attached flyer.
• 5. Bee Keeping Workshop – May 30th Thursday at 7:00pm at the New West Library 6th Avenue location. Cost is free, but registration is required. Details: "Are you interested in learning about bees and the environment? Curious about the responsibilities of managing a bee hive? Interested in community beekeeping? The New Westminster Beekeepers Association (NWBA) will share facts about the fascinating world of bees, honey, and beekeeping. Come and learn interesting information about pollinators, and how to get involved in community beekeeping. Call 604-527-4660 to register."Or the link: https://www.nwpl.ca/events_programs/index/events/11017/2019-05.php
• 6. Tea Garden 2019 – Sunday May 26th – ACT Art Gallery – 11944 Maple Ridge. Tickets $40 – See attached flyer for more information.
• 7. Denman Island Home and Garden Tour: June 15-16, 2019. For more info and to purchase Early bird tickets ($18) go online at http://www.denman-conservancy.org/home-and-garden-tour/. A previous NWHS member – Ann Paisley is one of the homes/gardens on the tour.
• 8. South Delta Garden Club Garden Tour 2019 – June 23rd 10am – 4pm. $15.

Click Here for the Official April Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2018 Contests Rules

Well it is Finally Spring! We live in a beautiful part of the country especially on gorgeous spring days like we are currently having. The still snow covered mountains all around us, the beautiful flowering trees, and all the spring flowering bulbs, such a beautiful background for our upcoming 85th Anniversary Party on Tuesday April 9 @ 7:30pm.

The 85th Anniversary committee has a wonderful party planned “Savour the club’s past while enjoying the club’s present. To help our party atmosphere we ask you all to wear your “Garden Party Hat” and if you have one please bring a tea cup Instead of your normal mug.

We are also doing something else a little bit different at this meeting; we will not be having our normal draw that you purchase tickets for. As you come in the door you will be given a ticket for a chance on one of our at least 10 great door prizes donated by local businesses and nurseries.

Speaker for our special evening is Oana Capota, curator for the New Westminster Museum and Archives. Her talk will be “Branching Out: Plants in New Westminster’s History”

Other changes for the evening, besides no normal draw, there will be no In-House Plant Sale or Free Table so Please don’t bring anything for those monthly tables. The Treasurer’s table, if you still need to renew your membership, will be in the entry foyer. We will have our usual sign in table in its usual location so don’t forget to pick up your name tag and sign in so we have an accurate count of how many people are at our party. As usual on the table will be the Newsletters and various other handouts that Audrey picked up at the PARGAR Spring Gardener’s Party.

Plant Sale: Thank you very much to the people who have potted or are planning on potting plants for the sale. If your plants are still in the ground, it is best to pot them as soon as possible so they can become established. If you need soil to pot up the plants you are donating contact Terri (604-525-7827) Blank tags are available from Audrey. As are a limited number of Sharpie pens for you to borrow. If you will need a huge number of blank tags, make sure Audrey knows well in advance so as not to disappoint you. Once you know what plants you are donating, tell Audrey. Email is good. This applies especially to veggies. If you need a plant identified, send a picture to Audrey. There is a good chance she will recognize it. If you have plants for the sale but will be out of town on sale weekend, Audrey is willing to babysit them until sale time. She also has some greenhouse space." If you have pots, please deliver them to Audrey’s carport.

Plant Sale Volunteers: Sharon tells me she is still in need of a few volunteers to help with the sale. She needs another person with a van or truck to help transport plants and other items from Audrey’s to the school on Friday May 3rd from 5:00 – 6:30pm. Sale day May 4th a couple more able bodied persons to help with setting up (putting up tables, canopies, signs etc.) from 7:30-10:00am. She also needs 1 person to fill a shift of veggies and 1 person for shady perennials. You don’t need to be a plant expert – just a willing worker. Give Sharon a call or sign up on the sheet that will be up at the meeting on April 9th.

Just a reminder that when you bring your plants to the school roundabout between 5-7:30pm on May 3rd please ensure they are well potted, labelled, priced and watered. Last year we had to do a fair bit of watering and we are not sure if we will have the ability to do this at the school. I have again attached the 2019 Pricing Guide to this emailer.

Spring Plant Sales Poster also attached to this emailer. Please share this with family, friends, work or doctors bulletin boards and neighbours. Audrey will have coloured posters if you have a community bulletin board where you can put one up.

Some Interesting and Upcoming Events

• 1. BC Council of Garden Clubs AGM & Spring Meeting April 6th from 9:00am to 4:00pm. For those of you that have paid and signed up to attend plan on arriving by 8:30am so you can shop and pick up information at the many vendor tables. Parking is on level 3 of the Metrotown Parkade just outside the Firefighters” Banquet and Conference Centre. Go inside as soon as you park to pick up a parking pass.
• 2. Glenbrook Ravine Restoration: The first of the 3-hour invasive species removal days will be April 27 10:00am – 1:00pm. More info will be in the Newsletter.
• 3. The New Westminster Heritage Preservation Society is looking for volunteers for the Heritage Homes Tour on Sunday, May 26th. If you, or any family or friends are interested please contact Sherri Summers, NWHPS Volunteer Coordinator at sherrijsummers@gmail.com or at (778) 789-3759
• 4. Denman Island Home and Garden Tour: June 15-16, 2019. For more info and to purchase Early bird tickets ($18) go online at http://www.denman-conservancy.org/home-and-garden-tour/.

Happy Gardening

Click Here for the Official March Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2019 Contests Rules

Happy New Year of Gardening to all of you. I started my emailer last month by saying we had had a mild winter so far – well I spoke too soon!! Hopefully no one lost any plants. It definitely put a hold on all the spring bulbs that were just starting to flower this time last month!

Our first meeting of the year will be Tuesday Mar. 12th at 7:30pm. Our speaker is Annie Johannessen, an organic farmer and gardener, who works as the farm coordinator at West Coast Seeds. Her talk will be on starting plants from seed, growing plants and harvesting food year round. You should get some great pointers.

At the next meeting we also be trying once again to present the 2019 NWHS Proposed Annual Budget that we were unable to do last month due to the meeting cancellation. The proposed budget was included with the February Newsletter that you were emailed. Hopefully you have had a chance to look at it. Since the Newsletters were already printed you will be able to pick up a copy of in the lobby along with the March edition.

Our annual membership of $15 is due at this meeting. Still the same as it has been for the last several years. Ellen & Terry will be accepting membership renewals at the front table. Please be prepared to pay with the exact change or by cheque made out to NWHS. If you are not attending next Tuesday’s (Mar 12) meeting you can mail a cheque to our PO Box or you can contact Ellen to make other arrangements:

New Westminster Horticultural Society
Box 392, 104 – 1015 Columbia St.
New Westminster, BC V3M 6V3

Usually we ask that all renewals are made by the April meeting but due to our meeting cancellation last month and with the April meeting being our anniversary celebration the Executive has decided to give you to the May meeting to renew your membership before getting dropped off the roster. Please renew as soon as you can.

Spring Plant Sale: I would like to encourage members to volunteer in what every manner you can.

There will be signup sheets by the goodies’ table and they will be out again at the April meeting. Flats and pots are also needed. If you have any either drop them off at Audrey’s carport or bring them to the March meeting. Start potting ASAP. People physically unable to dig up plants; call Sharon Seki @604-525-1611 for assistance, also if you have any questions about the sale. There will be some mini posters in the lobby take some and post at workplace, merchants, etc. More information will be in the Newsletter – also check out the February Newsletter for lots of useful info. Attached to this emailer is an updated Pricing Guidelines for the sale. IF you have questions on it just ask.

85th Anniversary Celebrations: At the March meeting you will find out about some of the plans for the celebrations. Stay tuned!!

SPRING BRING TO SHARE IN MARCH!?! : Just a reminder because our big 85th party is in April, Bring-to-Share will be at the upcoming March meeting. Details are in the February Newsletter. Review that if you are planning on bringing something to share.

Florissa: If you have unsuccessfully tried to access the club's webpage for the Florissa fundraiser, there is a good reason. Florissa ran into a major computer glitch with the launching of their Spring 2019 program. They had hoped to have the problem resolved by the end of February but that seems not to be the case. Hopefully, by our meeting night we will be able to tell you it is now open for you to browse and shop.

The BC Council of Garden Clubs AGM & Spring Meeting will be held on April 6th from 9:00am to 4:00pm at the Firefighters” Banquet and Conference Centre, 6515 Bonsor Ave., Burnaby. The meeting Theme will be Gardening in the New Millennium. We still don’t know who the speakers are. We assume the cost will be $40 as it was last year. The club will subsidize members that wish to attend so your cost will only be $30 for the day including lunch. We really hope we will have more information at the March meeting. Sign up and pay Audrey at the March meeting if you want to attend

Some Interesting Upcoming Events:

• 1. Glenbrook Ravine Restoration: There is a group that is working on restoring the Glenbrook Ravine Park area. In 2019 four 3-hour days of invasive species removal will be scheduled. This will likely be: April 27, May 25, June 29, and Sept 28 to remove invasive species in an area, followed by a day of planting October 26 to restore native species. There are many invasive species in the park but the majority of the invasives are Himalayan blackberry and English ivy.
  As the events are scheduled we will advertise them in our newsletters. If you would like to get on the distribution list for the work parties please send an email to Kyle Routledge at kyleroutledge@gmail.com
• 2. The New Westminster Heritage Preservation Society is looking for volunteers for the Heritage Homes Tour on Sunday, May 26th. The theme this year is Heritage Women of New Westminster and this year will be a very special event, in celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Homes Tour. Volunteers are needed for the open homes and the Heritage Women's exhibit. As a volunteer you get a free tour ticket and express pass to see as much a possible by bypassing any lineups. There are two shifts; If you, or any family or friends are interested please contact Sherri Summers, NWHPS Volunteer Coordinator at sherrijsummers@gmail.com or at (778) 789-3759. More info in the Newsletter
• 4. Denman Island Home and Garden Tour: June 15-16, 2019 . For more info and to purchase Early bird tickets ($18) go online to http://www.denman-conservancy.org/home-and-garden-tour/. A previous NWHS member – Ann Paisley is one of the homes/gardens on the tour this year.

Click Here for the Official February Newsletter

Click Here for the Official Contests Rules

Click Here for the Official December Newsletter

Merry Christmas to all.

Our next meeting is our Annual Christmas Dinner and Party on December 11th.  Doors open at 6:00pm with buffet dinner starting at 6:30pm.  We are sold out again this year so unless you already have a ticket you will be unable to attend.  If you are new to attending our Party be prepared for a tantalizing Christmas trivia quiz.

Food Bank – For those attending the party remember to bring non-perishable food items to donate to the Food Bank.  The bins will be in the foyer.

Christmas Draw & Charity – Half the proceeds of our draw at the Party will go to the member’s choice: Normanna Care Home – A 100 bed residential care facility on 4th St & 12th Ave in Burnaby.  It is a registered charity which relies on support to help fund enhancement projects to enrich the lives of their residents.  Normanna generously donated many plants for our sale this year and currently are raising funds to replace courtyard pavers around their garden beds.  The gardens at Normanna are largely maintained by a small number of volunteers.  

Christmas Crafts – For two weeks now, the elves have been busy in Audrey’s basement creating prizes for our Christmas Party Draw.  There is just one week left to join the fun.  Contact Audrey at 604-526-8284 or audrey@newwesthortsociety.org if you would like to spend a couple of hours (between 9am and 9pm) playing with the crafting materials.  Fresh materials crafting will happen on the Sat & Sun, Dec 8 & 9.  First to contact Audrey gets first dibs on a time-slot.  If you happen to have any fresh greenery to donate, please let Audrey know and deliver it to her yard.  Thanks. Some our members make Christmas decorations at home or do Christmas Home baking and donate it.  If this option appeals to you, let Audrey know so she can reserve space on the display tables for your prize(s).  We aim for 80 prizes but usually have many more – so be prepared to buy lots of tickets from Sharon and Carla at the party.

Garden Brooms - If you are still looking for a Christmas gift for that special someone on your list maybe a Garden Broom would fit the bill.  (www.originalgardenbroom.com for details.)  Just $20!  Audrey has been taking orders on behalf of the Kwantlen Park School (Surrey) dry grad fundraiser group.    For delivery before Christmas, place your order through Audrey before 5pm, Friday, Dec 14.   After you order, Audrey contacts the person in charge of the fundraising and that person delivers your broom(s) to Audrey for you to pick up.  Contact Audrey at 604-526-8284 or audrey@newwesthortsociety.org

Party Help Needed – As with any club event, the evening’s success is dependent upon members pitching in and helping.  Things don’t just happen by magic. Please confirm with Audrey if you plan on helping with the party this year.  She is keeping the list of helpers.  Even if you have always helped, tell her you plan on doing so this year—we don’t know if your plans change unless you tell us they haven’t.  It makes things go much more smoothly if jobs can be mentally assigned ahead of time.

Would you like to…

- Help transfer the prizes?  Covered vehicles of large capacity are needed.  The prizes (packaged in large boxes) and other party supplies are picked up from Audrey’s in the morning and then held in the vehicles until noon when they are unloaded at the Lodge.  The drivers help unload the vehicles at the Lodge. 

- Help make the room festive from noon (or 1pm) to 5pm or for part of the time.  Room lay-out is fine-tuned, trellis are positioned, posters are hung, tablecloths laid, prizes displayed.

- Help with an organized tear-down after the event?  This is a reverse of the set-up.  Some items need to be returned to Audrey’s.

A reminder and for those of you new to the club we don’t meet in January.  Our next regular meeting will be Tuesday, February 12, 2019 at 7:30pm. Our In-House Plant Sale will be up and running again.   Details for the meeting will be in our February Emailer. 

The Executive Committee wishes to thank all members who helped to make the NWHS such a vibrant and wonderful garden club. On behalf of myself and the rest of the NWHS Executive Committee we want to wish you and your family a happy holiday season and all the best for the New Year. 

Click Here for the Official November Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2018 Contests Rules

Good evening all

November 12th 7:30pm will be our last regular meeting of the year as the December meeting is our Christmas Party that you need to purchase tickets to attend. Ellen still has a few available so see her at the meeting or call her.

Our November meeting speaker is Ian Conner, a special guest coming up from the states to give us a presentation on all things bamboo...more than just panda fodder. He will be covering such topics as different types and selecting and sustainably maintaining both clumping and spreading bamboo in compact urban gardens. Ian is a past American Bamboo Society president and editor of their magazine and is currently their vice president. He is a consultant at the Hoyt Arboretum, Chinese and Japanese Gardens in Portland. Ian now has his own business creating and renovating gardens focusing on bamboo. This will be a meeting not to be missed.

November is also our AGM – but that part will not be long as all we have to cover is the elections of next year’s Executive. Positions up for election are Vice President, Secretary, and three 2 yr Member at Large Positions. We do have either existing Exec members that are willing to continue on or people that have already come forward. We will still call for nominations from the floor so if you are interested in joining the Exec (or want to nominate someone) in one of these positions let me know before or at the meeting.

Christmas Charity – We will vote on this at the November meeting. The following are the organizations that have been submitted for consideration and we have quite a diverse list. I have noted a very brief description that either a NWHS member gave me or I located on the internet. I have also included a webpage link and I encourage you to do a bit of research yourself prior to the vote so that you can make a more informed decision of your choice. Ideally it should be a local charity or group and not one we have supported previously but it is up to you the members. There will be a list in the Newsletter of past recipients to assist in making your decision.

• BCITS - The Provincial Respiratory Outreach Program began as a dream forged out of a crisis experienced by people with disabilities who were living in the community and managing their needs for assisted ventilation. http://bcits.org/
• Century House Senior Peer Counseling – This is a program in which warm and compassionate persons who have "experienced life" offer invaluable one-to-one support for others going through difficult times such as life transitions, bereavement and loss, loneliness or isolation, health or aging concerns, depression and anxiety or family matters. The volunteers go through 50 hours of training so that they can effectively support those who need it. This training is completely dependent upon donations. http://chspc.ca/
• Honour House – Provides a free of charge, temporary home for members of our Canadian Armed Forces, Veterans and Emergency Services Personnel and their families while they travel to receive medical care and treatment in the Metro Vancouver Area. Situated in New Westminster https://honourhouse.ca/
• Loving Spoonful – is a volunteer-driven, non-partisan Society that has provided free meals to people living with HIV/AIDS in Metro Vancouver area for almost 20 years. http://www.alovingspoonful.org/
• Monarch Place Transition House – A second stage transition house in New Westminster offering temporary safe housing for women and children fleeing domestic violence. They also have two outreach programs. www.monarchplaca.org
• Normanna Care Home –A 100 bed residential care facility on 4th St & 10th Ave in Burnaby. It is a registered charity which relies on support to help fund enhancement projects to enrich the lives of their residents. This year Normanna donated 50 flats of Hen & Chicks, 3 flats of grasses, and numerous pots to our club. The garden beds at Normanna are largely maintained by a small number of volunteers. Due to a lack of funds they have had to postpone plans to replace their courtyard pavers around their garden beds http://normanna.ca/
• Sprouting Chefs – Local not for profit that supports school garden programs and cooking classes for children. Takes a seed to table approach and uses nature as a teacher. Also includes after school garden clubs and summer cooking camps. http://sproutingchefs.com/
• Union Gospel Mission – New West location – Determined to transform communities by overcoming poverty, homelessness and addiction – one life at a time. In a world that’s broken by poverty and addiction, we are determined to offer restoration to those in need. https://www.ugm.ca

Container Contest – You will also be voting on the container contest at the November meeting.

BC Garden Council of BC meeting - At this meeting we had a great presentation from a representative from Metro Vancouver Parks Go Green program. This is a wonderful resource with all sorts of information on plants that grow well in the Lower Mainland. Check out http://www.growgreenguide.ca/ Metro Vancouver put this together in collaboration with UBC Botanical Garden.

Christmas Crafting – Watch for the article in the Newsletter all about it and come to the meeting prepared to sign up to participate in creating some wonderful prizes for our Charity Christmas Draw. Audrey is still accepting donations of Christmassy “stuff” (no glitter or fragrance though) – Just leave at her back door.

Silent Auction – We raised more than last year and we will give you the total at the November meeting. Audrey advises though no more auction donations at the house until further notice. There is absolutely no room. Maybe March-April 2019.

Want to get a start on your Christmas Shopping? These items will be for sale at our November meeting:

• Caran d' Ache pens: they write soooo smoothly (only $5) The Original Garden Broom: fantastic brooms only $20. Order through Audrey (quick delivery). See it on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM_YIMC6Ic4
• Jewelry: Left over from the silent auction where they were an absolute steal at 30cents. Discounted to 25cents. Available only at the meeting.

That is all for this month

Lorna Cloutier
NWHS President

Click Here for the Official October Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2018 Contests Rules

Shop the Florissa Fundraiser Here

My Apologies in being a bit late with this month’s emailers but I have just got back from a trip out to the prairies to visit family. Yesterday was quite the experience in Calgary. Environment Canada said the 32.8 centimetres of snow that fell in Calgary on Tuesday shattered the Oct. 2 snowfall record of 4.6 centimetres set in 1954. The snow also broke the one-day record for snowfall in October, which was 30 centimetres, set in 1914. A friend of mine in 100 Mile House posted on Facebook that they had a foot of snow there!! I think the Rockies also got hit hard as well! Glad I live in the Lower Mainland of BC.

Happy Fall Lower Mainland - Our next meeting Tuesday October 9th 7:30 pm is our Annual Silent Auction. For those of you new to the club there will be no speaker but as you may have been hearing for the last few months there will be great deals for you. This is a members only meeting (No drop ins) but you can bring a guest with you as long as you have registered their name with Ellen (604-525-7827) prior to the meeting. Pick up your bidder’s number in the foyer as you come in. You can start reviewing the items and bidding as soon as you come in. We will have a brief business meeting at 7:30 and then bidding will continue until it is called to end with a 5 minute warning. Payment for your winning bids at completion of the bidding can be either cash or cheque.

Pre Silent Auction – Audrey is still looking for help with transporting items to the lodge during the day on October 9th. Please call her (604-526-8284) if you would like to help. This Sunday Oct 7th at 5:00pm is the deadline to drop off any donations you might have to Audrey’s—remember, if she is not home or asleep, the items should be left at the kitchen door.

Advance Notice of Auction Items - If you have been thinking of getting orthotics, we have 2 pair of Dr Scholl’s Custom Fit Orthotics CF340 in the auction. These retail at about $50 a pair; our starting bid will be $5. A considerable savings. However, you will have to determine ahead of time if these orthotics fit your feet. Don’t buy orthotics that don’t fit your feet!!! Go to London Drugs uptown and go through the foot mapping procedure on the Dr Scholl’s machine near the pharmacy—if CF340 comes up, we have a deal for you. Also in the auction will be a lot of crafting materials much of it organized in separate boxes on individual crafting themes. Super deals for people who like that kind of thing. And then we have….a whole bunch of fantastic stuff!

Florissa – Deadline to order bulbs is Oct 9th – either online http://florissafundraising.com/new-westminster-horticultural-society/ or at the meeting through Audrey.

BC Council meeting Oct. 20th 9am-4pm. There is just over one day left (Oct 5th 5:00pm) to pre-register with Ellen if you are interested in attending a day of great speakers on Incredible Edibles for just $30. It is $45 at the door. You will also get a wonderful buffet lunch, morning and afternoon refreshments, venders and a draw for many items donated by the clubs and vendors in attendance. Proceeds of the draw supports the BC Council Scholarship Fund. Remember that Oct 20th is also date for municipal elections. You might want to check to see where your local advance polling will be taking place.

NWHS Christmas Charity – a reminder to bring in any names you might have for a deserving recipient to the October meeting. Please also give us a brief description on who they are. Box for nominations will be in the kitchen where you will pick up your coffee/tea & goodies for this meeting. You can also email your nominations to me (Lorna). We will be voting at the November meeting for the recipient so would like to have all nominations before then. Priority will be local charities with horticultural / gardening mandates.

Speaking of the November meeting it is also our Annual General Meeting and Elections. More info on positions up for election will be in our October Newsletter. Besides executive positions and the Xmas Charity we will also be voting on the container contest entries.

Photo Contest and Container Contest Entries – Don’t forget to bring your entries for the contests to the October meeting. Submit them at the podium. If you are not going to make this meeting, talk with Audrey regarding alternate arrangements.

Christmas Party Dinner - Tickets go on sale at the October meeting at the treasurer’s table. $20 for members and $25 for guests. We will accept cash or cheques. Cheque for Christmas tickets need to be separate from Silent Auction payment. Make sure you tell Ellen of any seating preferences when you purchase your tickets.

TD Trees in Queens Park – New opportunity for volunteering in our community has just been forwarded to us. The City of New West is looking for volunteers to help plant approximately 300 trees (small 5 gal pots) in the field just below Centennial Lodge where we meet. These have been donated by TD Friends of the Environment Foundation. Planting takes place Sunday Oct 14th 9:00am – noon – rain or shine. Volunteer spots are limited so if you are at all interested pre register now at www.tdtreedays.com/en-ca/events/945 Bring your own gloves, shovels and buckets if you have them. Light refreshments will be available. For more info contact ltwaites@newwestcity.ca

Plant a Row, Grow a Row - This Sunday (Oct 7) 8:30 to 9:15 is your final chance to say “Thank You for the Great Gardener’s Party in March.” by dropping off some produce at the Saint Thomas More Collegiate front entrance at 7450 12th Ave, Burnaby.

Happy Fall Gardening

Lorna Cloutier

Click Here for the Official September Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2018 Contests Rules

Shop the Florissa Fundraiser Here

Hope everyone has had a great Labour Day weekend and great summer. For most of us, whether we have kids at home or not, it tends to signal the end of summer even though fall does not start until September 22nd. Not only is school starting but also for many organizations it signals the start of activities that have been put on hold or discontinued over the summer months. That is except NWHS!

Our next regular meeting is Tuesday September 11 at 7:30 pm and the topic is very timely – Fall and Winter Containers. Randall Atkinson of West Coast Gardens, plant expert extraordinaire and go-to person on all plant matters, (whether it be design, selecting, growing or caring for plants) will be speaking to us on and showing us how to combine plants for exciting Fall & Winter containers.

The September meeting is also Fall Bring to Share. The details were in last month’s Newsletter. Be it Garden Glory, Photos, Great tips, Garden Design, Plant ID, Insects, Weeds & Diseases or anything else this is the place to share with other members. If unsure what to do or bring or if you didn’t get last month’s Newsletter just contact Audrey for more details at audrey@newwesthortsociety.org The Garden Gals will also be exhibiting of some of their creations.

Last Month’s speaker Deborah Jones, who spoke to us on Rain Gardens, has kindly sent us the electronic versions of the handouts she had at the meeting. These have been forwarded to our website master to put up on the NWHS website. Watch for them being added.

Lost & Found: In our current “Found” stash, are two windmill palm plants purchased at the In House Plant Sale. They are in the custody of Audrey (604-526-8284 before 8pm) who takes home any items left behind at the meetings. Let’s be pro-active here: As mentioned last month when leave the meeting, Please check your chair (jackets) and under your chair for personal items.

Florissa Fundraising has gone on-line! Each participating group (such as NWHS) will have its own website. We will know our web address by our Sept meeting. You will be able to place your order on-line, paying for your bulbs electronically. If you feel hesitant about this, we will offer an alternative route for participating. You can place your order through Audrey. She will place it on-line and do the payment on your behalf. As the colourful brochures have been discontinued, we will print off a couple of copies of the pertinent “pretty” pages for display and have hard-copies of the order form available. Since Audrey will be using her own money for payment, any cheques should be written in her name. The final date to participate in the Fall Program is Oct 12.

Silent Auction/Christmassy Donations - As detailed in last month’s Newsletter, if you are donating items for the Oct Silent Auction, Please drop them off at Audrey’s, 117 Seventh Ave. Early drop-off allows Audrey & the crew to get to the tagging and sorting for room location. Please leave items (with your name in case we have questions) at her sheltered kitchen door—NOT the basement door! If you have items for the Christmas crafting, they can be delivered (even mixed in) with Silent Auction items. Deadline for dropping off auction donations is 5pm, Sun, Oct 7. Thanks.

Mini-posters for Silent Auction items - As mentioned last month, if you have an item for the Silent Auction that is big in value (or even just big), you are invited to make an 8.5x11 poster, highlighting its features, for display at our Sept meeting. The idea is to give members a heads-up that such an item will be on the auction table. Not sure what to put on it? Contact Audrey audrey@newwesthortsociety.org).

Silent Auction Guests – Again this year we are allowing you to bring a guest as long as you preregister them will Ellen at the September meeting or give her a call prior to the October 9th meeting. Your guest must also arrive with you. This is a member event only, no drop ins.

BC Council of Garden Clubs Fall Meeting – October 20/18, 9am – 4pm – Fireman’s Hall Metrotown. The focus of the meeting this year will be on INCREDIBLE EDIBLES: What to grow and how to grow them! The three guest speakers will focus on those two simple questions. Karin England - Planner, Regional Parks & Grow Green-Metro Vancouver; Mike Lascelle – Author and nursery manager at Amsterdam Garden Centre: Andrea Bellamy – Author of Small-space Vegetable Gardens. $40 for the day but NWHS will be subsidizing members $10. Register and pay Ellen at the September meeting with final deadline being Oct 5th 5:00pm to Ellen at her home. 604-525-7827. More details will be in the Newsletter or on website.

Realtor Notepads - The club can use your excess notepads. We use them as tally sheets for both the Silent Auction and our Spring Plant Sale. If you have any you can spare, just leave them at the fireplace table. Thank you.

NWHS Container & Photo Contests - Just a reminder that all entries in both contests are expected to be submitted at the Oct 9th club meeting. If you are unable to attend this meeting, please contact Audrey regarding an alternative arrangement.

NWHS Tea Committee – is looking for a couple of new members to join them for 2019. Contact Diane Perry 604-341-1239. It just means helping at about 4 or 5 meetings a year.

Check out our NWHS website for what to do in the garden this month.

THINGS TO DO/ATTEND

South Burnaby Garden Club Fall Harvest Fair: Sept 8, 9. At the time of our August meeting, the South Burnaby website was down so we made no mention of their Fall Harvest Fair. The website is back up and the fair is on. If you are one of the many who had a bumper crop this year, you might want to have some fun exhibiting. Go to their website: www.southburnabygardenclub.ca and then click on Fall Harvest Fair in the upper toolbar. There are a huge number of categories—and no entry fees. The fair is Sat, Sept 8, 1-5pm and Sun, Sept 9, 11am-4pm. At the Bonsor complex in Burnaby, 6550 Bonsor (next to Metrotown). Check the schedule to determine when your entries must be in place.

Dart’s Hill Garden Park Plant Sale: Sept 16, 11am – 3pm. 16th Ave @ 170th St. Surrey. Perennials, ferns etc. Many plants are found in the garden and grown from seed, division or cuttings by the propagation group.

Don’t forget to check out Mark Your Calendar in every monthly NWHS Newsletter.

Happy Gardening
Lorna Cloutier
NWHS President

Click Here for the Official August Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2018 Contests Rules

Hope everyone had a great BC Day long weekend. Summer is half over – hard to believe!!

Our next regular meeting is Tuesday August 14th at 7:30pm. The topic is “Rain Gardens” presented by Deborah Jones, the Rain Garden Coordinator for Cougar Creek Streamkeepers. She has been involved in the design, construction, planting and maintenance of 28 rain gardens. She also advises The Nature Trust of BC on their rain garden grant program. Rain gardens are sprouting up everywhere in the Lower Mainland but surely every garden in Metro Vancouver is a rain garden? Learn what rain gardens are, the many benefits they provide and why they’re essential to environmental sustainability and salmon. You will enjoy a photo tour of several North Delta School and community rain gardens, gleaning ideas for using rain gardens large or small to create drought-resilience, to reduce water pollution and/or to solve property drainage issues in an economical way.

Water Conservation: Attached to this emailer is a sheet of Tips for Gardeners that I received in a GardenWorks emailer. Some of you may have received it but just in case you didn’t I felt it was worthwhile sharing with everyone.

Sad News: For those that may not have heard Nes Berg (husband of our Treasurer Ellen) passed away on July 22 2018. Nestor passed away peacefully at his home with his family at his bedside. He was always there for NWHS, helping to transport plants & tables, put up easy ups, make punch or whatever was required. He will be missed by many members of our club. There will be a Celebration of Life held on August 12th at 2 p.m. at Centennial Community Centre 'River Room', 65 East 6th Ave, in New Westminster. In lieu of flowers, please donate to a charity of your choice.

Mugs: Don’t forget to bring your own mug to the meeting. If you do and you buy one or more draw tickets, you will get a free ticket.

NWHS Club Garden Tour & Picnic July 14: What a wonderful Tour Audrey planned for all of us. Such a variety of gardens. And as always Audrey provided us with a very creative Garden Stumps game at the picnic. Thanks Audrey!!

NWHS – 85th Anniversary in 2019. – Remember if you want to volunteer see Lorna at the meeting. Any ideas for a celebration event put it in the suggestion box at the meeting or drop me a note. We have 4 volunteers so far and several suggestions. The Anniversary subcommittee will meet in the fall.

NWHS Silent Auction: October 9th meeting - People can drop items off at Audrey’s kitchen door now --or if she’s at home and they talk to her, the basement door. This year we are doing something a little bit different. Proposal is to give you advance notice of big ticket or large auction items. These would be items that would normally sell (new) at about $200+ or are too big to bring to the auction. At the September meeting, posters of these items (just a normal 8x10 sheet size, pictures are optional) would be on display at the in-club sale table--or on the wall next to it. Then people could "research" the items (maybe talk with the donator) before the auction and be prepared in advance that these items will be available to bid on in October. If people tell Audrey mid August, she could even list the items and their minimum bid in the September newsletter. These items would start at a "super deal" price and bidding would be in the normal increments. For large ticket size items the pictures will be at the Auction instead of the item and then arrangements will be made to pick up from the donor. See more details in the August Newsletter.

This month in the garden: Check out the following link on our clubs website - http://newwesthortsociety.org/monthly-to-do-list.html

Upcoming events:

New West Cultural Crawl: August 11 & 12 - NWHS Garden Gals will be participating in this event. They will be at UNIFOR bldg – 326 12th St. New West along with the Royal City Gogo’s.

Vancouver International Bird Festival: August 19-26 – check out www.vanbirdfest.com for all the events and displays.

Check out BC Council of Garden Clubs web page www.bcgardenclubs.com/wp/events for upcoming events of other member clubs.

And don’t forget to check out the bulletin board in the lobby at the meeting for late notice items that we sometimes receive or Lea finds through various sources.

Click Here for the Official July Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2018 Contests Rules

Hope everyone had a great Canada Day long weekend. We are now into the lazy hazy days of summer and the 2nd half of 2018.

Our next regular meeting is Tuesday July 10th at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker is Daniel Mosquin, Photographer, Educator and Botanical Consultant with UBC Botanical Gardens. He will be talking to us on Tips, Trick and Techniques of Garden Photography. Check out his web page at www.danielmosquin.com before next week’s meeting. Also check out http://botanyphoto.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/ a page on the UBC Botanical Garden website that he publishes. Daniel was recently a finalist in the International Garden Photographer of the Year Competition.

Don’t forget that our July meeting is our Annual July Parlour Show: Have you been monitoring your garden with your show schedule in hand: it is amazing how plants, which were growing like mad after the early rains and heat wave, have stalled in their development with the recent cooler temperatures. Remember everyone’s garden is experiencing the same conditions. Select your best and bring it in. If you want you can find the Show Schedule on our website, www.newwesthortsociety.org, go to Calendar & Events/Meetings/July. Come as early as you can to the meeting. All entries must be in place by 7:25. We hope everyone brings in at least one entry. Let’s have a full showbench!

Lost & Found: A beige corduroy baseball cap was left behind at the June meeting. Also, this is the last call to claim your white Chestnut Park Hotel mug—left behind a few months ago.

Speaking of Mugs: Remember to bring your own mug to the meeting. If you do and you buy one or more draw tickets, you will get a free ticket.

NWHS club Garden Tour, July 14: This year we have 9 gardens (including the picnic site) on the tour. This seems like a lot but driving times are very short. It will be a good day. The itinerary has not yet been confirmed but the tour is likely to start near 1pm. Remember to carpool for the both tour and picnic. The map/itinerary will be available at the July meeting or from Audrey after the meeting. It is your ticket for the tour. There is no electronic version.

NWHS club Picnic, following tour on July 14: Remember if you are coming to the picnic, make sure to sign-up at the meeting indicating the number in your party and what pot-luck dish you will be bringing. Contact Audrey, 604-526-8284 before 8pm or Audrey@newwesthortsociety.org to sign-up or if your plans change. We want to make sure we have enough chairs and, more important, wine for everyone. As with the tour, the picnic goes on rain-or-shine. If the weather forecast changes to wet, we’ll be putting out feelers for canopies to borrow. The picnic starts at 4:30 with the actual eating probably about 5:15.

Garden Brooms: We have been notified by the school rep that they are jumpstarting fundraising for next year’s dry grad by continuing broom sales throughout the summer. If you are interested in one of these great brooms, they are $20. Talk with Audrey.

NWHS – 85th Anniversary in 2019. – We are still looking for more volunteers and suggestions. Remember if you want to volunteer see Lorna at the meeting. Any ideas for a celebration put it in the suggestion box at the meeting or drop me a note.

This month in the garden: Check out the following link on our clubs website - http://newwesthortsociety.org/monthly-to-do-list.html

Upcoming events:

Check out Mark Your Calendar in the Newsletter for various upcoming events.

Check out BC Council of Garden Clubs web page www.bcgardenclubs.com/wp/events for upcoming events of other member clubs.

Happy Gardening

Click Here for the Official June Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2018 Contests Rules

June is the month of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. The days are getting longer so we have more time to be out in our gardens in the evenings. For those of us that work a 9 – 5 job that is very welcome and our gardens are thankful for it! We had a very sunny and dry May and hopefully we will have an equally sunny but not so dry June!! Our club started the month with a lovely visit to Dart’s Hill Garden in Surrey. We had 24 members in attendance which is currently 17% of our membership which is a good turnout for an outing.

Our next regular meeting is Tuesday June 12th at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker is Jim Parkes, president and owner of Eco-Soil Premium Soils in Surrey. They have been manufacturing quality soil and compost for the last 15 years. Jim believes it’s important for soil to be organic because it’s the most important factor in food production. The quality of the soil you use will directly affect the quality of the produce. Come and find out what is important for your soil’s structure. Come with your questions.

At last month’s meeting Terri Clark-Kveton showed us a super tomato cage she had built and said she would be willing to make and sell to our members if there was enough interest. Unfortunately due to lack of sufficient orders Terri’s tomato cages will be a no go.

Lost and Found – At last month’s meeting someone left a black jacket behind. The owner can pick it up at Audrey’s (604-526-8284) or at the June meeting at the fireside table. Audrey also has the white "Chestnut Park Hotel" mug that I mentioned as "lost & found" at the last meeting.

Contacting the Executive – If you call me (Lorna) I always endeavour to return phone messages in a timely manner – 24 hours. Since I work full time (and do sometimes go away on holidays!) I only get these messages or answer my phone in the evenings or weekends. If it is something urgent send me an email as I can monitor those on my smart phone. My contact information along with other members of the executive, committee members and members mentioned in a current Newsletter are always listed on the last page of the Newsletter. We all have email addresses @newwesthortsociety.org which are automatically forwarded to our personal email addresses.

Emailer – Purpose of the emailer has always been to remind members of our upcoming meeting and other events and operations of the club and gardening. For those members that do not have emails we do have a phoning committee that calls those members and relays the information to them. Over the years our Presidents of the club have always endeavoured not to send out more than one emailer a month unless there was something related to the operation of the club that really needed to get out mid month. There might be information that comes to me about a special external event or offer of something but those items are always held until the regular monthly emailer. Our membership list and emailer list are not shared with any outside organization. Your executive committee are the only people that have the membership list. Your Privacy is important to us.

NWHS 85th Anniversary – 2019 is the club’s 85th Anniversary. Any thoughts or ideas on what we should do to celebrate this? Are you interested in being part of a committee to plan and organize an event or acknowledgment of this special anniversary? If you have a suggestion put it in the suggestion box at the front. IF you are interested in being on a planning committee give your name to Lorna.

This month in the garden: Check out the following link on our clubs website - http://newwesthortsociety.org/monthly-to-do-list.html

Upcoming events:
NWHS Garden Tour and Annual Potluck Picnic – Saturday July 14th – See the extensive article in this month’s Newsletter that you will pick up at the meeting. Sign up at Audrey’s fireplace table for what you will bring to the Potluck.

Check out Mark Your Calendar in the Newsletter for various upcoming events.

Heritage Vancouver Garden Tour Jun 23 and 24. Tickets: $ 35.00 online or at a variety of retailers listed at: www.heritagevancouver.org

Check out BC Council of Garden Clubs web page www.bcgardenclubs.com/wp/events for upcoming events of other member clubs.

Happy Gardening

Lorna Cloutier

NWHS Pres.

Click Here for the Official May Newsletter

Click Here for the July 2018 Show Schedule

Click Here for the Official 2018 Contests Rules

May is a busy month in the garden and for our club. The days are longer and warmer and hopefully the risk of any last bits of frost will have passed by the end of the month so we can get plenty done in our gardens greenhouses and/or vegetable plots.

Next Saturday May 5 is our Annual Boulevard Sale – 720 5th Street 10am – 3pm Last week I sent you all a comprehensive update on the Plant Sale. I have a further few reminders.

Pricing: Sharon has had no calls from anyone requiring assistance in pricing so we are assuming then that the Pricing Guidelines were complete enough so that you will have all your plants priced when you bring them to the sale. If you do need assistance, the last day that teams will be available to come out and help price is Thursday May 3rd.

Veggie info: If you have started tomatoes and other veggies from seed please don’t forget to send the info to Audrey & Silina at audrey@newwesthortsociety.org Please do this by Tues. May 1st so it can be incorporated into the list.

Perennials: Please send the list of perennials and annuals that you are donating to the Boulevard sale to Audrey audrey@newwesthortsociety.org by Wed. May 2nd so that she can try and dig up a picture of it to aid in selling it at the Sale. Boxes: if you have any empty boxes/shallow flats drop them off at the Blvd Sale on Saturday morning for our customers to take their plants away in or bring your own for the plants you are planning on buying.

Volunteering on Sale Day: Not too late to volunteer to help out at the sale. Give Sharon a call if you can help 604-525-1611. This sale is our major fundraiser for the club.

Flyer: Attached to this emailer is a copy of the flyer that you can pass onto your friends and family to alert them about our sale

Our next regular meeting is Tuesday May 8th at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker is Douglas Justice, Associate Director of Horticulture and Collections at UBC. He will be speaking on “The Role of Botanical Gardens in Plant Conversation”. The talk will cover some of the history as well as modern approaches to plant conservation in gardens, focussing on the UBC Botanical Garden’s past and present activities.

At the May 8th meeting we will announce the total we made at our sale. If there should be any plants left over from our Boulevard Sale we will bring them in for the In-House Plant Sale table at a discount from what they were at the Blvd Sale. Audrey will also have ready for you the July Show Schedule of categories.

Our NWHS Garden Tour and Annual Potluck Picnic is Saturday July 14th. Mark your calendars for this fun day with your fellow members. If you know of a garden or you want to volunteer yours to be on the tour talk to Audrey at the next meeting. Audrey has one lined up so far and is looking for about 5 more.

The New West Heritage Home Tour Sunday May 27/18 is still in need of volunteers to help in the homes. Contact sherrijsummers@gmail.com or 778-789-3759 if you are interested in helping. Our club is also having an info table at one of the homes and might be able use a couple more volunteers if it interests you. IF you are interested in this opportunity give Merril Hall a call at 604-790-1321

The Dart’s Hill Garden Tour sign up was out at the last meeting and June 2nd at 10:30am – 12:30 is the date that we will be going. There are 26 members that have signed up for this event. Another great day of sharing our love of gardening with our fellow members. If you need a ride to the Garden check out the list of those attending at our next meeting and we will see what we can coordinate.

If you are interested in the Quadra Island Garden and Guilt Tour on weekend of June 23 & 24 talk to Pauline Baldoumis and she will fill you in on the details.

To get the most from your club volunteer to help at the plant sales, bring in treats, attend workshops, participate in our club garden tour and picnic and just talk to other members at the meetings.

As the President I get notices of sales and events that other clubs and gardens are having. I give this to Lea to put up on the bulletin to pass onto you. One I received this month was from London Heritage Farm in Richmond. They are Celebrating year of the Iris at their 12th Annual Plant Sale on May 12th & 13th 10am – 5pm – 6511 Dyke Road, Richmond. In the email was the following that on thought was quite lovely on the iris:

This beautiful bloom traces a heritage through Greek mythology. In Greek, the name “Iris” translates as “rainbow”, which is one iris definition. People assume that the iris definition of rainbow refers to the many colours this flower comes in. In Chinese Art, the Iris definition is “the dancing spirit of early summer”. The petals of Iris blooms easily move in the wind, mimicking the fluttering of butterfly wings.

The Victorian era language of flowers gives a host of meanings to Iris flowers. Purple iris brings a message of wisdom and compliments, while a bouquet of blue iris blossoms speak of hope and faith.

So many beautiful colours of Iris will be available at our 12th Annual Plant Sale! The Iris – Such a beautiful gift to give or receive this Mother’s Day!

Summer Help: If you know of a student or someone else that is looking for Seasonal/Summer Work Buckerfield’s Abbotsford is Now Hiring. Take in a resume to 31852 Marshal Place Abbotsford. Ask for Joe Yurick or Paige Orchison.

Click Here for the Official April Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2018 Contests Rules

April Showers Bring May Flowers!! Our annual club plant sale is just over a month away and hopefully members (in between rain showers) are already looking at your garden and dividing your plants for the sale and/or have started seedlings. Our April meeting is the last one before our plant sale. I encourage members to participate in whatever way you can. If you don’t have plants to donate you can still help at the plant sale. We need people to help set up tables and canopies and man the plant sale tables on the day of the sale – May 5th. We need others to tally the plants the public buy and we have a few that will collect the money. The FRC will have a volunteer signup sheet at the April meeting, please consider helping out. It will likely be over by the goodie table. Funds raised from the sale benefit all of us. Also a nice perk for helping on Sale Day (or donating plants) is that you have first dibs on buying plants once everything is set up and before the sale is open to the public.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday April 10 at 7:30 pm. Our speaker is Dr. Carole Christopher and she will talk about how our North American diets affect our health care system, about our fundamental food security and changes in BC agriculture and about the growth of the local/organic food movement and the trend of growing food in urban gardens.

Membership dues: April General Meeting will be the last chance to Renew Membership otherwise you get dropped off the roster (and this emailing list) Can’t make it to the meeting and not renewed yet send renewal before Apr. 10 to our PO Box (NWHS Box 392, 104-1015 Columbia St. New Westminster, BC. V3M 6V3) or drop off at Ellen’s (314 Durham St New West – 604-525-7827).

April is the Spring Bring to Share month: Take a look at your garden and bring in something to share. Not only plants are included in Bring to Share, if you have a question you would like answered or a plant you can’t identify, bring it along and maybe someone can help. Don’t forget to bring in the Cat picture that you may have picked up at last month’s meeting to colour. There will be prizes. All members who participate will be included in the drawing of participation prizes.

Florissa - Reminder that Wednesday April 4th 5:00pm is the deadline to get your order into Audrey 604-526-8284 if you have not already done so.

Boulevard Plant Sale: We would like everyone as much as possible to price all plants you are bringing to the Boulevard plant sale. To help you with this we have put together a generic price list as a guide for you to price your plants. It is attached to this emailer and we will have a few copies at the In House Plant Sale table at Apr. 10th meeting. The FRC will have a couple of teams that are willing to go out to help with pricing if you can’t determine yourself how some plants should be priced. If you need this assistance call Sharon at 604-525-1611 has soon as you have your plants potted up and she will arrange a time that a team will show up to assist you.

Empty plant pots Needed: Bring any extra you may have to the meeting on Apr. 10th for others to take home or drop them off in Audrey's carport – right side (It is on the lane at 117 Seventh Ave. There is a deck over the carport.) We are in dire need of pots. People can drop off at Audrey's until sale date. For pot pick-up, it is best if you call Audrey first (604-526-8284). She will also have the stash of tags inside the house.

Soil for Blvd Sale plants: If you need soil for planting up your donations to the plant sale give Terri Clark-Kveton a call first (604-525-1954) and you can then go by her place on 8th Ave in New West to pick it up.

Dart’s Hill Guided Tour: Tentative dates are either May 12 or June 2, Guided Tour cost is $5 per person. We will let you know the time at the meeting. If you have mobility issues a golf cart can be booked for $25 which will hold 3. We will have a sign-up sheet at Audrey’s fireplace table at the meeting on Apr. 10. Please indicate which dates you would be able to go. If both dates are okay mark both columns. We will select the day that has the greatest number of people. You will be contacted when decision is reached. We will be booking within a week of the meeting so our tour spot is secured.

Garden Brooms: Available through Audrey until the end of April. $20.

New Westminster Secondary School Annual Mushroom Manure Sale: The manure will be delivered on Apr. 12 and 13. They deliver to your house if living in the New West, area. The bags are large and they cost $5.00 each. You can place your order by phone (604-517-6238) or at the Pearson front office on 835 8th St. The payment is by cash or cheque and can be paid at the front office on 8th St. Julia Golden advises she has used this manure for years and has found it quite a good buy and very good. I don’t know the deadline to order so I suggest you do as soon as possible. If I receive further info I will put a second emailer out about it.

What to do & see at the Monthly Meeting: As a reminder and for new members there are many ongoing things to check out at our meetings.

• Bring your own mug (we try to be green in all ways) and get a free draw ticket when you buy at least one other.
• Sign in and pickup your name badge and a newsletter or other interesting leaflets that might be at this table.
• Free table in the foyer – you can drop things off here or pick something up. If your donation is not gone by the end of the meeting please take it back home with you.
• Bulletin board – Events and other things of interest are posted here as well as the monthly financial statement
• Treasurers table – Pay/Renew your membership at this time of year if not already done.
• Horticultural Library – in the corner behind the treasurer’s table. Borrow a gardening book that interests you and then bring it back to the next meeting.
• Draw table – Lots of great prizes to be won just buy a ticket.
• Goodie table – at Tea time help yourself to the goodies (after picking up tea, coffee or juice – in your mug) brought in by members and sign up to contribute in another month. To be able to have this table we need everyone to volunteer at least once during the year to bring goodies.
• In House Plant Sale Table – at the fireplace end of the hall – Bring in your extra plants or seedlings or other garden related items – all year long. You’ll also find the packaged seeds from our Seed Exchange here. These items are for sale prior to the meeting and at the break at a nominal amount. At the end of the meeting if your donation has not been sold please take it home with you.
• Audrey’s fireside table- drop off collected seeds for the Seed Exchange, place your orders for Florissa. sign up for any workshops or events that might be on the go.
• Suggestion Box – next to the podium to place your suggestion for meeting topics or anything else you might feel like sharing with the Executive.

What to do in the garden this month: - Don’t forget to check out our website for this month’s tips - http://www.newwesthortsociety.org/monthly-to-do-list.html

Upcoming Plant Sales & Events: Check out the BC Council of Garden Club Website for many upcoming plant Sales and Events. https://bcgardenclubs.com/wp/events/ There will also be some listed in our Newsletter.

Click Here for the Official March Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2018 Contests Rules

Happy March – Just as I was thinking that it was looking like that March was coming in like a lamb, the second day of the month the weather became a lion. Hopefully that means the rest of the month will only get better.

Now is the time to start taking a look at your garden to see what is coming up, what needs to be divided or moved and what you might be able to donate to our Boulevard or In House Plant Sales.

Our next meeting is next Tuesday March 13th at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker is Gary Lewis from Phoenix Perennials. He will be speaking on – What else! – Hellebores It is anticipated he will be bringing plants for sale. Phoenix has one of the largest selections of Hellebores – so maybe we will be lucky and he will bring some unusual ones. Hellebores offer such a wonderful selection of mid-winter colours and leaf patterns. If you have friends or neighbours (that are not members) and they are interested in hellebores bring them along to the meeting (Drop in fee $2.00) If they decide to become members the night they are guests, their drop-in fee gets deducted from their $15 annual memberships.

Membership fees – Don’t forget if you have not yet renewed your membership ($15 for the year) Ellen will be collecting your money and providing you with your current membership card at the desk just as you come into the hall. You can also always mail in to our PO Box. NWHS Box 392, 104-1015 Columbia St., New Westminster, BC V3M 6V3

Reminder - Remember to sign in at the desk in the lobby when you pick up your name tag & Newsletter. This is important as we need to have the number of members regularly attending to give our speakers for handouts and other purposes. It is important to wear your name tags so new members and existing members get to know who you are. So much nicer if we can call a person by their name. When you leave, please put your name tag in the labelled shoebox.

Fundraising Committee - Message from Janet Butts Chair–
“For all who are planning or thinking of sowing seeds for the plant sale, the Club will provide you with seed starting mix, to be collected at Terri’s (1118 8th Ave. New West. – call first 604-525-1954). Terri will have some prefilled seedling starting flats or bring your own preference to be filled (Janet is using roast chicken containers!). Much as we’d love to be able to facilitate all your seed starting, this offer is only for seeds being grown for the Boulevard Plant Sale. The Club is also happy to provide—again, just for plants that are destined for the Plant Sale— potting soil for 4” pots—this would be primarily for potting up the seedlings, but it could also be for small perennials that you’re digging up from the garden but can’t spare your garden soil. Bring your own bucket or pots you are filling.
In order to know how much soil to purchase, at the March 13th meeting Janet will poll the membership to find out how many plan to do some seed starting for which you’d like seed-starting medium, and how many will be dividing small perennials and be needing potting medium for small containers.
In addition to this How many would be interested in a little seed-starting tutorial by Terri at her house, date TBA probably within that first week after meeting night—Mar 13-18? Janet will ask you this at the meeting so give it some thought ahead of time. Happy seed-starting!”

Seed Exchange - And speaking of Seeds – We are making a few changes to our Club’s Seed Exchange. The process for saving and donating seeds remains the same but we have decided to start charging a nominal fee of 25cents a package. This is to cover misc packaging cost but also we feel sometimes when things are free people don’t put much value to them. The seeds will now be available at the In House Plant Sale Table.

In House Plant Sale table continues – Please bring plants that you might have to share and check out the table for any items you might like to purchase.

Boulevard Plant Sale: May 5th 10am – 3pm – Boulevard in front of 720 Fifth St. New West. Think about volunteering to help. Participating in it is one way to get to meet some of the other members. Create some friendships.

POTS!! If you have extra pots please bring them to the meeting on March 13th and if you need some take some home with you. There will also be some seedling starting flats there. These will be found in the lobby. The “Official Club Sale” plant tags will be at the In House Plant table? Take what you think you’ll need to label your plants for the sale. We will also have the labels at the April meeting if you end up potting up more plants!

What to do in the Garden this Month – Don’t forget to check out our wonderful website for this information. Check out: http://www.newwesthortsociety.org/monthly-to-do-list.html Our website is a wonderful resource of all sorts of information – check it out. If there are other links or information you would like to see here get in touch with our website Liaison Terry Koziel

Plant a Row Grow a Row will be Wednesday March 28th – further details will be in March Newsletter.

Buckerfield's Abbotsford Garden Club - If you want to join this garden club (which offers 20% off plant material and 10% off other gardening supplies at the Buckerfield's Abbotsford store), contact Audrey (604-526-8284 or audrey@newwesthortsociety.org). She will contact Marilyn Holt with your name and email. Marilyn will mail (to Audrey) your membership card which must be presented for the discount. Membership is free.

Another email received from Buckerfield's Abbotsford - they have an opening for a Warehouse shipper/receiver specialist for their farm/pet/garden centre. If anyone is interested contact the store at 604-556-7477 for more info. There will also be an advert on the bulletin board at the meeting.

Brooms – At the February meeting, Garden Brooms were being sold near the fireplace table. There was a swarm of people buying them. They are great brooms. A super deal at $20 each. If you are interested in buying a Garden Broom, see Audrey. Until the end of April, she will take your order (and money) and have your broom delivered to her house for your pick-up. The broom sale is a fundraiser for Kwantlen Park Dry Grad. For details about "The Garden Broom", go to www.TheOriginalGardenBroom.com.

Florissa – If you haven’t picked up your Spring 2018 Florissa flyer yet, do so on Tuesday evening. The deadline for orders for this NWHS fundraiser is April 4, 5pm (just in time for pick-up at our April meeting). Orders are placed with Audrey.

In Memoriam – One of our life members Jane DeMarchi passed away on March 2nd. She joined in 1984. I was advised that her service will be on March 10th at St. Peter’s New Westminster. Check the newspapers this coming week for details.

Some Interesting Upcoming Events:
There are all sorts of Garden Club sales and other events happening in the spring. A good place to find all of these is on the BC Council of Garden Clubs website https://bcgardenclubs.com/wp/events/ A few I recently received notifications of are:

• Alpine Garden Club of BC 2018 Spring Plant Show & Sale - April 7th 12-4pm – Floral Hall @ VanDusen Gardens
• 90th Annual Bradner Flower Show, April 13, 14 & 15th daily from 10am – 5pm – Bradner Hall, Aldergrove
• Lynn Valley Garden Club Plant Sale – May 12th 10am – 1pm – St. Clements Anglican Church North Vancouver
• West Coast Bonsai Society Show & Sale – June 9th & 10th – Harry Jerome Rec Centre, North Vancouver
• Desert Plant Society Annual Show & Sale – June 9th & 10th 10am-5pm – Floral Hall @ VanDusen Gardens.

Happy Gardening
Lorna Cloutier

Click Here for the Official February Newsletter

Click Here for the Official Contests Rules

Happy New Gardening Year to you all.    This is my first emailer as your new President and I am looking forward to the upcoming year.    I would like to Thank Julia for the excellent job she has done of being our President for the past 6 years.   I am not the vegetable gardener that Julia is so you won’t get the same sort of information in the emailer that she use to send you.  Do check out West Coast Seeds Planting Chart letting you know when you should plant what seeds.    https://www.westcoastseeds.com/garden-resources/west-coast-seeds-planting-charts/

Our first meeting of the year is Tuesday Feb. 13th at 7:30pm.    Returning once again, as our fist Guest speaker of the year, is Marilyn Holt talking on “Germinating Seeds”.   As usual her presentations are always quite informative. This will be a good introduction on starting from seed for new members or a reminder/reinforcement for experienced growers.   Come with your questions.   This is also an excellent lead up for those that are considering starting seedlings for our 2018 Boulevard Plant Sale.

The NWHS Executive committee will be presenting the 2018 NWHS Proposed Annual Budget for approval by the membership.   The proposed budget will be included with the February Newsletter.

At the meeting Lea will be posting a copy of our NWHS Constitution and Bylaws revised January 2018 on the bulletin board in the foyer.   Mary has worked hard on getting all the amendments integrated into it.   Take a look and if you would like your own electronic copy of it email me and I will send you a copy.

Our annual membership of $15 is due at this meeting.   Still the same as it has been for the last several years.  Ellen will be accepting membership renewals at the front table.  Please be prepared to pay with the exact change or by cheque made out to NWHS.   If you are not attending Tuesday Feb. 13th  meeting you can mail a cheque to our PO Box:

New Westminster Horticultural Society

Box 392, 104 – 1015 Columbia St.

New Westminster, BC V3M 6V3

Our In House Plant Sale table continues.  This monthly (except Oct. Dec. and Jan.) sale is a major fundraiser for our club.   Last year we raised $787. Thank you for all of you that contribute to or purchase from it.   Please continue to donate and check it out and purchaseprior to the meeting (7:00 – 7:30) or during the tea break.   Janet will be looking for volunteers to assist at the table either before the meeting or during the break.   It is just like the Refreshment Goodies we ask that you sign up once a year to help.   Share the volunteering amongst all members as we all benefit from it.

Fundraising Committee  is busy starting the planning and preparations for our Annual Boulevard Plant Sale which will be held on Saturday May 5th.  We will need plant donations and now is the time to start reviewing your gardens to see what needs dividing and what you will be able to donate.

Florissa Spring Bulb Fundraiser is  happening again this year.  Audrey will have the colourful order forms at our meeting on Feb. 13.  Deadline will be Apr. 4th.   You do not need to be a club member to order. This is a great fundraiser as our club retains 50% of the proceeds of the sales.

Container/Photo Contest 2017 entries :  Audrey will have them at the fireplace table for members to pick up.   The detailed rules for the 2018 contests will be available at the February meeting.

Seed exchange: Go through your stashes of seed packets from last year.  If you have any you would like to donate (great way to get rid of the guilt of not planting them), the seed donation box will be at the fireplace table.  Any seeds available for pick-up will be on the free table in the foyer.

The BC Council of Garden Clubs AGM & Spring Meeting will be held on Mar. 10 from 8:30am to 3:30pm at the Firefighters” Banquet and Conference Centre, 6515 Bonsor Ave., Burnaby. There is free parking on the upper level of the Metrotown parkade; a parking pass is available upon registration. The Early Bird registration is $40 this year and your executive have decided to subsidize the cost by $10, so the cost to you will remain at $30. This includes an excellent buffet lunch.  There are two guest speakers:  Daniel Mosquin  - Photographer, Educator, and Botanical Consultant from UBC Botanical Gardens speaking on “Native Plants” and Nancy Moore - Gardening Enthusiast & Educator speaking on  "Year-Round Interest in the Garden with Tips on Making Garden Maintenance Easier".       Audrey will be accepting the registration fee at her table in front of the fireplace at the February meeting.   The NWHS deadline for early bird registration is Friday Feb. 16, 5pm at Ellen’s house 314 Durham.  Call first 604-525-7827

What to do in the Garden this Month –  I thought I might do a little piece each month but then I had a close look at our wonderful website and I see that our website person Gillian Escalante, has already done this.   Check out:  http://www.newwesthortsociety.org/monthly-to-do-list.html    Our website is a wonderful resource of all sorts of information – check it out.

Some Interesting Upcoming Events:

• 1. Family Day in New Westminster – February 12th.  We (NWHS) are participating at the Greenhouse in Queen’s Park.   From 10:30 – 12:30.  We will be helping the City staff with assisting the public in planting lettuce planters.    We will have one of our new canopies set up out front to greet people and handout club bookmarks, a colouring sheet designed by Merril Hall (Garden Gals) and various other handouts.  We are hoping this will be an excellent venue to get some new members.  If you happen to be in the area stop by and visit us or lend a hand.  https://www.newwestcity.ca/calendar-of-events/events/4835/2018-02.php
• 2. Arts Council of New Westminster – They have all sorts of events happening each month.   Check out their website https://artscouncilnewwest.org/     In the month of February they have a LiteFest – Short Story Contest, Exciting shows at the Gallery in Queen’s Park, Free Arts Workshops at Royal City Centre and Lord Kelvin Community School and Craft Markets twice a month at River Market.
• 3. Northwest Flower & Garden Festival, Feb. 7-11, Washington State Convention Centre, Seattle. www.gardenshow.com  .  There may still be space left on the Bert Garbulo organized bus going down on Feb. 7th.   If you are interested Bert’s phone number is 604-299-6876.   Details are in the December Newsletter. 
• 4. 90th Annual Bradner Flower Show, April 13, 14 & 15th daily from 10am – 5pm.  Opening ceremony on Friday Apr. 13th with Brian Minter. Admission $2.00 http://www.bradnerhall.ca/events.html   See the flyer on the bulletin board at the meeting.
• 5. Plant a Row Grow a Row will be March 28th – further details will come in March.
• 6. Hellebore Hurrah – Feb 23 – 25, 2018 – at Phoenix Perennials.

Click Here for the Official December Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2017 Contests Rules

Our annual holiday dinner and party is on December 12. The doors open at 6:00pm with the buffet dinner starting at 6:30pm. All the tickets to the event have been sold.

There are so many people that deserve a big thank you for making this event such a fun-filled success. I do want to extend a special thank you to Audrey for organizing and hosting the many workshops that have produced the beautiful holiday-themed centre pieces and wreaths. And, thank you to all the members who have taken the time to create the approximately 80 items that will be raffled off during the party. The workshops are still continuing from 9am to 9pm. Please call Audrey at 604-526-8284 or email her at sgbarnes@telus.net to arrange a time if you have not already signed up at our regular meeting. Fresh material crafting will happen on the weekend during daylight hours. We are, also, accepting holiday home baking or preserves in the raffle. Let Audrey know if you are bringing these items from home so room can be made on the display tables. If you have made a wreath or decoration at home and would like to donate it please let Audrey know. If you have fresh greenery to donate, please leave the greenery in Audrey’s carport.

For those who will be attending the Dec. 12 party, please remember to bring non-perishable foods items. We will have bins in the foyer in which to place your donations. The Food Bank is in need of all non-perishable items, including food, toilet paper, baby forumla, shampoo, etc. All these donations are most welcome and very much appreciated.

Half the proceeds of the Christmas raffle draw is donated to a local charity or cause. This year the members voted to fund a student garden project at Richard McBride Elementary School.

The NWHS Fundraising Committee is in need of two more members to serve on the committee. The term is for one year, but, of course, if you wish to extend your volunteer help on the committee it would be most welcome. Please speak to Janet Butts or Lorna Cloutier if you are interested in helping out.

The Executive Committee wishes to thank all members who helped to make the NWHS such a vibrant and wonderful garden club. We take a break in January. Our next regular meeting is on Tuesday, February 13, 2018 at 7:30pm. The From Our Gardens Plant and Garden Sale will be up and running. Our February guest speaker will be announced in the January Emailer.

As President of the NWHS this will be my last club emailer to you. My term finishes at the end of this year. It has been a fun-filled 6 years. It has been an honour and pleasure to serve as your President. I want to thank all the members of the NWHS Executive Committee who have served and those who continue to serve. All your Executive members work very hard to bring the very best to our club. And to those members who have thought about standing for a position on our Executive Committee or one of our other committees, I encourage you to put your name forward.

On behalf of myself and the rest of the NWHS Executive Committee we want to wish you and your family a perfect holiday season and an excellent New Year.

Some Activities You Might Be Interested In:

• 1. Royal City Youth Ballet Company presents the full length longest running Nutcracker Ballet in Canada on Sat., Dec. 23 at 2pm and 7pm at the Massey Theatre. For more information and ticket purchases phone the Box Office at 604-521-5050 or visit www.masseytheatre.com.
• 2. The Vagabond Players presents Sleeping Beauty, the classic fairytale comes to life as a family-friendly pantomime at the Bernie Legge Theatre in Queens Park until Dec. 17. Thursday to Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday Matinees at 2pm. Adults $17 and Seniors and youth to 18yr.: $15. Buy your tickets on line at www.vagabondplayers.ca/tickets or phone 604-521-0412.
• 3. Christmas at the Burnaby Village Museum, 6501 Deer Lake Ave. Admission is free with a small fee of $2.65 for rides on the historic CW Parker Carousel. This event is on until January 5. for more information for the full entertainment schedule for Heritage Christmas see www.burnabyvillagemuseum.ca.

Click Here for the Official November Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2017 Contests Rules

After spending two weeks in the south of France with temperatures hovering in the mid-20C, it was a bit of a shock coming back to snow and freezing temperatures. Despite the chilly weather it is good to come back home.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday, November 14. The meeting starts at 7:30pm with our Annual General Meeting, followed by our regular meeting.. The AGM Agenda consists of the presentation of the following motions as listed in the attachment below: A 2/3 majority vote is required for these motions to pass. The motions will also be printed in the November Newsletter available at the meeting.

Click Here to view Changes to the NWHS Constitution and By-Laws - 2017

The election of your 2018 Executive Committee follows the presentation of the motions recommending changes to our Constitution and By-Laws. The following positions are up for election:

President - 2 year term
Vice-President - one year term
Treasurer - 2 year term
Members-at-Large - 3 for 2 year terms each
Member-at-Large - 1 for a 1 year term

The guest speaker is Rob Butler who will be speaking on Creating Gardens for Bird Habitat. Please remember to bring your mug for tea or coffee.

The Christmas dinner tickets will be on sale at the November meeting. The price remains the same as previous years - $20 for members and $25 for guests. There are only 20 tickets left.

The October Silent Auction was a great success. Ellen will announce how much money was raised. Thank you to all those members who donated items for the auction and thank you to all who attended and purchased items. Also, thank you to everyone who transported items and helped to set up the room and worked to make the Silent Auction night a great success. And, a very special thank you to Audrey Barnes who works so hard to make it all come together. This fundraiser contributes to the overall health of the club.

Our annual Florissa Bulb Sale was also a great success. Audrey will report on the proceeds from this sale. Half of the sale revenue comes back to the club as a fundraiser.

This will be the last In-House Plant Sale for 2017. If you have any donations please bring them in. The Executive Committee and the Fundraising Committee want to thank all our members who generously donated items for the sale and thank you to all those who purchased the many items donated. On behalf of all of us I want to thank the Fundraising Committee for staffing the table along with other member volunteers. This club fundraising effort continues to be very successful.

The Executive Committee wants to thank all the members of the Fundraising Committee for all the work they do throughout the year to ensure that the club balance sheet stays in the black.

And, thank you to the volunteer members on the Refreshment Committee for making the tea break happen. Thank you to all who bring in thel those delicious treats we all enjoy to eat.

Audrey is accepting Xmas craft donations. If you have Xmas decorations you no longer use or want please consider donating them to the club. Donations can be left on Audrey’s back porch, under cover before 8pm. Please no perfumed items or items that contain glitter. The Xmas craft workshop sign up sheet is available at Audrey’s table at the Nov. meeting.

This Emailer has been full of thank yous to our members who volunteer for the many jobs that are needed to be done to make a garden club a success. Thank you to all who step up to the plate and donate their time and effort to make our club such a resounding success. We are only as strong as our volunteer base.

Some Events that May Be of Interest to You:

1. 2017 Remembrance Day Service.held outdoors at the Cenotaph located at the front of the City Hall, 511 Royal Ave. All members of the public are welcome to attend. The service commences at 10:30am.

2. The Vagabond Players presents Sleeping Beauty which comes to life in a family friendly pantomime. Showtimes: Thursday to Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm. at the Bernie Legge Theatre in Queens Park. Admission: Adults $17, Seniors and children under 18, $15, Preview performances $12. There is a group rate for 10 or more at $12 each. Purchase tickets on line: at www.vagabondplayers.ca/tickets or phone 604-521-0412 or email reservations@vagabondplayers.ca.

Click Here for the Official October Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2017 Contests Rules

You are getting this emailer a bit early. I hope everyone is enjoying th e next couple of days as the days will be sunny and warm. I hope to be cutting my grass for the last time this year. My garlic will have to wait to be planted until the end of Oct. This year was a spectacular year for tomatoes. All that sun and warmth have made for a bumper crop of lovely red, sweet tomatoes.

Our next meeting is our Silent Auction night. Again this year we are allowing you to bring a guest to enjoy the fun night. Our meeting is on Tue., Oct. 10 at 7:30pm. There is no guest speaker, no free table, no library, no new memberships will be sold and no In-House Plant Sale Table. The refreshments will be served in the kitchen throughout the evening. Please remember to bring your own mug. A green waste container will be set out in the kitchen.

Also, in the kitchen there will be a form for members to list the name of the charity they would like to receive our annual holiday season charitable donation. We will vote at the Nov. meeting for the charity we would like to be the recipient of our $400 donation. The items you will purchase from the auction will be paid for at the end of the meeting after the auction closes and the winning bids are tallied. Please pay in cash (exact amount would be helpful) or by cheque made out to NWHS.

Audrey is accepting donations for the Silent Auction. This is your opportunity to pass on items you no longer want or use. Donations can be left at Audrey’s house under the covered portion of her back porch or at the basement door if Audrey is at home. The last day for accepting donations at Audrey’s is Sun., Oct. 8 until 5:00pm. Silent Auction volunteers are needed. If you can help with transporting auction items, setting up tables, highlighting winning bids, tallying bids and doing the final breakdown and clean-up at the end of the meeting please let Audrey know email: sgbarnes@telus.net or (phone# 604-526-8284).

Audrey will still take Florissa Bulb orders at the Oct. 10 meeting. Also, available is a selection of Xmas season bulbs. Brochures showing what is available for order will be at the meeting. Your order will be ready for pick up later in the month. The date will be announced at the Oct. 10 meeting. Payment for your order can be made in cash (exact amount is appreciated ) or by cheque made our to NWHS.

For members who are planning to enter the photo and container contests this is a reminder that your photos need to submitted to Audrey at the Oct. meeting. If you are unable to attend the Oct. 10 meeting, please contact Audrey (phone # above) to arrange for a time to drop off your photos.

Xmas dinner tickets will be on sale at the Oct. and Nov. meetings. The cost remains the same ($20 for members and $25 for guests. At the Oct. meeting the tickets will be on sale before the business portion of the meeting and for 15 minutes after the business portion. There are only 100 tickets this year; they will sell very fast as this is a very popular event. The dinner menu will be posted at the Oct. and Nov. meetings.

This is a reminder that the Nov. 14 meeting is our Annual General Meeting date. We will be voting on motions that are meant to update our Constitution and By-Laws. I listed the proposed motions and a rationale for each motion in the previous emailer. Also, the intended motions will be published in our Oct. and Nov. newsletters.

As well as voting on the proposed motions, there will be an election for the following positions:

• President - 2 yr. position
• Vice-President - 1 yr. position
• Treasurer - 2 yr. position
• 3 Members - at - Large - all 2 yr. positions
• 1 Member-at-large - 1 yr. position

There are nominees for most of these positions. Currently there are no nominees for the 1 year Member-art-large position. Please consider standing for election for your 2018 Executive Committee. See Anna Camporese, Lorna Cloutier or myself if you are interested in volunteering your services.

Audrey is accepting Xmas decoration donations right after the Silent Auction. So, here is an opportunity to regift those wreaths and other sundry decorations that you no longer use or need. These decorations will be used in the upcoming Xmas Craft Workshops.

A reminder to those members planning to attend the BC Council of Garden Clubs Fall Meeting on Oct. 14; it takes place at 8:30am at the Firefighters” Conference Centre on Bonsor Ave. There is free parking on the upper level of the parkade next to the back door to the Conference Centre. You need to display a parking pass obtained at the registration desk.

Some Interesting Things to Do:

• 1. The Royal Columbian Hospital Auxiliary needs thrift shop volunteers. If you are looking for a worthy cause to volunteer with, this might be the one. For more information contact Susan at 604-916-5083..
• 2. UBC Botanical Garden Apple Festival on Oct. 14 and 15 from 11am to 4pm. 63 varieties of apples and over 70 varieties of trees for sale. there will be tasting opportunities (additional fee applies), live entertainment, food fair, children’s area, etc. Location: UBC Botanical Garden, 6804 SW Marine Dr., Vancouver for more information go to botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/apple-festivalor phone 604-822-4208
• 3. The Royal City Gogos’ 6th Annual Artisan Craft Fair Sale, Fri., Nov. 3 from 4-8pm and Sat. Nov.4 from 10am to 3pm. and Sun. Nov. 5 from 11am to 2pm at the UNIFOR Hall, 326 12th St. in New Westminster. All proceeds go to the Stephen Lewis Grandmothers Campaign in solidarity with African grandmothers caring for children orphaned by AIDS.

Click Here for the Official Septmeber Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2017 Contests Rules

The weather forecast is predicting rain on Friday. We can only hope.

Our regular meeting is is on Sept. 12 at 7:30pm. The In-House Plant Sale will continue. Donations are most welcome. The guest speaker is Dianne Gaines of Van Noort Bulbs. She will be speaking about the latest information on bulbs, the Florissa offerings and layering bulbs for spring. She will have bulbs for sale.

Christmas dinner tickets will be going on sale at the October and November meetings. The price remains the same at $20 for members and $25 for guests. There are 100 tickets available. Buy as soon as they go on sale, as we sell out quickly.

We are running short of volunteers to assist the Tea /Refreshments Committee. We are looking at 4 to 6 members to share in this task. If we do not get sufficient members to volunteer we may no longer be able to serve tea. If we have sufficient volunteers, they will not be required to serve at each of the club’s meetings. Please see Diane Perry in order to offer your services.

We are coming to the time when many of us will be splitting up our perennials. If you have some plant material left over, you might pot up excess for the In-House Plant Sale or thinking ahead for the Annual May Plant Sale. If members have excess 1 gallon pots you want to get rid of, please bring them into the Sept. meeting for members who could use them when potting up donations to the club.

The BC Council of Garden Clubs Fall Meeting is on Oct. 14. The doors open at 8:15am. The meeting takes place at the Firefighters’ Conference Centre on Bonsor Ave. The cost to members is $35 (the NWHS subsidizes the entrance fee by $5, so the cost to you is $30 which includes an excellent buffet lunch, plus 2 refreshment breaks. There are 2 guest speakers: Linda Gilkenson, an expert on climate change, organic gardening and garden pest control and Deborah Jones, an expert on rain gardens. Ellen will be accepting the entrance fee at the Sept. meeting. Please have the exact change or a cheque made out to the NWHS. All money for the entrance fee must be paid by Sept. 26..

The September meeting is also a Bring to Share meeting, so check out your garden and bring in something to share. Do you have a question that needs answering bring that along. Three participation prizes will be awarded. There is no limit to the number of entries you can submit. Come in to the meeting a bit early to register.

The Florissa Bulb sale is back again this year. The order brochures, both for the fall and the Christmas offerings, will be available at our Sept. meeting. See Audrey at her table to place your order. The deadline for ordering is the Oct. regular meeting.

The October regular meeting is Silent Auction night. This is your opportunity to downsize some of your excess stuff to a good cause. The Silent Auction is one of our major fundraiser events. Audrey is accepting donations on her back porch (the under cover part). Please nothing with scent or that has glitter. The deadline for dropping off items is the Sunday (Oct. 8) before the regular meeting. Please drop off items before 8pm. Audrey needs helpers for the Silent Auction. She needs volunteers to help sort, label and price items. Also, we need volunteers who can help to transport items to the Centennial Lodge the afternoon of the meeting. As well there is a need for volunteers to help set up the room and to help clean up and pack up the items that are unsold. We will, also, need a number of volunteers to help to tally up the purchases. Audrey will have sign-up sheets at her table for all these tasks, so please sign-up for one or more of these areas. Refreshments will be served in the kitchen area throughout the evening.

Thank you to all members who have donated or intend to donate seeds to our free seed exchange. This is the time of the year for collecting seed. Please bring your donations to the Sept. or Oct. meeting. Include the following information: Name of the plant, colour of the flower, height, width and growing conditions, so Richard can label the seeds correctly. Packaged seeds are available on the table in the front foyer. They are free and you are welcome to take them.

It is not too early to go through your Xmas decorations you no longer want ot need and donate them to be used in the Xmas craft workshops. Audrey will be accepting these donations after the Silent Auction date (Oct. 10). Same rules apply: no scent and no glitter.

Our Annual General Meeting precedes our Regular Meeting on Nov. 14 at 7:30pm. The Executive Committee have gone through our Constitution ad By-Laws with the goal of making it reflect current practices. The following list the changes to the Constitution and By-Laws as recommended by the Executive Committee will be voted on at our AGM.

Changes to the NWHS Constitution and By-Laws, 2017

Part 2 - Membership

7b - (Omit) Anyone joining during the year shall pay on a pro rata basis.

Rationale: We no longer charge a pro rata fee. We offer a $15 membership or a $2 drop in fee.

Part 5 :

19 - The executive of the society shall be the president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer plus up to six (6) members at large.

Rationale: This reflects current practise.

Part 8 : Duties of Officers

36. The Treasurer shall:

a) Collect all monies due to the society and deposit same in a chartered bank in Canada or in a credit union covered by the Credit Union Insurance Corporation of British Columbia. (add in)

Rationale: Currently the Society is allowed to only use a chartered bank. This addition will allow the society to use an accredited credit union to administer its funds.

40: (Omit) The show chairperson shall be in charge of all in-club activities in which members show or exhibit display.

Rationale: We no longer elect a show chairperson. The duties surrounding “in-club activities in which members show or exhibit display” are assigned to one of the elected members at large on an annual basis.

All these changes to the Constitution and By-Laws require 2/3 majority to pass.

As well as voting on the changes listed above, the membership will vote to elect its 2018 Executive Committee. The following positions are open for election:

President - 2 year term
Vice-President - 1 year term
Members-at-large - 3 for 2 year terms each
Member-at-large - 1 for a 1 year term

There are nominees for most positions. Currently there are no nominees for the Member-at large position for one year. I have spoken often that our club is only as strong as its volunteer base. I am asking you to consider running for any of the above Executive Committee positions. Please see myself, Lorna Cloutier or Anna Camporese if you are interested in serving on your 2018 Executive Committee.

I received an email from a gardener who has a 4-5 ft. tall plumeria plant he is wanting to give away. It has 5 young branches. It flowered this year for the first time and was the Singapore type (white with yellow throat) and fragrant. Please let me know if you are interested in acquiring this plant and I will get you in touch with the owner.

Some interesting things to do or see:

• 1. Tree care workshop.. Wed. Sept.6, 5pm to 7pm at the Poplar Island Room, Queensborough Community Centre, 920 Ewen Ave. Free.
• 2. Public Presentation and Open House, New Westminster’s Tree Protection and Regulation By-Law. Come with questions. Thur., Sept. 14 from 6pm to 8:30pm Century House, 620 8th St.

Click Here for the Official August Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2017 Contests Rules

Happy BC Day to everyone. Although with all the smoke and the steamy temperatures, celebrations may be limited.

Our next meeting is this coming Tuesday, August 8 at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker is Kirsten Crouch who will be speaking on Winter Vegetable Gardening.

The In-House Plant Sale continues. Thank you to all who support this fundraising activity.

A big thank you to Audrey who arranged for us to visit some spectacular gardens. Rediscovering some hidden areas of New Westminster was a treat. Thank you to the members who were so kind to open their gardens to our visit. And, another big thank you to Audrey for hosting our fabulous annual potluck picnic. The day was perfect, the food was most varied and very delicious. The Stump Trophy Quiz lived up to its reputation as being very challenging. Congratulations to Lesia Gojda for being the grand winner this year.

September meeting is a Bring to Share month. If nothing else we should have a bumper crop of lovely tomatoes to bring in.

Silent Auction items can be dropped off at Audrey’s house ( 117 7th Ave.) before 8pm. Items can left undercover on the back porch if Audrey is not at home. Please nothing that is scented or contains glitter.

Audrey is arranging for another Florissa Bulb sale this fall. Details will be at the September meeting.

Many plants are going to seed. Please remember that the club is collecting seed for our free Seed Exchange. There is a donation box at the table in front of the fireplace. Packaged up seed will be available on the Free Table in the foyer.

The Annual New Westminster Cultural Crawl is being held on Sat., Aug. 12 and Sun., Aug.13. Go on line ( NewWestCulturalCrawl.com) for a map and the times each location will be open. The Garden Gals as a group will not be exhibiting this year, but some of the members will have their own showing. Silvana McNulty and Heather MacKenzie will a showing of their art at 736 5th St.(a few doors down from where we have our annual boulevard plant sale. They are listed as #15 in the Cultural Crawl brochure. As well Marya McLellan is exhibiting and selling her pottery both days at Working Silver, 102 - 131 East Columbia St.. Along with jewelry and pottery there will be paintings and other art pieces for sale. There are many other art studios open to the public in all areas of the city.

PARGAR is in full swing. If you have excess fruit or vegetables, donations are being accepted at St. Thomas More Collegiate, Kingsway and 12th Ave. in Burnaby (at the front entrance). Donations are accepted every Sunday from 8:30am to 9:15am. Store bought donations are gratefully accepted.

Some Interesting Upcoming Events:

• 1. Royal City Farmers’ Market is held every Thursday from 3pm to 7pm at Tipperary Park (parking lot) . Check www.rcfm.ca for more information.
• 2. Fridays on Front Street. A summer market is held each Friday night until August 25 in the 600 block of Front Street from 5pm to 8pm. This event is open to all ages.
• 3. Quayside garage sale day, Aug. 19. Each strata along the boardwalk is being encouraged to hold their own strata garage sale. Due to ongoing construction the the large Quayside Festival is being postponed for another year. If nothing else a walk along the boardwalk is a pleasant way to spend some time on a summer Saturday.

Click Here for the Official July Newsletter

Click Here for the July Show Schedule

Click Here for the Official 2017 Contests Rules

Summer has finally arrived. Hurrah!

For those of you who are receiving this monthly emailer and who have not renewed their membership this year I am sad to say this will be your final NWHS emailer. We hope you will again join up. The annual membership fee continues to be $15. You can rejoin at our regular Tuesday night meeting or by mailing a cheque to our mailbox at:

NWHS
Box 392 - #104 - 1015 Columbia St.
New Westminster, V3M 6V3.

By joining this month you can enjoy the annual garden tour and fabulous potluck picnic held the same day, the fun-filled Silent Auction in October and the holiday dinner party in December. We’d love to see you come back.

Our next regular meeting is on July 11 at 7:30pm. Our guest is Conway Lum who will be hosting a question and answer session.

Our July meeting is also our In-House Show meeting. Please look around your garden and bring in your best specimens. Please look carefully at the Show Schedule to see the list of the different categories. You can enter up to 2 exhibits in each class. If you haven’t a show schedule, one is listed on our website: (www.newwesthortsociety.org)

Click Here for the July Show Schedule

The In-House Plant Sale will continue. Items will be sold at the front table.

Audrey has been hard at work lining up the Annual Garden Tour Schedule. The Garden Tour is on July 22. Maps, sequence of visits and directions will be available at Tuesday’s meeting. You must attend Tuesday’s meeting for a print copy, none will be available the day of the tour. If it is a hot day, please remember to bring a hat. This year we will not be providing the single use, disposable water bottles. Please remember to bring your own water.

Following the garden tour, our annual fabulous Potluck Picnic starts at 4:30pm in Audrey’s back garden. At our meeting this coming Tuesday there will be a sign-up sheet to let us know what potluck donation you will be bringing. Also, if you are bringing someone, please indicate that on the sign-up sheet. Although children are welcome, it is a more adult oriented event. Please no pets. Normally approximately 60 people attend the picnic; your potluck contribution should serve 10 people. The club provides beverages, including wine and non-alcoholic choices. Please remember to bring your own plate, mug and cutlery. Also, if you plan to drink wine from a stemmed glass, you need to bring your own. We will provide jam jars for beverages. One of the highlights of the picnic is entering to win the coveted Stump Trophy. Audrey has been working on the Stump Garden Quiz. Good luck to all who enter.

It has been brought to my attention that members are not signing up in sufficient numbers to bring tea treats for the regular Tuesday meetings. Since we all enjoy a cup of tea and a sweet treat during our tea break, please remember to sign up for one of the months listed on the sign up sheet which is conveniently located on the tea treat table. Normally you only need to do this once per year. Although a home baked treat is always appreciated, if you are not a baker or just don’t have the time, a store bought item is equally welcome.

Just a reminder that Plant A Row, Grow A Row is in full swing . Donations are collected at the front door entrance to St. Thomas More Collegiate (7450 12th Ave., Bby) every Sunday from 8:30am to 9:15am. Garden grown as well as store bought produce is gladly accepted. All donations are distributed to those in need through the New Westminster Food Bank.

NWHS has a free seed exchange. If you have seeds to share, just wait for the seed heads to fully mature, then cut the heads off and place them in a paper envelope. List the type of plant and any necessary characteristics such as plant name, colour, growing conditions needed, height, etc. List the date seeds were collected. The sealed envelopes can be placed in the seed exchange box located at Tuesday’s meeting. Richard will repackage the seed and make the packets available on the free table in the front foyer at a future meeting.

Some interesting events you might be interested in checking out:

• 1. Royal City Famers’ Market runs every Thursday from 3pm to 7pm in Tipperary Park. Besides fresh produce and other edible goodies, there are food trucks. Bring along a blanket and picnic on the grass. Check out www.rcfm.ca for a list of vendors and entertainment which can change from week to week. While there make time to stroll in the lovely Friendship Gardens.
• 2. Friday’s on Front Street. Every Friday at 5pm Front Street is open for an afternoon stroll. Crossing over the railway tracks, you can enjoy a stroll by the Fraser River in Pier Park. There is a food concession at the park.
• 3. Every Friday during the summer there are free movies at Queen’s Park Stadium, starting at 7pm. The movies are family friendly. On July 7 Goonies is playing and on July 14, you can enjoy Footloose. Watch the local paper for future listings.
• 4. Shade Garden Society Annual Show, Sunday, July 16 from 10am to 4pm in the Floral Hall at VanDusen Botanical Garden, Vancouver. Plants for sale, Free admission. For more information www.facebook.com/vancouvershadegardensociety.ca.

Click Here for the Official June Newsletter

Click Here for the July Show Schedule

Click Here for the Official 2017 Contests Rules

Apparently we are getting some rain tomorrow. The garden could use a good soak.

Our next regular meeting is on Tue., June 13 at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker is Willoughby Arevalo, who will be speaking on “The Sex Life of Mushrooms”. Please remember to sign in; name tags are in a box next to the sign in sheets. Please remember to bring your mug .

The June 13 Regular Meeting is the last chance to bid on the silent auction of the Lee Valley garden wagon. I believe the last bid was for $65. This wagon retails at Lee Valley for over $200. The bidding will close at the end of the tea break and the winner will be announced at the meeting.

A motion will be presented by the Executive Committee at our regular meeting:" That the NWHS membership approve spending approximately $800 for the purchase of an easy-up tent canopy for club use. " Since the club exceeded its fundraising target at the Annual Plant Sale by approximately $1000, the expenditure for the easy-up tent canopy would be beneficial for club events, such as the plant sale or the club picnic, etc. Currently we are always scrambling to borrow canopies.

Our July meeting will feature Conway Lum who will be answering gardening questions from members. Please submit your questions to Diane Perry at dperry2@telus.net.

The In-House Plant Sale continues. We welcome plant donations and other items of interest to our membership.

The NWHS Garden Tour is on Saturday, July 15. Audrey is still looking for gardens to include on the tour. If you have a suggestion give Audrey a call (604-526-8284). The annual club picnic happens on the same day after the garden tour. There will be a sign-up sheet at Audrey’s table indicating what you intend to bring to share at the potluck picnic.

Audrey is accepting items for the October Silent Auction. This is your chance to do some late spring cleaning. Your giveaway will become someone’s treasure. Please leave donated items on the back porch, under cover before 8pm. Also, please leave a note with your name so Audrey knows who left the donation. Most important: please do not donate anything that has a fragrance of has glitter.

This is a reminder that Diane and Anna have arranged a tour of the many succulent offerings at WIG Nursery for Sun. ., June 18 starting at 10:30am. The address of the nursery is 6151 Thorne Ave., Burnaby. Everyone is welcome to participate on the tour, but you must sign up at the regular meeting if you intend to attend. The nursery needs to know how many will attend.

PAR GAR is starting up this month. The collection time for donations is Sunday, from 8:30am to 9:15am at the 12th Ave. entrance of St. Thomas More Collegiate.

Some Interesting Things To Do Or See”:

• 1. New Westminster residents are needed for an Urban Forestry Survey This is an online survey. It is anonymous and takes approx. 15 min. To take part in the survey go to: https://urbanforestrysurvey.wordpress.com/
• 2. Celebrate National Garden Days at UBC Botanical Garden, June 16-18, 6804 SW Marine Drive, Vancouver. . Admission is on a 2 for 1 basis and admission to the Greenheart TreeWalk is half-price all weekend long. For details go to: botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/garden-days or call 604-822-4208 for more information.
• 3. Shade Garden Society Annual Show, Sun., July 16 from 10am to 4pm at VanDusen Botanical Garden. Free admission; plants for sale, shade plant displays. For more information contact Chris at 604-838-9504. or check the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/vancouvershadegardensociety.ca.

Click Here for the Official May Newsletter

Click Here for the July Show Schedule

Click Here for the Official 2017 Contests Rules

My opening line in the May, 2016 Emailer was “I can’t believe these hot days. I’m spending a lot of time watering.” What a difference a year makes!

Our next regular meeting is at 7:30pm on Tue., May 16. We have cancelled our regular meeting date, May 9, because it is Election Day. Our guest speaker is Michael Lascelle from Amsterdam Nursery, speaking on the Rare Fruit Revolution. Just a reminder: it is important for our records that you sign in when you come in to the meeting. If there are any plants left over from our plant sale we will bring them in for the In-House Plant Sale Table. Also, the July show schedule will be available at the May meeting.

Our Annual Plant Sale is on Saturday, May 13. The location is 720 5th Street on the boulevard. Please tell friends and family about the sale. Thank you to all those members who have signed up to help withe the running of the sale. And, a big thank you to all our members who are generously donating their plants for the sale. Your donations can be delivered to the back of the driveway at 720 5th St. on Friday evening, May 12, between 5:00pm and 7:00 pm. Or, the donations can be delivered on the morning of the sale between 8:00am and 9:30am. Please make sure that each of your plant pots has a tag (tags are available at Audrey’s home, 117 7th Ave., 604-526-8284). The tag should list the relevant information, name, colour of the flower, height, width and condition it best needs for growing i.e. sun, shade, etc. The price goes on the opposite side. If you don’t know what price you should list, this can be done on site on the morning of the sale. Dollar signs are not necessary nor zeros. For example a $2 plant would be listed as 2—. the lowest priced plant is .50. For the members working at the sale, if it is a sunny day, bring a hat, bring water and wear your NWHS t-shirt if you still have one. Coffee and tea will be provided. We will be announcing the results of the plant sale at our meeting on May 16. If you know what you are donating, let Audrey know as she might find a photo showing your plant in full bloom.

The In-House Plant Sale will continue. Annual Plant Sale leftovers will be offered and new donations are always welcome. In 2016 we sold all the plants at the Annual Sale. We are keeping our fingers crossed we will do the same this year. Also, we are going to put one of our Lee Valley garden wagons up for silent auction bids at our May meeting. The starting bid will be $40 and the bidding will go up by increments of $2 or more in the bidding. This wagon is in mint condition and currently retails for over $200 in the recent Lee Valley catalogue.

The renewing of your annual membership has passed with the April regular meeting, but that shouldn’t stop you from taking out a new membership at the May meeting. The cost is still $15. I will continue to send out my monthly emailer for another month for those members who haven’t as of yet renewed their memberships, but after that only paid up members will receive the monthly NWHS Emailer.

Volunteers needed! The In-House Tea Committee could use one more member. Please consider volunteering for this committee. The commitment is for one year (of course, if you want to stay on for a longer period of time that would be most welcome. Talk to Diane Perry at the upcoming meeting or give her a call to let her know you are willing to serve ( 604-341-1239) Also, the Fundraising Committee is still needing another member. Again, it is a one year commitment, unless you are interested in staying longer. Talk to Janet Butts at the meeting or give her a phone call, 604-435-3008.

The NWHS Garden Tour and Annual Potluck Picnic is on Saturday, July 15. So, mark your calendars for a fun time during the day and into the early evening. If you know of a garden that might be appropriate for our garden tour, please let Audrey know.

We are offering up a succulent workshop on Saturday, June 10. The workshop is being led by Joan Miller. The time will be announced later. The location of the workshop will be held in Audrey’s open air covered garage. You will make and take home a planter of succulents as well as tips on propagating and maintaining them through the winter. We will provide the container, special soil for succulents and decorations for your container. The number of participants is 10. The cost to the member is $30. Sign up sheet at the May meeting.

If you couldn’t attend Joan’s succulent workshop, or you did and still want more succulents, join us for a guided tour of WIG greenhouses led by Alfred , the succulent expert. The tour is on Sunday, June 18 at 10:30am at WIG. The address and time will be available at our regular May meeting.

Ron Senko has agreed to lead our group on the old Burnaby Lake Interurban Trail Bed Path. This walk is called “Jane’s Walk”. There is a movement to designate this area as a new Burnaby Park on the south side of the Trans Canada Highway. All those who are intending to join this walk, the date and time to meet: Saturday, May 6 at 11:30am at 7200 Cariboo Road (Christian Fellowship Church parking lot). The walk starts at noon. Please wear appropriate footwear i.e. running type shoes. For any more information give Ron a call at 604-420-5241.

As you might be aware, plants can be an important line of defence against would-be burglars. To help with this, you might be interested to check out this website which tells you how plants can protect your home: www.protectamerica.com/plants-that-protect

Some Events That May Interest You:
1. Burnaby Rhododendron Festival, Sunday, May 7, 10am to 3pm, Shadbolt Centre, Deer Lake Park, Burnaby. The Shade Garden Society will have plants for sale.
2. South Delta Garden Club Garden Tour : June 25 from 10am - 4pm.10 Gardens in Ladner and Tsawwassen. Tickets available May 12 Advance purchase $15 or $20 on the day of the tour. For more information: www.southdeltagardenclub.com
3. Shade Garden Society Annual Show, Sunday, July 16 from 10am to 4pm in the Floral Hall, VanDusen Botanical Garden, Vancouver. For more information phone 604-838-9504

Click Here for the Official March Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2017 Contests Rules

I spent all day Sunday and a good part of Monday finally getting to all the garden clean-up, emptying my compost and preparing my vegetable patch. Usually I spread all these chores over the months of February and March, but this year there have been so few days that haven’t been either snowy or rainy, I grab what days there are that are dry and maybe even sunny to get the work done. Besides growing some tomato seedlings for the club sale in May, I hope to get out this coming weekend to split up some plants and pot them up for the May Sale. I hope that many of our members are also checking over their garden to see what they are planning to donate. It has been a challenge this year. There will be pots and tags available at the April meeting for you to use in potting up plants for our fundraiser. Our goal this year is to raise $2000 at our May Sale.

Our next meeting is on Tue., April 11 at 7:30pm. The guest speaker is Egan Davis, speaking on “New Gardening Ideas Out of Europe”. Also April is the last meeting to renew your longstanding membership. Egan Davis is an excellent speaker. We are asking members to help the club grow its membership. Bring a guest: the drop-in fee is $2 and can be applied to a new membership if the guest wishes to become a full member.

The executive members (Anna and Diane) in charge of seeking out our monthly speakers are asking for your help in identifying topics and the names of speakers who can speak on those topics. There will be a sheet available at the upcoming meeting to list your suggestions.

April is the Spring Bring to Share month. More and more plants are poking their heads out and even blooming, so look at your garden and bring in something to share. Not only plants are included in Bring to Share. If you have a question you would like answered or a plant you can’t identify, bring it along and maybe someone can help. There will be prizes. All members who participates will be included in the drawing of participation prizes.

Our Annual Plant Sale is on Saturday, May 13 this year, the day before Mother’s Day. The sale is on from 10am to 3pm, rain or shine. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it will be a dry day. As I mentioned there will be pots available to help with your potting up. If you have some extra 4” , and up to the 2 litre size pots you could donate to the cause, please bring them in to the next meeting. There will be a sign-up sheet available to list the plants you think you will be donating. Audrey will try to find photos of your plant donations to help buyers to see the plant when in full bloom. Also, there will be sign-up sheets to help staff the day of the sale. We need people to help with the set-up and breakdown of the sale. Also, we need people to staff the tables throughout the day. Sign-up sheets will be available at the table next to the fireplace wall.

Potted plant donations for the May 13 sale can be delivered on the Friday late afternoon or early evening ( 5pm to 7pm ). Donations can be left at the back of the driveway next to the house at 720 5th St. Or, the plants can be delivered on the morning of the sale between 8am and 9:30am. Each plant must be identified by name, colour of flower, height, width, light condition (sun, shade, or sun/part shade) and any other pertinent information. If you know the price the plant should be sold for, please include that at the back of the tag.

The In-House Plant Sale continues for the April meeting. All donations are welcome. Thank you to all those members donating items for this sale and thank you to all who buy offerings from the table.

The Fundraising Committee is still in need of 1 or 2 members to volunteer to sit on the committee which meets 5 or 6 times a year. Please think about offering your services for this committee.

Some Interesting Things To Do:

• 1. UNIBUG 2017 Forum, Saturday, April8, 11am to 2pm, Room 2201, New Westminster Campus, Douglas College, 700 Royal Ave. For more information, iue@douglascollege.ca Admission Free.
• 2. Easter in Queen’s Park, Sunday, April 16 from 11am to 2pm. Music, petting zoo, face painting, photo with the Easter Bunny (suggested $2 Donation) For more information: call 604-777-5121
• 3. Burnaby Rhododendron Festival, Sunday, May 7 from 10am to 3pm, Shadbolt Centre, Deer Lake Park, Burnaby. For more information: Facebook: www.facebook.com/vancouvershadegardensociety.

This is a reminder that our regular NWHS meeting in May has been moved from May 9 (Election Day) to Tuesday, May 16 at 7:30pm. You’ll probably hear this message a couple more times as we don’t want anyone to arrive on the wrong day. Thanks for your patience.

Click Here for the Official March Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2017 Contests Rules

Last year at this time I wrote “There are so many spring flowers in bloom. This is such a wonderful time of the year.” Yesterday I was enjoying a beautiful sunny day in the garden. It truly felt like spring as I sat on my back stairs enjoying a cup of time warming myself in the sun.

What a shock this morning when I woke up to 6” of snow. Hopefully it will be short lived.

Our next regular NWHS meeting is on Tuesday, March 14 at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker is Wilhelm Bischof speaking on Orchids.

This is a reminder that our annual membership fee is due and remains at $15. Ellen will be at her table at the entry way. Please have the correct amount of money or a cheque made out to NWHS. If you will not be attending the March meeting you can mail in a cheque sent to: NWHS

#392, 104 - 1015 Columbia St.
New Westminster,
V3M 6V3.

The April meeting is “Bring to Share”. I encourage members to bring something to share with the rest of us. There will be participation prizes.

Our Fundraising Committee is busy planning for our Annual Boulevard Plant Sale which this year will be held on Saturday, May 13 on the boulevard in front of 720 5th Street. The committee is still looking to have an additional member on the committee. Please think about offering your services to this committee. We are only as strong as the member volunteers who make our club work.

If you have any spare 4” square or round pots and the 1 gallon pots that you could donate, please bring them to the the March meeting. Donated pots will be available to help members with their potting up for the May 13 plant sale. I will be bringing in some of the 1 gal. pots.

As well as pots, we are going to need plant donations. I know everything is a bit slow in getting started this year, but when the snow disappears please look around your garden and see what you would like to donate to the plant sale. Plant tags will be available at the March meeting to use with your donated plants. The necessary information that should be included on the tag is the name of the plant, the colour of the flower, the height and width of the plant, and the growing conditions (sun, pt. shade, shade, etc.)

The In-House Plant Sale Table is well under way. We made $50 from the table in Feb. Thank you to everyone who contributed and thank you to those members who purchased what was being offered. I’m hoping to bring in pots of snowdrops for the sale.

The Florissa Spring Bulb Sale deadline to order is this upcoming meeting. You do not need to be a member to order these bulbs. You can view the bulb flyer on the Florissa website ( www.florissa.com) and copies will be available at the March meeting. There was a detailed description of the bulbs being offered in the February Newsletter (a copy is available to view on our club website (www.newwesthortsociety.org).

The Seed Exchange is up and running. If you have seeds you would like to donate, there is a box at Audrey’s table where they can be deposited. Also, if you have seed packets you no longer need that are still viable, they can be deposited in the box.

The popular and fun filled evening at the PAR GAR Spring Gardeners’ Party is happening this coming Wed., Mar. 8 from 6pm to 9pm. The location remains the same, St. Thomas More Collegiate, 7450 12th Ave., Burnaby. Admission is free, but please remember to bring non-perishable food items as a donation. The PAR GAR Program encourages people to share their harvest with those in need by planting an extra row and sharing the extra produce. Donations including store bought fresh fruit and vegetables will be collected each Sunday morning from June to October at St. Thomas More and taken to the New Westminster Food Bank where the food will be distributed to local families.

Just a reminder to those members who have signed up to attend the BC Council of Garden Clubs AGM and Spring Meeting, the date is Saturday, Mar. 25 from 8:30am to 4pm, held at the Firefighters’ Banquet and Conference Centre, 6515 Bonsar St., Burnaby. Parking passes are available at the registration desk.

There is a special request from the Royal Columbian Hospital Volunteer Auxiliary. They are looking for a volunteer or two who will help to maintain the small Serenity Garden that is funded by the RCH Auxiliary. It is a small outdoor area designed for patients and families to use. The job can be as much or as little as desired. Please contact Kathy Corbeil, Manager, Volunteer Resources at 604-520-4482 or by email at Kathy.Corbeil@fraserhealth.ca.

Things You Might Be Interested In:

• 1. Century House Annual Thrift Sale, Moody Park, Saturday, April 8 from 10am to 2pm.
• 2. 89th Annual Bradner Flower Show, April 7, 8 and 9 daily from 10am to 5pm at Bradner Hall and School, 5305 Bradner Rd., Abbotsford. Amission $2. Fun for all ages. All proceeds from cut flowers donated to Abbotsfors Regional Hospital. For more info. go to: aFcebook.com/BradnerHall, bradnerhall.ca or bradnerflowershow@gmail.com.
• 3. Park and Tilford Gardens 19th Annual Friends of the Garden Plant Sale, 333 Brooksbank Ave., North Vancouver, April 29 from 10am to 1pm. Cash only. Funds raised go to enhancing the garden.

Click Here for the Official February Newsletter

Click Here for the Official 2017 Contests Rules

Wishing everyone a belated Happy New Year and Happy Chinese New Year. At this time last year I reported in the February, 2016 Emailer the following observation, “We continue to have a mild winter. I’m thankful I haven’t had to shovel snow. I’ve been out in my garden on four occasions in January.” WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES!

Our first meeting of 2017 is on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker is Alanna Chaffey, the New westminster City Arborist. This will be the members’ opportunity to ask the city arborist information about the city’s plan to maintain the city’s tree canopy. The NWHS Executive Committee will be presenting the 2017 NWHS Proposed Annual Budget for approval by the membership. The Proposed Budget will be printed and available at the Feb. 14 meeting.

Our annual membership fee is due at this meeting. The Executive Committee is recommending to keep the fee at $15. Ellen will be accepting membership renewals at the front table. Please be prepared to pay by the exact change or by cheque made out to the NWHS. If you are not attending next Tuesday’s meeting you can mail a cheque to:

New Westminster Horticultural Society
Box 392, 104 - 1015 Columbia Street
New Westminster, BC, V3M 6V3.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Since the BC Provincial Election is on May 9, the Executive Committee has moved our regular May meeting to Tuesday, May 16. We did not want to interfere with the election date, allowing members to vote and work for the election. An added benefit to the date change is that unsold plants from our Annual Boulevard Plant Sale can be put on sale at the May 16 meeting.

The From Our Gardens Plant Sale table continues. This monthly (except Oct., Dec. and Jan. ) in-house plant sale is a major fundraiser for our club. Last year we raised $675, thanks to all who contributed donations and thanks to all who purchased what was on offer. I encourage members to continue to donate and, of course, encourage everyone to check out the table and make a purchase. I will be bringing in for sale five varieties of garlic seedlings. The sale table is open for business at 7pm to 7:30pm and during the tea break.

The Fundraising Committee is preparing for our Annual Boulevard Plant Sale which will be held this year on Saturday, May 13. We will need plant donations, volunteers to help with the setup and breakdown, as well as members who are willing to staff the tables throughout the day. I will be starting tomato seedlings shortly for the sale and encourage other gardeners who grow their own seedlings to plant a few for the club sale. Our goal this year is to raise $ 2200 for the club.

The Fundraising Committee is looking to fill one vacancy on the committee. The Committee meets about five or six times a year. It is responsible for planning and overseeing the club’s fundraising plan. The minimum term is for one year. Our club runs on the generous contributions of volunteer time and donations. Please consider donating your time to this committee.

The Florissa Spring Bulb Fundraiser is happening again this year. Audrey will have available at next Tuesday’s meeting the colourful order form listing all the offerings. You do not need to be a club member to order. Our club retains 50% of the proceeds of the sale.

A reminder to those members who entered the Photo and Container Contests in 2016, please pick up your entries at the fireplace table. Also, the detailed rules for the 2017 contests will be available at the Feb. meeting.

The BC Council of Garden Clubs AGM and Spring Meeting will be held on Mar. 25 from 8:30am to 3:30pm at the Firefighters” Banquet and Conference Centre, 6515 Bonsor Ave., Burnaby. There is free parking on the upper level of the Metrotown parkade; a parking pass is available upon registration. The Early Bird registration is $35; our club will subsidize the cost by $5, so the cost to you is $30. This includes an excellent buffet lunch and two coffee breaks. There are two guest speakers: Julia Common from Hives for Humanity and Tasha Murray from the Invasive Species Council of Metro Vancouver, speaking on Aliens Among Us. Audrey will be accepting the registration fee at her table in front of the fireplace. The NWHS deadline for early bird registration is Feb. 28.

The Plant a Row, Grow a Row Gardeners’ Party will be held on Wednesday, Mar. 8 at 6pm. . The location is the same as last year, St. Thomas More Collegiate on Kingsway at 12th Ave. in Burnaby.

Some Interesting Upcoming Events:

1. Free Concerts at Douglas College. The Arts at One concert series happen on most Thursdays at 1pm at Douglas College in the Laura Muir Performing Arts Theatre: Feb. 23 features Love Through the Ages; on Mar. 2 features the Douglas College Night Band; on Mar. 23, Green, Spring Awakening concert; student performances on Mar. 30 and Apr. 6 and April 13. For information, call 604-527-5723 or see www.douglascollege.ca/artsevents.

2. 89th Annual Bradner Flower Show, April 7, 8 and 9 daily from 10am to 5pm at Bradner Hall and School, 5305 Bradner Road, Abbotsford. Fun for all ages. Admission: $2.00, All proceeds from cut flowers donated to Abbotsford Regional Hospital. For more info: Facebook.com/BradnerHall, bradnerhall.ca or bradnerflowershow@gmail.com.

3. Maple Ridge Garden Club, Country Garden Tour, June 11 from 9am to 4pm. Cost: $20 For Tickets or more information phone Gayle 604-467-2956 or Marg 604-467-1885.

4. Victoria Hardy Plant Group is hosting the Hardy Plant Study Weekend in Sidney at the Mary Winspear Centre, June 23-25/17, called Flourish: Celebrating People, Plants and Progress. Hear national and international guest speakers, tour local gardens, shop for plants, etc. For more information: www.vistoriahardyplantstudyweekend2017.org.

Click Here for the Official December Newsletter

Our annual holiday dinner and party is on Tuesday, December 13. The doors open at 6pm, with the buffet dinner starting at 6:30pm. All the tickets to the event have been sold.

A special thank you to Audrey for organizing and hosting the many workshops that have produced the beautiful holiday themed centre pieces and wreaths. And, thank you to all the members who have made the time to create the approximately 80 items that will be raffled off during the party. The workshops are still continuing. Because of the snow yesterday a number of workshops were cancelled. Workshops are happening from 9am to 9pm. Please call Audrey at 604-526-8284 or email her at sgbarnes@telus.net to arrange a time. Fresh material crafting will happen on the weekend during the daylight hours. We are , also, accepting holiday home baking or preserves in the raffle. Let Audrey know if you will be bringing these items from home so room can be made at the display tables. If you have made a Christmas wreath or decoration at home and would like to donate it please let Audrey know. If you have fresh greenery to donate, please leave the greenery in Audrey's carport.

For those who will be attending the Dec. 13 party, please remember to bring non-perishable food items. We will have bins in the foyer in which to place your donations. The Food Bank is in need of all non-perishable items, including food, toilet paper, baby formula, shampoo, etc. All these donations are most welcome.

Half the proceeds of the Christmas raffle draw is donated to a local charity. This year the members voted to choose the Lookout Society. This charity is a social safety net that provides housing and a range of support services to adults with low or no income who have few, if any, housing or support options. Minimal barriers are placed between the people it serves and the offer of assistance. Securing appropriate housing is the first and most important step in achieving responsible independence for individuals.

The NWHS Fundraising Committee is in need of one more member to serve on the committee. The term is for one year, but, of course, if you wish to extend your volunteer help on the committee, it would be most welcome. Please speak to me, Janet Butts or Lorna Cloutier is you are interested in helping out.

And, finally, the Executive Committee wishes to thank all our members who helped to make the NWHS such a vibrant and wonderful garden club. To all our members and their families we want to wish you a perfect holiday season and an excellent New Year. We take a break in January. Our next regular meeting is on Tuesday, February 14 at 7:30pm. The From Our Gardens Plant and Garden Sale Table will be up and running. Our February guest speaker will be announced in the January Emailer.

Some Activities you might be interested in:

1. NW Public Library, main branch, Dec. 8 at 7pm, a musical performance will feature popular holiday songs and choral music, with a sing along. Free. No registration required.

2. Gardenworks at Mandeville, 4746 Marine drive, Burnaby, Saturday, Dec. 10 at 1pm. The topic is Grinch Tree Fairy Garden “Whoville” Please reister at 604-434-4111. Some cost for materials may apply.

3. NW Public Library, Main branch Saturday, Dec. 17 from 2pm-4pm “Holiday Crafternoon for Adults” with Denise Corcoran, author of Raw Crafts and the blog “Thrifty By Design” (thriftybydesign.ca) Free. Registration required by phoning 604-527-4660.

Click Here for the Official November Newsletter

For the second year in a row I am reporting that the rains have arrived with the fall. October broke the previous 1965 record for the most rainy days. Fortunately I missed most of the rain, having just come back from my trip to Eastern Europe. It is always good to be back home.

Our next meeting is on November 8. The meeting starts at 7:30pm with our Annual General Meeting, followed by our regular meeting. The AGM Agenda consists of the presentation of the following motion:

"That the Executive Committee update the NWHS Constitution and By-Laws to make the language more gender inclusive.” (a 50% majority vote is needed to pass)
followed by the 2017 Executive Committee Election for the following positions:
Vice-President - 2 yr. term
Secretary - 2 yr. term
3 Members-at-Large positions - all 2 yr. terms
1 Member-at-Large position - 1 yr. term
If you are interested in running for any of these positions please let Audrey (604-526-8284) know of your intention.

The guest speaker for the regular part of the meeting is Emma Holmes speaking on Composting. Please remember to bring your cup or mug for the tea break.

This is the last tea break being organized by Paul LaRose and Dawn Dutrizac-LaRose. They will finally be able to sit down during the meeting and enjoy having tea served to them for a change. Thank you so very much for 15 years of volunteer service to the club.

The Christmas Dinner tickets will be on sale at the November meeting. Ellen will be selling tickets at her table. The price is the same as last year - $20 for members and $25 for non-members.

The October Silent Auction was a great success. Ellen will announce how much money was raised. Thank you to all those members who generously donated the many items and thank you to the members who helped to set up, highlight and tabulate the purchased items and finally helped to pack away the unsold items. And, a special thank you to all the members who came to the Silent Auction Night and purchased the many treasures. And, a very special thank you to Audrey Barnes who puts so much into making the Silent Auction such a resounding success. This fundraiser contributes to the overall health of our club.

This will be the last In-House Plant Sale for 2016. If you have any donations please bring them in. The Executive Committee and the Fundraising Committee wants to thank all the members who generously donated items for the In-House Sale. Also, thank you to those volunteers who helped to staff the sale table. And, a very large thank-you to the members of the Fundraising Committee who take responsibility for the running of the In-House Plant Sale table. This fairly new club fundraising effort has been very successful.

The Executive Committee wants to thank the members of the Fundraising Committee for all the work they do to ensure our club’s balance sheet stays in the black.

Thank you to all who purchased bulbs through the Florissa Bulb Sale. And, thank you Audrey for continuing to organize this fundraiser.

Audrey is accepting Christmas craft donations. They can be left undercover on the back porch if Audrey is not at home. All donations are welcome except for anything that is scented or contains glitter. The workshop schedule will be available for sign-up at Audrey’s table at the November meeting.

This Emailer has been full of thank yous to the many members who volunteer their time and effort to make the club a success. I have often spoken on the topic of volunteerism. We have such a wonderful garden club. We are only as wonderful as the effort we put into making it so. Thanks to all!

Some events that may be of interest to you:

1.Royal City Gogos Artisan Crafts for Africa - 5th Annual Sale, a charity that raises money to support grandmothers in Africa raising orphan children whose parents have died of AIDS
Friday, Nov.4, 4pm-8pm; Saturday, Nov. 5 - 10am-4pm
Held at the Unifor Building, 326 12th St., New Westminster
Admission free. Free parking available. For more information go to royalcitygogos.org

2. Century House Annual Craft Sale and Tea
Saturday, Nov. 5 from 10am-2pm
Held at Century House at Moody Park

3. Pt. Grey Chrysanthemum Association, Late Chrysanthemum Show
Sat. Nov. 5 from noon to 4pm
Sun. Nov.6 from 10am to 4pm
Gardenworks Mandeville, 4746 SE Marine Drive, Burnaby
Admission Free.

Click Here for the Official October Newsletter

Sorry about sending this off a week early this month. I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful fall weather. My garlic crop is in and the last of the tomatoes have been harvested. I love this time of the year.

Our next meeting is the Annual Silent Auction Night., Tuesday, October 11 at 7:30pm. There is no guest speaker, no free table, no in-house plant sale, no raffle, no library and no new memberships will be sold. This is a fun night finding wonderful bargain treasures. Refreshments will be set up in the kitchen area on a help yourself basis. Please remember to bring your own mug. A green waste container will be set up in the kitchen. The items you purchase can be paid for by cash (exact change preferred) or by cheque made out to NWHS.

Audrey is still accepting donations for the Silent Auction. The donations can be left under the covered area of the back porch (if Audrey is not home), or at the basement back door if she is at home. The last day for donation giving is Sunday, Oct. 9 until 5:00pm. Silent auction volunteers are still needed. If you can help with transporting auction items, setting up tables, highlighting winning bids, tallying bids and doing the final breakdown and clean up, please contact Audrey (604-526-8284).

Audrey will still take your order for the Florissa Fall Bulb Sale at the October 11 meeting. Also, available is a selection of Christmas season bulbs. The brochures showing what is for sale are available at the meeting. Your filled order will be ready for pick up later in the month. The date will be announced at the October meeting. Payment can be made by cash (exact amount is preferred) or by cheque made out to NWHS.

For members who are planning to enter the photo and container contests this is a reminder that your photos need to be submitted to Audrey at the October meeting. If you are unable to attend the Oct. 11 meeting, please contact Audrey (604-526-8284) to arrange for a tme to drop off your photos.

Ellen will be selling Xmas dinner tickets before the business part of the meeting and for 15 minutes after the business portion of the meeting. The cost remains the same ($20 for members and $25 for guests). Only 113 tickets will be sold. Tickets will also be sold at the November meeting or until all the tickets are sold. The dinner menu will be posted at the Oct. and Nov. meetings.

Traditionally the NWHS gives a charitable donation to a local charity at the end of the year. Last year a $400 donation was given to the Group of Five. The money was allocated to the emergency department of the Royal Columbian Hospital. Please think about the name of a local charity you would like to see receive this year’s donation. Names can be submitted at the October meeting and voting on the members’ choice will be made at the Nov. 8 meeting. A container to submit your suggestion will be placed in the kitchen area.

This is a reminder that the Nov.8 regular meeting is also the Annual General Meeting date. We will be voting on the following motion:

“That the Executive Committee update the NWHS Constitution and By-Laws to make the language more gender inclusive.” A simple 50% majority is required, to pass this motion.

As well there will be an election for half of the positions on the 2017 Executive Committee.

The following positions are up for election:

Vice-President - 2 yr. term

Secretary - 2 yr. term

3 Members-at-Large positions - all 2 yr. terms

1 Member-at-Large position - 1 yr. term

There are nominees for most of the positions. Currently there are no firm nominees for one of the 2 year Member-at-Large positions and no nominee for the one year Member-at-Large position.

If you are interested in running for any of these positions and in particular the two Member-at-Large positions please indicate your decision to either Ellen or Audrey.

There is also a vacancy on the Fundraising Committee. Please consider joining this committee. The commitment is for a minimum of one year. Fundraising is what makes all that we do possible. Please talk to Janet Butts or Lorna Cloutier to volunteer.

Audrey is accepting any Xmas decorations (please nothing with perfume or scent or glitter) you no longer need or want. These decorations will be used at the upcoming Xmas Decoration Workshops.

A reminder to those members planning to attend the BC Council of Garden Clubs Fall Meeting. It takes place on Sat., Oct.15 from 8:30am to 4pm at the Firefighters’ Banquet and Conference Centre, 6515 Bonsor Ave., Bby.

I’ve often spoken about volunteerism and NWHS affairs. Dawn a nd Paul are retiring after 15 years of providing our members with a wonderful tea break service. We can’t thank them enough. Unfortunately this leaves us without anyone to do this service. The Executive Committee has discussed how we can fill the void. The plan we are presenting to the membership is to strike a refreshment committee consisting of 5 or 6 members who will ensure that we can continue with the tea service. This committee will ensure that members continue to donate treats, phone to remind who has committed to provide a treat for that month, make the tea and coffee and do the final clean-up. The Executive Committee will see to bringing the necessary equipment and provisions to each meeting. In rotation 2 members of the Refreshments Committee will have to come in at 6:30pm before each meeting to put on the coffee, make the tea, set up the treats table and do a final clean-up.

There will be s sign-up sheet for volunteers at the October meeting. The Executive Committee is not expecting a 15 year commitment from anyone, but must be part of the refreshments team for one year, longer if you are so inclined. Please commit to a year of service to the club. It would be a great loss if we had to discontinue the tea service because of a lack of staffing.

Some interesting things to do or see:

1. Gardenworks at Mandeville Gardens is offering a number of free workshops:
a)Dividing Perennials with Owen on Sat. Oct.1 at 11am
b) Bulbs with Owne on Sat. Oct.1 at 1pm
c)Covering Up Banana Trees and Palms for Fall on Oct. 15 at 10am
d) Putting Your Pond to Bed for the Winter held on Oct. 15 at 1pm

2. Apple Festival at UBC Botanical Garden - 25 th Anniversary - 60 varieties of apple trees and even pears for sale. Tasting tent, children’s area, music and more. This is a fundraiser for the Garden Date: October 15-16, 11am-4pm at UBC Botanical Garden, 6804 SW Marine Drive Admission: $5 cash (children 12 and under free)

3. Pt. Grey Chrysanthemum Assoc. presents the Late Chrysanthemum Show, Sat.Nov.5, Noon - 4pm Sunday, Nov.6 from 10am to 4pm Location: Gardenworks Mandeville, 4746 SEMarine Dr. Burnaby Free admission

Click Here for the Official September Newsletter

Sorry about sending this emailer out a bit early, but my next opportunity would be too close to our regular meeting.

The rain is certainly welcome for our parched gardens.

Our Sept. regular meeting is on Sept. 13 at 7:30pm. The plant sale table will be open at 7:00pm. The guest speaker is Marilyn Holt speaking on “How to Attract Beneficial Insects”. This is also a Bring to Share meeting, so search your gardens for that special something and bring it in. Almost anything goes with the “Bring to Share”. If you have a question, write it down and another member may have your answer. Don’t know what it is, bring it in and someone may have the answer. Three participation prizes will be awarded. There is no limit to the number of entries you can bring in. Come to the meeting a bit early to register.

Also, Ellen will be accepting money at the Sept.13 meeting for those members who plan to attend the Oct. 16 BC Council of Garden Clubs Fall meeting. The deadline to secure your early bird price is Sept. 21. Early Bird tickets sell for $35. Our club subsidizes this price by $5.00, so the price to you would be $30. This includes your entrance fee, a lovely buffet lunch, plus two coffee/tea breaks. A number of vendors are making their wares available for sale; these include plants, vegetables, eggs, amongst others. Please make your payment by cheque or exact change. Egan Davis and Ryan Foster are the guest speakers. I heard Egan Davis speak; he is both entertaining and informative.

The Bulb Sale deadline for ordering your bulbs is the Oct. 11 meeting. Audrey is accepting orders. The order forms will be at the Sept. and Oct. meetings.

This a reminder that on Sunday, Sept. 18 there is a tool sharpening workshop at 1:00pm in Audrey’s backyard. If there are sufficient members signing up a second workshop can be held the same day at 3:00pm. There will be s sign-up sheet at the Sept. meeting. The cost to members is $5.00. You can bring two items to have sharpened. Tool sharpening implements will be on sale. Ellen is accepting your sign-up fee.

The In-House Plant Sale Table is in full swing. If you are splitting up your perennials and have some left over please bring them to our sale table. Also, we are requesting members who have excess 1 gallon pots to donate them to the club at the next meeting. Members who are in the throes of splitting up their plants and plan to donate some to the club sale or to the sale in May can take what they need of any of the pots that other members have donated. We sell other items besides plants at the monthly sale. This month I’m bringing in some excellent cook books, as well as some seed garlic.

The October meeting is our Silent Auction night. There is still time to donate your no longer needed items. Please bring them to Audrey’s backyard. If Audrey is home they can be left at the basement door. If she isn’t please leave them under cover on the back porch. Remember no perfumed items or anything that sheds glitter.The deadline for dropping off items is the Sunday before the Oct. 11 meeting. Please drop off items before 8:00pm. Audrey needs helpers for the Silent Auction. She needs volunteers to help sort, label and price items in her basement. Also, we need help transporting items to the Centennial Lodge, as well as volunteers to set up the tables and items at the lodge . There will be a need for volunteers to help tally purchases at the end and volunteers to stay behind at the end of the Silent Auction and help pack up items that did not sell. There will be sign-up sheets at the Sept. 13 meeting Also, you can phone Audrey (604-526-8284).

The Executive Committee is recommending something new this year at the Silent Auction. On a one year experimental basis we are allowing members to bring a guest. We are limiting the number of guests to 25 as we are limited by fire regulations. If you are planning to bring a guest please let me know by answering this email or let Ellen know at the Sept. meeting as she will be keeping a tally. You and your guest must arrive at the same time to register for a bidding number at the October meeting.

Thank you to all members who have donated seeds. This is the time of the year for seed collecting. Please bring your donations to the Oct. meeting. There is a collection box available. Your donation should include relevant iformation as to name, colour, height, width and growing conditions, so Richard can label the plants correctly. Packaged seeds are also available in the front foyer. They are free and you are welcome to take them.

It is not too early to set aside no longer needed Xmas decorative items. Audrey will be accepting these items after the Oct. 11 Silent Auction date. Same rules apply: no scented or perfumed items and nothing that sheds glitter.

Our Annual General Meeting is held on Nov. 8 at 7:30pm. The AGM is short and will be followed by our regular meeting. You will be home in time to see who will become the next president of the United States.

Your Executive Committee will be presenting one motion to be voted upon. The motion is as follows: "That the Executive Committee update the NWHS Constitution and By-Laws to make the language more gender inclusive.” As this motion does not change the intent of the Constitution and By-Laws only a 50% majority is required to pass this motion. As well there will be an election for half of the positions on the Executive Committee.

The following positions are up for election:

Vice-President - 2 yr. term

Secretary- 2 yr. term

3 Members-at-Large positions - all 2 yr. terms

1 Member-at-Large position - 1 yr. term

There are nominees for most of the positions. There are currently no nominees for one of the 2 year Member-at-Large positions and no nominee for the one year Member-at-Large position.

I have spoken often that our club is only as strong as its volunteer base. I am asking you to consider running for any of these Executive Committee positions, but especially for those two Member-at-Large positions were there are no nominees at this time.

Some interesting things to do or see:

1. Gardenworks at Mandeville Gardens is offering a number of free workshops:
a. Fall Pruning with Conway Sept. 24 at 11am.
b) Fall Lawn Care with Conway on Sept.24 at 1pm
c) Dividing Perennials with Owen on Sat. Oct. 1 at 11am.
d) Bulbs with Owen on at Sat., Oct. 1 at 1pm
e) Covering Up Palm and Banana Trees for Fall held on Oct. 15 at 10am
f) Putting your Pond to Bed for Winter held on Oct. 15 at 1pm.

2. The 23rd annual Treefest is being held on Sunday, Sept. 11 from 11am to 4pm on the Riverview Hospital Grounds, 2601 Lougheed Highway at Colony Farm Road in Coquitlam. Festival site is outside the Henry Esson Young Building. There are tours and live entertainment and a food concession. Admission is free. More info at www.coquitlam.ca/Treefest Maps at: www.rhes.org.

3. Annual Agassiz Fall Fair and Corn Festival on Sept. 16. This is the “Year of the Pumpkin”. There will be farm fresh products, a midway and events you don’t see every day ie. goat milking, tractor pull, corn husking, etc.

Click Here for the Official August Newsletter

I hope everyone is enjoying our lovely summer weather.

Our next regular meeting is on Tuesday, August 9 at 7:30pm. The guest speaker has changed. Karen Myskiw will be speaking on “Extending the Growing Season”.

We want to thank Audrey for arranging a wonderful and varied garden tour this year. I especially appreciated visiting the two community gardens, BARAGA and St. Mary’s. I couldn’t believe the beautiful vegetables the gardeners were growing. Also, an additional big thank you to Audrey for hosting our Annual Potluck Picnic. The weather was perfect, the food offerings were delicious and the event was full of fun and good times.

The Silent Auction is coming up fast. This is your opportunity to donate those items you no longer need or want. Audrey is accepting items at her back porch before 8pm any day ( 117 7th Ave.). Please no items with glitter or exuding any fragrance. If you have a large item you would like to donate please take a photo of the item and we will have it posted the night of the auction.

Volunteerism is the heart and backbone of clubs such as ours. The Executive Committee wants to thank all our members who step up and volunteer their time and effort to make our club work and flourish. Volunteer opportunities are ongoing: bringing in treats for the tea break, donating items for the Plant Sale table, staffing the monthly plant sale table, donating items for and helping to set up the Silent Auction, signing-up to create the wonderful wreaths and table centre pieces for the December party, growing plants and potting up plants for the Annual Plant Sale in May, etc.

Serving on the Executive Committee is one of those important volunteer opportunities. There will be at least one vacancy on the Executive Committee this year, a Member-at-Large position will be coming vacant. Please consider running for the Executive Committee when elections are held at our Annual General Meeting in Nov.

The In-House Plant Sale Table is on again this month. If you have anything to donate, please bring your item(s) in before the meeting starts. All plant items must be potted up. Bulbs, rhizomes, etc. must be labeled and identified.

Trudy has arranged to have the tool sharpening workshop back again this year. The date is Sunday, Sept. 18. the times will be announced later. The workshops will be held in Audrey’s yard. A sign-up sheet will be available at the Aug. and Sept. meetings. If there are sufficient members interested in signing up there could be two workshops running back to back. The fee is $5.

The BC Council of Garden Clubs will be holding its fall meeting in Oct. The date has not been announced at this point. Usually the club would have received a regular BC Council Bulletin, but, I think, there has been a problem finding an editor for the Bulletin, so the information has been late in coming. We’ll let you know as soon as we find out more information.

Just a reminder that PARGAR is in full swing. If you have excess fruit or vegetables, you can donate these items every Sunday between 8:30-9:15am at the 12th Ave. entrance to St. Thomas More Collegiate.

Please remember to bring your own mug to the August meeting.

Some Things of Interest:

1. New Westminster Cultural Crawl, Aug. 13 and 14, 11am-5pm. The Garden Gals will be exhibiting at 1013 Cornwall St., New Westminster (Brenda Fairfax’s Garden)

2. Indoor Garden Expo, Sunday, Aug 14, Vancouver Convention Centre. A free event that connects indoor growers both commercial and home scale. Visit www.indoorgardenexpo.com to download free tickets to this event.

3. Branching Out: Plants in New Westminster’s History, Until Nov. 13, daily 10am-5pm, Thur. 10am-8pm, 3rd floor, New Westminster Museum, Anvil Centre

Click Here for the Official July Newsletter

Click Here for the Official July Show Schedule

I am hoping for some rain this week. I’m a little weary of watering my garden.

For those of you who are receiving this emailer and who have not renewed your membership this year, I’m sorry to say that this will be last NWHS Emailer you will receive. We hope you will reconsider and renew your membership. The membership fee is still $15. You can renew at the regular meeting or send a cheque to our mailbox at:

NWHS
Box 392. #104 - 1015 Columbia Street
New Westminster, V3M 6V3.

By joining this month you can enjoy the annual garden tour, the fabulous potluck picnic, the fun-filled Silent Auction in October as well as the regular meetings in July, August, September and November. We’d love to see you come back.

Our next regular meeting is on Tuesday, July 12 at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker is Barry Roberts who will be speaking on Hydrangeas.

The July 12th meeting is also our annual In-House Show meeting. Look around your gardens and bring in your best specimens. Please note there is a correction in the Show Schedule. Under Floral Art, Class 35 Botanical Bling, the first bullet should read “Use fresh cut and/or dried vegetative materials. No artificial flowers, foliage or twigs allowed”. Please remember to look carefully at the Show Schedule to see the list of different categories. You can enter up to 2 exhibits in each class. If you haven’t a show schedule, one is listed on our website.
(www.newwesthortsociety.org).

The In-House Plant Sale will continue. Items will be sold at the front table.

Audrey has been working hard lining up our itinerary for the Annual Garden Tour. It looks like a very interesting line-up, lots of emphasis on vegetable gardening. The garden tour is on July 23. Maps, sequence of visits and directions will be available at Tuesday’s meeting. You must attend Tuesday’s meeting for a print copy, none will be available on the day of the tour. If it is a hot, sunny day, remember to wear a hat. The club will provide bottled water, if you don’t bring your own.

Following the garden tour, our annual fabulous Potluck Picnic starts at 4:30pm in Audrey’s garden. At our meeting on Tue. there will be a sign-up sheet to let us know what potluck donation you will be bringing. Also, if you are bringing someone, please indicate that on the sign-up sheet. Although children are welcome, it is more of an adult-oriented event. Please no pets. Normally 60 people attend the picnic; your potluck contributions should serve 10 people. The club provides beverages including wine and non-alcoholic beverages. Please remember to bring your own plate, glass, mug and cutlery. One of the highlights of the picnic is entering to win the Stump Trophy. Audrey has been working on the Stump Garden Quiz. Good luck to all who enter.

Just a reminder that Plant a Row, Grow a Row is in full swing. Support the New West Food Bank with your donations of fresh fruits and vegetables.The drop off is at the front entrance of St. Thomas More Collegiate, 7450 12th St., Burnaby every Sunday from 8:30am to 9:15am. Your support is greatly appreciated.

As your plants enter the seed stage, please remember that the NWHS has a free seed exchange. If you have seeds to share, wait for the seed heads to fully mature, then cut the heads off and place them in a paper envelope. List the type of plant and any necessary characteristics such as name of plant, colour, growing conditions needed, height, etc. List the date you collected the seed. Your sealed envelopes can be placed in the seed exchange box located at Tue.’s meeting. Richard will repackage the seed and make the packets available at a future meeting on the free table in the front foyer.

Some interesting events you might be interested in checking out:

1. Royal City Farmers’ Market runs every Thursday from 3pm to 7pm in Tipperary Park. Besides fresh produce and prepared foods and goodies, there are food trucks. Bring along your blanket and picnic on the grass. Check out www.rcfm.ca for a list of vendors and entertainment which can change from week to week. While there make time for a stroll into the peaceful Friendship Gardens.

2. Branching Out, From Stump City to Green City, an exhibition tracing the ways plants have affected local citizens. This exhibition is at the New Westminster Museum, Anvil Centre, 777 Columbia Street, 3rd floor and is on until November 13.

Click Here for the Official June Newsletter

At this time last year we were hoping it would rain as the ground was very dry. Yes, rain would be welcome this year, also.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday, June 14 at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker is Julia Common of “Hives for Humanity” who will be "speaking on Bee Keeping”. She will bring honey and bee products for sale.

Please remember to sign in when attending our regular meetings. There are name tags next to the sign-up sheet.

Also, please remember to bring your mug to regular meetings. You will receive a free draw ticket upon presentation of your mug when you purchase a draw ticket.

The In-House Plant Sale continues and welcomes your donations of plant materials and other items that you think would sell.

The NWHS Garden Tour is on Saturday, July 23. Audrey is still looking for gardens to include in the tour. There is a possibility that our tour will start in Burnaby and working its way into New Westminster. If you know of a garden, including your own, that may become part of our tour this year please let Audrey know ( 604-526-8284). The Annual Potluck Picnic follows the garden tour. There will be a sign-up sheet at the June meeting at Audrey’s table indicating what you will be contributing to the potluck dinner.

Audrey is accepting items for the October Silent Auction. I finally got around to cleaning up my garage and found an assortment of interesting items for the sale. This is your chance to tidy up the basement or attic and make a contribution to a fun night of finding treasures. Items can be left at the undercover part of Audrey’s back porch. Please leave a note telling Audrey who has left the donation. Please, please nothing with a fragrance.

Trudy Findlay has been looking at a tour of Heritage Hydrangeas Garden for Monday, July 4. There will be a sign-up sheet at the June meeting. She is also looking to arrange a tool sharpening workshop for September; details will be announced when the date is finalized. Monica Mowat and Trudy are working on the possibility of a three nursery tour at some point in the summer. Again, details will follow when they come available.

Some interesting things to do or see:

1. Branching Out from Stump City to green city, this exhibition traces the ways plants have affected local citizens. The exhibit is located at The New Westminster Museum, Anvil Centre, 777 Columbia St. from June 2 to November 13, 2016.

2. The Vancouver Rose Society’s 64th Rose Show and Sale, Sunday, June 26 from 12:30pm to 4:30pm at Van Dusen Botanical Garden, Floral Hall. There will be guest speakers. Free admission.

3. Celebrate UBC Botanical Garden’s 100th Birthday at Garden Days, June 17, 18 and 19. Bring the family. Enjoy 2 for 1 admissions all weekend long. Free tours (11am and 1pm daily).Birthday cake daily at 12pm daily. Bring a lunch or family picnic on the Contemporary Lawn. Learn about birds, bees and butterflies (11am- 2pm daily). Located at 6804 SW Marine Drive. (604-822-4208)

4. Botanical Painting with Watercolour Workshop on Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19 from 10am to 4pm at the UBC Botanical Garden. Join botanical painter, Alison Watt for a two-day introduction to watercolour painting of plants from the Garden located at 6804 SW Marine Drive,

5. Celebrate the Summer Solstice, join the Institute of Urban Ecology for the grand opening of the Sustainability, Outreach and Learning Garden (SOL). Monday, June 20 from 4-6pm at the south side of Douglas College, Coquitlam Campus, 1250 Pine Tree Way. There will be a tour of the garden and hands on activities for children. (604-527-5522).

Click Here for the Official May Newsletter

I can’t believe these hot days. I’m spending a lot of time watering.

Our next regular meeting is on Tue., May 10. Our guest speaker is Kathy Friesen of Bloomsbury Designer Gardens. She will be speaking on Patio and Balcony Design.

Our Annual Plant Sale is on this Saturday, May 9. The location is 720 5th Street on the boulevard. Please tell friends and family to visit our plant tables. Thank you to all who have signed up to help with the set-up, the sale and the takedown. And, a big thank you to all those members who will be donating plants. Your donations can be delivered between 5:00pm and 7:30pm on Friday, May 6. Please leave your plants at the back of the driveway at 720 5th St. Alternatively you can bring your plants on the day of the sale, between 8am and 9:30am. Please make sure each plant has an identification tag listing the name of the plant, colour of the flower, size both in height and width if it is a spreading plant. Also, include growing conditions (sun, shade, sun/part shade). Any other information that you can fit in on the front of the tag. The price goes on the opposite side, at the top of the tag. If you know what the plant should sell for please include the price. For example a $2 plant should be marked 2—. Dollar signs are not necessary, nor zeros. The lowest priced plant is 50 cents, mark those .50. Most plants will be marked in dollars. If you don’t have a price on your donations, there will be members who will price your plants. Saturday will probably be a hot, sunny day, so bring a hat. If you are selling and still own a NWHS t-shirt, put it on for the sale. We will be providing water, coffee and tea. Some members might bring treats. be announcing the results of our plant sale at our May 10 meeting.

Our In-House Plant Sale continues to do well. Thank you to all who donate and to all who buy. If we have plants left over from the annual sale we will bring them to the In-House sale. Last year we sold every last plant; we may do the same this year.

The deadline for renewing your annual membership has passed at the April regular meeting., but that shouldn’t stop you from taking out a new membership at the May meeting. The cost is still $15.00. I will continue to send out my emailer for another month to those who haven’t signed up for the 2016 membership year, but after that only paid up members will receive the monthly NWHS Emailer.

The NWHS Garden Tour and Annual Potluck Picnic is on Saturday, July 23. So, mark your calendars for a fun time during the day and into the early evening. If you know of a garden that might be appropriate for our garden tour, please let Audrey know.

A Mother’s Day Event: Edible Oasis, the Annual Mother’s Day Plant Sale and Garden Tour will be held on Saturday, May 9 and Sunday, May 8. This garden and plant sale is located at 415 Garrett Street, near the Royal Columbian Hospital (look for the plant sale signs). See the Urban Bees, Chickens, Green Roof and Living Wall. Check the website www.edibleoasis.ca for more information.

Just a note to say that Elsie Ansdell is home from the hospital and doing well. We hope to see her at a meeting real soon.

• 1. Heritage Vancouver Society, Self-guided Garden Tour Saturday and Sunday, June 11 and 12, 10am to 4pm. Visit www.heritagevancouver.org for more information.
• 2. The Vancouver Rose Society invites you to the 64th Rose Show and Sale on Sunday, June 26 from 12:30pm to 4:30pm at the Van Dusen Botanical Garden, Floral Hall, 5251 Oak St. You can purchase roses and bouquets. There will be guest speakers. Free admission

Click Here for the Official April Newsletter

What glorious weather! This is such a busy time in the garden: mowing the lawn, turning over the vegetable patch, splitting up perennials, transplanting seedlings, etc. Hopefully you have selected the plants you will be donating to our Annual Plant Sale on Saturday, May 19. If not, there is still time to pot up what you intend to donate. This year we are hoping to make available a variety of drought resistant plants and also a variety of different ground cover plants. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Saturday, May 9 will be a sunny day. The location is the same as last year at 720 5th Street on the boulevard. Our sale times are between 10am and 3pm. If we get set up before 10am, we might start the sale a bit early.

Our next regular meeting is on April 12 at 7:30. Our guest speaker is Mike Campbell of Edible Oasis speaking on “Natural Garden Spaces”. Mike will be bringing plants to sell.

April is “Bring To Share” month. Due to the warm weather, there are many plants blooming in the garden. We would like to see some of these beautiful blooms. “Bring To Share” is open to all entries. Do you have a question you need answered, bring it along. Need to have a mystery plant identified, bring a specimen in and someone may be able to help. There will be prizes. Every participant will have a chance to win.

Our In-House Plant Sale continues. Thank you to all who bring items to donate and thank you to those members who buy these items.

The Fundraising Committee is busy finalizing all that needs to be done to make for a successful plant sale. There is still a need for some 4 inch round or square pots. If you have some pots of this size, please bring them along to our April 12 meeting. As well as the 4” pots, the Fundraising Committee is planning to pot up about a dozen Mother’s Day baskets for sale. If you have a basket in good shape about 6” deep and about 8 to 10 inches in diameter that you no longer need, please bring it in as a donation. Also, if possible we would like to know what plants you will be donating. Again this coming meeting, sign up sheets will be available so you can list the names of the plants you intend to donate. For the flowering plants Audrey will try to find a picture of the plant in bloom.

For the May 7 Sale, as well as plant donations, we are also in need of volunteers to help set up in the morning, help to sell during the day and finally help to break down and cleanup at the end of the day. Sign up for a shift or for the entire day. Sign up sheets will be available at the table next to the fireplace. Our club is only as strong as the volunteers who make things happen.

Potted plant donations for the May 7 sale can be delivered on the morning of the sale, between 8am and 9:30am. Or, plants can be delivered the night before on Friday, May 6 between 5pm and 7pm. and should be placed at the back of the driveway at 720 5th St.

The Fundraising Committee is still in need of 2 more committee members. The term is for one year. Please consider to offer your services to sit on this committee. The Executive Committee wishes to thank all those members who volunteer their services. In particular we wish to thank all who volunteer to staff the In-House Plant Sale table.

Gillian Escalente continues to update our website (www.newwesthortsociety.org). Thank you, Gillian. I encourage members to go to the website; there is a wealth of information posted there.

I want to alert members to an excellent talk and slide show at the New Westminster Public Library on Wednesday, April 13 at 7pm. Egan Davis will speaking and presenting his slideshow, “Gardening Without Water”. Egan was a speaker at the Plant a Row, Grow a Row launch party. I found him a very entertaining and informative speaker. I encourage you to attend.

Some interesting things to do or see:

• 1. Open house on Friday, April 22 from 8am to 4:30pm at the Pro-Source Irrigation Supply at 2345 Douglas Road, Burnaby. There will be information on water conservation, all drip and micro-spray components, landscape lighting, pond supplies, etc.
• 2. Sunday, April 24 from 10am to 4pm, Van Dusen Botanical Garden Annual Plant Sale, 5251 Oak St. Vancouver. Admission is free for this one day only. For more information visit wwwvandusengarden.org.
• 3. Burnaby Rhododendron & Garden Society Plant Sale, Silent Auction and Spring Bouquet Contest, Sunday, May 1, 10am-3pm at the Shadbolt Centre, Deer Lake Park, Burnaby. More info at www.brags.ca.

Click Here for the Official March Newsletter

On this day in 2014 it snowed, so I guess we can’t complain about the rain. There are so many spring flowers in bloom. This is such a wonderful time of the year.

Our regular NWHS meeting is on Tuesday, March 8 at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker is Allan Ladha, manager of Norburn Lighting, who will be speaking on Garden Lighting.

This is another reminder that the NWHS annual membership fee ($15) is now due. Ellen will be taking in the money at her table near the entrance. Make your cheque payable to NWHS or please have the correct change if paying in cash. If you are not going to attend the March meeting, you can mail your cheque to:

NWHS
#392, 104 - 1015 Columbia Street
New Westminster V3M 6V3.

Next month is a Bring to Share month. I encourage members to bring something to share with the rest of us. There will be prizes.

Our Fundraising Committee has been busy planning for our Annual Boulevard Plant Sale being held on May 7 this year. There is still a need for 2 to 3 new members for the committee. The term is for 1 year. There are 5 to 6 meetings a year. Please think about volunteering for this committee. We are only as good as our volunteers.

If you have some spare 4” square or round pots or any pots up to the black 1 gallon size please bring them to the meeting on Tue. They will be used to plant up offerings for the May 7 plant sale. As well as pots, we need plants. The Fundraising Committee will be sending around a couple of clip boards to encourage you to list the plants you are planning to donate. This year we are hoping to feature drought tolerant plants.

Our In-House Plant Sale table is well under way. We made $50 last month. Thank you to everyone who contributed. I’ll be bringing in garlic seedlings, 5 varieties. They were planted in the last week of January, so the seedlings are well established and ready to plant outside.

The Seed Exchange is up and running. If you have any partial packages of seeds that are still within the viable range and you are not planning to use, please bring them in as a donation to the seed exchange.

Just a reminder to those members who signed up to attend the BC Council of Garden Clubs Spring Meeting and AGM, the date is Mar. 12, 8:30am-3:30pm, taking place at the Burnaby Firefighters” Conference Centre, 6515 Bonsor Ave., Bby.

The popular Plant a Row, Grow a Row Spring Gardeners’ Party is on Thursday, March 10, 6-9pm, held in the cafeteria at Saint Thomas More Collegiate. Come and help support our local Food Bank with nutritious, fresh fruit and vegetables. Admission is free, but please remember to bring your non-perishable food items as a donation to the Food Bank.

Audrey is still taking orders for the Florissa Spring Bulb Club Fundraiser. The colourful flyer will be available at the meeting. You do not need to be a member to order these bulbs. Our club retains 50% of the proceeds of the sale.

Additional Events:

• 1. The Garden Gals arts group has a new show at the Anvil Centre, 777 Columbia St., on until Aoril 1.
• 2. Bradner Flower Show. Apr. 8, 9 and 10, 10am - 5pm. Bradner Hall, 5305 Bradner Road, Abbotsford 100’s of daffodils on display. Admission: $2
• 3. Vancouver Orchid Society, Annual Show and Sale Floral Hall, VanDusen Botanical Garden 37th and Oak St., Vancouver

Click Here for the Official November Newsletter

Happy New Year and Happy Chinese New Year to all. Welcome back after a fairly long break. We continue to have a mild winter. I’m thankful I haven’t had to shovel snow. I’ve been out in my garden on four occasions during January.

On a sad note, I am saddened to tell you that in recent months we lost three of our members. Clarice White and Joyce Goodman were long term members who have not attended meetings in recent years due to poor health. The third member was Erika d’Esterre who was an active member. This is indeed sad news; they are not forgotten by us.

Our first meeting of 2016 is on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 7:30pm . Our guest speaker is Gwen Odermatt, the owner of Petals and Butterflies Nursery; she will be speaking on “Great Plant Picks”. The Executive Committee will be presenting the 2016 NWHS Proposed Annual Budget for approval by the membership. The Proposed Budget will be printed in the Feb. Newsletter.

Our annual membership fee is due at this meeting. We are keeping the fee at $15. Please try to bring the exact amount of money, either in a cheque made out to NWHS or in cash. Ellen will be accepting membership renewals at the front table. If you are not attending next Tuesday’s meeting you can mail a cheque to:

New Westminster Horticultural Society
Box 392, 104 - 1015 Columbia Street
New Westminster, BC, V3M 6V3.

The From Our Gardens Plant Sale table continues. This monthly (except in Oct., Dec. and Jan.) in-house plant sale has become a major fundraiser for our club. Last year we raised over $900, thanks to all who contributed donations and thanks to all who purchased what was on offer. I encourage members to continue to donate and, of course, encourage everyone to check out the table and make a purchase.

The Fundraising Committee is preparing for our Annual Boulevard Plant Sale which will be held this year on Saturday, May 9. We will need plant donations, volunteers to help with the setup and breakdown, as well as members who are willing to staff the tables throughout the day. I will be starting tomato seedlings shortly for the sale and encourage any other gardeners who grow their own seedlings to plant a few for the club sale, Our goal this year is to raise $1800 for the club.

Still on the topic of the Fundraising Committee, there are two vacancies on the committee. We are looking for two members to volunteer to sit on this committee. The committee meets about five or six times a year. It is responsible for planning and overseeing the club’s fundraising plan. The minimum term is for one year. Our club runs on the generous contributions of volunteer time and donations. Please consider donating your time to this committee.

The Florissa Spring Bulb Club Fundraiser is happening again this year. Audrey will have available at Tuesday’s meeting the colourful order form listing the offerings. You do not need to be a club member to order. Our club retains 50% of the proceeds of the sale.

A reminder for those members who entered the Photo and Container Contests in 2015, please pick up your entries at the fireplace table. Also, the detailed rules for the 2016 contests will be available at the Feb. meeting.

The BC Council of Garden Clubs Spring meeting, including the AGM will be held on Mar. 12 from 8:30am to 3:30pm at the Firefighters’ Banquet and Conference Centre, 6515 Bonsor Ave., Burnaby. There is free parking on the upper level of the Metrotown parkade; a parking pass for the day is available upon registration. The Early Bird registration fee is $35; our club will subsidize the cost by $5, so the cost to you is $30. This includes an excellent buffet lunch and two coffee breaks. There are two guest speakers: David Tracey, speaking on urban agriculture, food security, organic vegetable gardening, etc. The second speaker is Dr. Rob Higgins, speaking on the European Fire Ant. Audrey will be accepting the registration fee at her table in front of the fireplace. The NWHS deadline for registration is Feb. 23.

Bert Garbuio has organized again this year a bus to go to the Seattle Flower and Garden Show on Wednesday, Feb. 17. The $110 Canadian covers the cost of transportation, admission and a buffet dinner. The last I heard there were a couple of seats still available on the bus. If you are interested call Bert at 604-299-6876. Show info: www.gardenshow.com.

If you know of someone who would be interested in hosting two beehives in their backyard, preferably someone who would benefit from the pollination services of the bees, contact Christina at crina@shaw.ca.

The Botanical Medicine at the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine on Columbia Street is seeking volunteers to join with the Institute in planning and planting a medicinal herb garden in Pier Park on the Fraser River. The teaching garden will present an opportunity for students to see their medicines growing and understand them. The students will do the weeding, watering and maintenance. If there are any members interested in helping in this venture or have a special interest in medicinal herbs please contact Chanchal Cabrera at chanchal@chanchalcabrera.com.

Our very own Garden Gals Art Group is offering a new show, "Boulevard Gardens of New Westminster”, from Feb.1 to April 1. An opening reception is on Feb. 12 from 5pm-7pm at the Anvil Centre, 777 Columbia St. Call 604-527-4640 or visit www.anvilcentre.ca for more details.

A Couple of Events to alert you to:

• 1. Ladner Community Garden Society presents Ladner Seedy Saturday and Garden Expo 2016, Feb. 14, 10am to 4pm at the Harris Barn, 4140 Arthur Drive Beach, Delta. For more info blogspot.ca.
• 2. Bradner Flower Show, April 8, 9 and 10 at the Bradner Hall, 5305 Bradner Road, Abbotsford. Open daily from 10am to 5pm. 100’s of daffodils on display, also, art, crafts, music, local chefs, wineries and gardening experts. Admission $2.

Click Here for the Official November Newsletter

Our annual holiday dinner and party is on this Tuesday, Dec. 8. The doors open at 6:00pm, with the buffet dinner starting at 6:30pm. There are still 4 tickets left to sell. If you are thinking you are interested in attending, please call Ellen Berg (604-525-7827). The cost is $20 for a member and $25 for a guest.

Thank you to Audrey for organizing and hosting the many workshops that have produced the beautiful holiday themed centre pieces and wreaths. And, thank you to all the members who have worked on the 80 plus items that will be raffled off during the party. The workshops are still continuing. There is still room for participants during the day today to turn their creative inspirations into reality. Also, there is room tomorrow from 9am to 9pm. The live material wreaths will be made during the weekend. Audrey is still looking for fresh greenery, so if you have some greenery you can donate, the items can be left in her carport. The weekend live material items will be made from 9am to 4pm.Please call Audrey (604-526-8284) for available times to join the Christmas crafters.

Also, this is a reminder to those attending the party on Tuesday. Our club has traditionally donated non-perishable food items to the New Westminster Food Bank at this time of the year. So, please remember to bring your non-perishable food items to the party. There will be donation bins in the foyer. <

At the November NWHS regular meeting the members voted for the organization to receive our $400 annual charitable donation. The members chose The Group of Five plus Friends Benevolent Fund. This group raises funds to purchase necessary equipment and supplies for the Royal Columbian Hospital.

I want to thank Dan Tessaro and Silina Nakatsu for their participation on our Fundraising Committee. There now are two vacancies on the committee. We need two members to step up and replace Silina and Dan. The Fundraising Committee has done stellar work this year ensuring that our club is financially stable. The term for the committee position is minimum of one year. There are about 6 meetings per year to help coordinate the fundraising activities for the club. The NWHS cannot function without the volunteer help from our members. Please step up and donate some time to make our club the vibrant club that it is.

And, finally, the Executive Committee wants to thank all our members who helped to make our NWHS the best of garden clubs. To one and all we want to wish you a wonderful holiday season and an excellent new year. We take a break in January. Our next regular meeting is at 7:30pm on February 9, 2016.

Click Here for the Official November Newsletter

Fall has arrived and also the rains. If you haven’t planted your garlic, there is still time.

Our next meeting is on Nov. 10 at 7:30pm. The Annual General Meeting will be held before the regular meeting. You will be voting on the proposed By-Law changes to the Constitution. Copies of the proposed changes will be available at the meeting. Following the vote on the changes to the Constitution, the membership will vote for the 2016 Executive Committee. At the adjournment of the AGM the regular meeting will follow. Our guest speaker is Radina Jevdevic who will be speaking on “Herbs for Healthy Living”.

The October Silent Auction was a great success. Ellen will announce how much money was raised. Thank you to all those members who donated the many items and thank you to all those members who came to help set up, highlight the final bids and breakdown and pack away all the items that didn’t sell. And, a very large thank you to Audrey Barnes for all she does to make this fundraiser possible.

This will be the last In-House Plant Sale for the year. If you have any donations please bring them in. The Executive Committee wishes to thank all those members who generously donated items for the sale and also, thank all those members who bought those items. This has been an important fundraiser that contributes to the health of the club.

The Christmas dinner tickets will continue to be on sale at the Nov. meeting. This year we are selling 113 tickets (7 fewer than last year). I believe that over 80 tickets have already been sold. The cost remains the same as previous years - $20 for members and $25 for guests.

Audrey is organizing the Christmas craft workshops. The dates for these workshops will be announced at the Nov. 10 meeting. If you have any Christmas decorations you no longer want, please donate them to the club. Audrey is now accepting donations. They can be left undercover on her back porch up until 8:00pm. Please we are not accepting anything that is scented or is covered in glitter.

Lorna Cloutier, your vice-president, will be chairing the November meetings and Anna Camporese will be in charge of the Executive Committee election. I will be holidaying in southern Italy and Sicily. I hope to see many of you at the Christmas dinner. For those members who will not be attending the dinner on Dec. 8, our first regular meeting in 2016 will be held on February 9.

Click Here for the Official October Newsletter

Fall is upon us and the clean-up begins. I’ve just prepared my vegetable garden for planting the garlic crop. The hard work is made easier with these lovely warm summer-like days.

Our next meeting is the annual Silent Auction Night, Tuesday, October 13 at 7:30pm. There is no guest speaker, no free table, no in-house plant sale, no raffle, no library and no new memberships will be sold. It is a members only night filled with fun and bargain hunting. Refreshments will be set up in the kitchen area. Please be careful not to spill. Remember to bring your own mug. A green waste container will be set up in the kitchen. The items you purchase can be paid by cash (exact change preferred) or by cheque made out to the NWHS.

Audrey is still accepting donations for the silent auction. The donations can be left under the covered area of her back porch. The last day for donations is on Sunday, Oct. 11 until 5:00pm. Silent auction volunteers are still needed. If you can help with transporting auction items, setting up tables, highlighting winning bids, tallying bids and doing the final teardown and clean up please contact Audrey (604-526-8284).

Audrey will still take your order for the Forissa Fall Bulb Fundraising Sale at the October 13 meeting. Also, available is a selection of Christmas season bulbs. The brochures showing what is for sale are available at the meeting. Your filled order will be ready for pick-up later in the month. The date will be announced at the October meeting. Payment can be made by cash (exact amount is preferred) or by cheque made out to NWHS.

For members who are planning to enter the photo and container contests this is a reminder that your photos need to be submitted to Audrey at the October meeting. If you are not able to attend on Oct. 13, please contact Audrey at (604-526-8284) to arrange for a time to drop off your photos.

Ellen will be selling Xmas dinner tickets before the beginning of the business part of the meeting and for 15 minutes after the business portion of the meeting.. The cost remains the same: $20 for members and $25 for guests. Because we have eliminated 7 window seats, there will be only 113 tickets sold. Tickets will also be sold at the November meeting or until all the tickets are sold. The dinner menu will be posted at the Oct. 13 meeting.

Traditionally the NWHS gives a charitable donation to a local charity at the end of the year. Last year a $400 donation was given to Aunt Leah’s Place. Think about the name of a local charity that you would like to see receive this year’s donation. Names can be submitted at the October meeting and voting on the members’ choice will be made at the Nov. 10 meeting. A box to submit your suggestion will be placed in the kitchen area.

This is a reminder that the Nov. 10 regular meeting is also the Annual General Meeting date. We will be voting on by-law changes (exact wording listed in the October Newsletter). As well, the AGM is when the club elects members to the 2016 Executive Committee. All positions will be open for election.

Audrey is accepting any Xmas decorations (please nothing with perfume or scent and nothing with glitter) you no longer need or want. These decorations will be used at the upcoming Xmas Decoration Workshops.

You’ve probably heard that Canada is having a federal election on Oct. 19. You should have received your voter’s information card in the mail listing your polling station both for election day and for the advance voting days. If you have not received this card I urge you to visit #200-620 Royal Ave. or phone 1-866-545-0625, Mon.-Fri. - 9am to 9pm, Sat. - 9am - 6pm or Sun.- Noon-4pm. to register to vote.

A reminder to those members who signed up to attend the BC Council of Garden Clubs’ Fall Meeting. It takes place on Oct. 24 from 9am to 4pm at the Firefighters’ Banquet and Conference Centre, 6515 Bonsor Ave., Burnaby.

Some upcoming events:

1. UBC Botanical Garden Apple Festival, Sat., Oct. 24, 11am-4pm. For more information: applefestival.ca or phone 604-822-4529.

2. Point Grey Chrysanthemum Assoc. ’s Late Chrysanthemum Show, Sat. Nov. 7 (11am to 4pm) and Sun. Nov. 8 (11am to 4pm) at Gardenworks Mandeville , 4746 SE Marine Drive, Burnaby

Click Here for the Official September Newsletter

Well finally the garden is getting a good drink. I can almost see my poor, parched lawn greening up.

Our next regular meeting is on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Our guest speaker is Margaret Cadwaladr who will be speaking on “Our Patio Garden, A Case Study”. The speaker will be bringing her book, Veronica’s Garden: A Social History of Milner Gardens and Woodland; the cost is $25.

Sept.8 is a “Bring to Share “ meeting. Three participation prizes will be awarded. There is no limit as to how many exhibits you can bring in. Please participate.

Trudy Findlay has arranged for our members to attend a Southlands (6550 Balaclava St., Vancouver) shopping trip on Sat., Sept. 19 (11am). There is a sign up sheet at the Sept. meeting if you are interested in attending. Thomas Hobbs has agreed to give our members a 20% discount on all regular priced items.

Our October meeting will be our much loved “Silent Auction”. I’m now in the process of looking in all those nooks and crannies searching for those items that need to be passed along. Audrey is now accepting, starting this Sunday, auction donations, address 117 7th Ave.. They can be placed on her back porch (under cover) before 8:00pm. Please leave a note as to the identity of the donor.

Thank you to all who have donated seeds. This is the time of the year to start collecting seeds. Donations should be placed in a sealed envelope. Details about the plant seed should be written on the envelope, also include your own name and phone number as Richard may have a question for you. The donation box is at each meeting. Free labelled seed envelopes are available on the table in the front foyer.

It’s not too early to set aside donations of Xmas items that you no longer use. The Christmas Craft workshops will start in November. Christmas craft items can be donated after the October Silent Auction meeting. Donations can be left at Audrey’s back porch before 8:00pm. Please no items with glitter and no items that are scented.

The BC Council of Garden Clubs fall meeting is on Saturday, Oct. 24 at the Firefighters’ Conference Centre (6515 Bonsor Ave.). Registration starts at 8:30am. The meeting ends at a little after 3pm. There is free parking on the upper level of the Metrotown Parkade, outside the parkade entrance to the Conference Centre. If you are planning to attend you need to get a parking pass provided at the BC Council registration desk. Early bird tickets for the day (including a buffet lunch) are $35 to members. The NWHS provides a $5 subsidy to members, so your cost will be $30. The deadline to purchase the Early Bird ticket is Tue. Sept. 15. Ellen will be accepting money at the Sept. meeting (please bring the exact amount or a cheque made out to NWHS). The featured speaker will be Steve Whysall.

Our Annual General Meeting is immediately prior to our regular meeting on Nov. 10. I will be sending you a separate email outlining the changes to our Constitution and By-laws as proposed by your Executive Committee. These proposed changes will be voted on at the Nov. Annual General Meeting. A two-thirds (2/3) majority of those present at the Nov. AGM is required for the by-law changes to pass.

Cudos to the South Burnaby Garden Club for sponsoring the Fall Fair. The times are: Saturday from 1pm to 5pm and Sunday from 11am to 4pm. The location is the Bonsor Complex, 6550 Bonsor Ave., Burnaby. Flowers, plants, vegetables, fruits, crafts, baking and canning categories. The public is welcome to enter. there is no entry fee. Admission is free. For more information: www.southburnabygardenclub.org. The Fall Fair wil be held on Sat. Sept. 12 from noon to 4pm and on Sun., Sept. 13 from 10am to 4pm.

Click Here for the Official August Newsletter

Happy BC Day to everyone. I hope you have been enjoying this long weekend.

Our next meeting is on August 11 at 7:30pm. The guest speaker is Karen Myskiw who will be speaking on Kitchen Garden Design. Please remember to sign in on the sign up sheet in the main foyer.

Thank you to all who contributed to our In-House Plant Sale. It was lovely to see so many donations. The monthly plant sale will continue for the August meeting.

Thank you Audrey for arranging the gardens on our annual July Garden Tour. And, thank you to those members who offered their garden for the garden tour. Following the garden tour many of us enjoyed a lovely time at the picnic. Again, thank you, Audrey, for all the work in setting up the picnic and for thinking up that awfully difficult Stump Quiz. The food was delicious and abundant; thank you to all who contributed to the potluck feast. It was a perfect day!

Audrey is going to see about the club offering up another Florissa bulb sale opportunity. She’ll report on that at next Tuesday’s meeting.

Many plants are going to seed. Please remember that the club is collecting seed for our free Seed Exchange. There is a donation box at the table in front of the fireplace. Packaged up seeds will be available at the Free Table in the foyer.

The Garden Gals want to thank all the members who offered up garden supplies for the Eco Art Project. The NWHS Garden Gals in conjunction with the New Westminster Parks, Culture and Recreation are involved in the Eco Art in Moody Park Project.. The opening is on Saturday, August 8 from 4:30pm to 6:30pm at Moody Park located at, 8th St. and 6th Ave. It is a free event. The art project celebrates the beauty of natural materials, simple processes and organic forms. For anyone who is able to stop by Moody Park at 11am on installation day, Friday, August 7th, the Garden Gals would appreciate any donations of flowers of any kind, even ones that are drooping can be used. The location for drop-offs is the area between the children’s playground and the dog park, the corner of 6th Ave. and 8th St.

The 12th Annual Cultural Crawl is happening on Saturday and Sunday, August 8 and 9 from 11a,-5pm. Everyone should have received a brochure in the mail, but if not all the details of the event can be found at NewWestCulturalCrawl.com. There are artists’ studios open to the public in all areas of the city.

The BC Council of Garden Clubs is holding its fall meeting on Oct.24 at the Firefighters Banquet and Conference Centre in Burnaby. I believe that Steve Whysall is one of the guest speakers. There is always an excellent buffet lunch included with your admission. The NWHS will subsidize the entrance fee by $5.00 per member. More details will follow next month.

PARGAR is in full swing. If you have excess vegetables or fruit. Donations are being accepted every Sunday until October 4 from 8:30 to 9:15am. Donations are dropped of at the entrance of St. Thomas More Collegiate on 12th Ave. and Kingsway. Store bought donations are also being accepted.

Interesting Upcoming Events:

1. Port Royal Community Garden Society and Artists in the ‘Boro is sponsoring its Annual Art in Bloom and English Tea Party, Sunday, Aug. 9. Art Display: 11:00am-5:00pm. Tea and goodies: Noon to 3:00pm. Located at 83 Star Crescent, Queensborough. There will be live music. Admission is free.

2. Royal City Farmers’ Market is held every Thursday from 3:00pm to 7:00pm at Tipperary Park. Check www.rcfm.ca for more details.

Click Here for the Official July Newsletter

I hope everyone is holding out OK. The smoke is supposed to clear by Wednesday. Unfortunately there is no rain in sight, but at least cooler daytime temperatures are being predicted.

For those of you receiving this emailer and who haven’t renewed your annual NWHS membership, this unfortunately will be your last club emailer. We hope you will consider rejoining. The annual membership is still $15. By joining this month you can enjoy the garden tour, the annual potluck picnic, the silent auction in October, the annual holiday dinner in December as well as our regular meetings in July, August, September and November. We’d love to see you come back.

Our next regular meeting is next Tue., July 14 at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker is Claude LeDoux. He will be answering your questions. Thank you to all who sent in very interesting questions.

The July 14th meeting is also our annual In-House Show meeting. I thought I was going to be bringing in my peas, but they are all done with. Look around your gardens and bring in your best specimens. Please remember to look at the Show Schedule to see the list of different categories. You can enter up to 2 exhibits in each class. If you haven’t a schedule, one is listed on our website (www.newwesthortsociety.org).

The In-House Plant Sale will continue. I’ll be bringing in fall asters, the tall (up to 5 feet) variety.

Audrey has been working hard to line up gardens for us to visit on July 18. I believe she has 5 lined up. Maps, sequence of visits and directions will be available at Tuesday’s meeting. You must attend Tuesday’s meeting for the print copy, none will be available on the day of the tour. Remember to wear a hat as it will probably be quite warm. The club will provide bottled water.if you don’t bring your own.

Following the Garden Tour our annual fun packed potluck picnic starts at 4:30pm at Audrey’s. On Tue. night there is a sign-up sheet on a table in front of the fireplace. You need to tell us if you are attending, whether you are bringing someone and what you are planning to contribute. Although children are welcome, it is an adult-oriented event. Please no pets. Normally around 60 people attend; your potluck contribution should serve 10 people. The club provides beverages including wine and non-alcoholic choices. Be prepared to enter the Garden Stumps quiz.

The Executive Committee continues to encourage all of us to recycle. A recycling container will be placed to the side of the tea window. Leftover food and used napkins can be recycled. Also, remember to bring our own mugs. When you buy your raffle tickets and show your own mug, you receive a free draw ticket.

There was an excellent turnout for the tool sharpening workshop. Henk Suijs worked tirelessly sharpening tools and teaching us how to sharpen our garden tools.

Many plants are going to seed early. Remember we have a free seed exchange. If you have seeds to share, wait for the seed heads to fully mature, then cut the heads off and place them in a paper envelope. List the type of plant and any necessary characteristics such as name of plant, colour, growing conditions needed, height, etc. List the date you collected the seed. Sealed envelopes can be placed in the seed exchange box which is located on the table in front of the fireplace. Richard will repackage the seed and make the packets available at a future meeting on the free table in the front foyer.

The City of New Westminster’s watering regulations are changing. Please check the city website or the local newspaper for the latest watering restrictions.

Here are a few interesting events you might be interested in checking out.

1. Sat., July 25( 10a,-5pm) and Sun., July 26 (10am-4pm) the BC Fuchsia and Begonia Society will hold its annual judged show and competition at VanDusen Garden Floral Hall, 37th and Oak St., Vancouver. Admission is $3.00.

2. Mon., July 27, Darts Hill Summer Concert from 6:30pm to 8pm. The garden opens at 5pm. 16th Ave. and 170th St., South Surrey. A concert of Celtic music. Bring something to sit on and a picnic dinner. (www.surrey.ca/culturerecreation/13488.aspx)

3. Port Royal Community Garden Society and Artists in the ‘Boro are co-hosting the annual Art in Bloom and English Tea Party on August 9 from 11am to 5pm for the art display and noon to 3pm for traditional tea and goodies. there will be live music. Free admission. All this happening at the Port Royal Community Garden at 83 Star Crescent, Queensborough.

Click Here for the Official Show Guide

Click Here for the Official June Newsletter

That little bit of rain was certainly welcome. We could still use a bit more as the ground is very dry.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday, June 9 at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker is Chris Jenks who will be speaking on “Carnivorous Plants- Tropical and Hardy”. Chris will have plants for sale.

Please remember to sign in when attending our regular meetings. Name tags are also available to wear.

The In-House Plant Sale continues. I will be bringing various tomato plants, cherry and larger. Yes, there is still time to plant tomatoes. All signs are pointing to a long, hot and dry summer. If you have any leftover plants, please bring them in for the sale table.

Claude LeDoux will be offering a Q and A opportunity at our July 14 regular meeting. I asked for your questions to be sent to me, so I can pass them onto Claude. Not a one came in! If you have a question please pass it onto me so I can pass it onto Claude.

The NWHS Garden Tour and Annual Potluck Picnic is on Saturday, July 18 remember to mark your calendar. There will be a sign-up sheet at Audrey’s table so you can let us know what you are planning to bring to the picnic. Audrey has lined up at least 5 gardens for our tour. If you know of a garden that might be considered for the tour please let Audrey know.

There is still time to sign up for the Tool Sharpening Workshop being held on Sunday afternoon on June 28. The exact time to be announced. The cost is $5.00. Bring one tool that you want to have sharpened professionally. You can bring in other tools to practice on. See Audrey at her table on Tue. to sign-up.

The Vancouver Ecovillage is offering free vegetable and flowering plant seedlings. They have many vegetable and herb seedlings and many flower types. If you are interested in receiving seedlings contact Ecovillage at vanvillage@gmail.com. The seedlings are at 6239 Canada Way. This group is still looking for volunteers to help with watering.

The New Westminster Farmer’s Market is up and running every Thursday from 3pm to 7pm, on the roadway between Tipperary Park and the Japanese Gardens (New Westminster City Hall). You need to use street parking as there is no Farmer’s Market parking at the City Hall parking lot.

Some interesting gardening opportunities:

1. Garden Days, June 19-21, Vancouver Gardens celebrate with Vancouver Gardens Pass. You can visit 5 gardens (VanDusen Botanical Garden, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, UBC Botanical Garden, Bloedel Conservatory and Nitobe Memorial Garden). The cost is as low as $25.00. For tickets visit, https://vangardendays.eventbrite.ca.
2. Open House, July 5 from 10am-4:30pm at Heritage Hydrangeas, 13970 34th Ave., Surrey. This is a private garden with 15 species and over 120 varieties of hydrangeas.
3. Erikson’s Daylily Gardens Annual Open House, July 11 and 12 from 10am to 4pm at 24642 51 Ave., Langley. 3000 varieties of daylily and 500 varieties of hostas and hundreds of other perennials and specimen trees. www.eriksondaylilygardens.com for details; phone 604-856-5758.

Click Here for Information on the New Westminster Nematode Subsidy Program

Click Here for the Official May Newsletter

Everything is busy growing. I still am not seeing many bees.

Our next regular meeting is on May 12 at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker will be Amanda Jarrett who will be speaking on “Common Mistakes Gardener’s Make”.

Our Annual Plant Sale held last Sat., May 2 was a spectacular success. For only the second time in our plant sale history we sold every plant that was donated. Thank you to the Fundraising Committee and the Executive Committee for all their planning and to the volunteers who came out to set-up, staff and breakdown the sale. Thank you to all who generously donated and potted up the many plants we offered to the public. And, a special thanks to Monica Mowat, her husband and their next door neighbour for letting us use their front driveways for the sale. And, thank you to all the members who came out to cheer us on and to buy the plants. We are also very thankful that we were blessed with a lovely sunny day which certainly helped in bringing out the public. Our final proceeds of the sale will be announced at our meeting next Tuesday.

The In-House Plant Sale continues. We were planning to bring some excess plants not sold at the annual sale, but there are none to bring. If you have anything that you might have planned to donate on May 2, but just didn’t get around to it, bring them along on Tuesday, they will be gratefully accepted

The deadline to renew your annual membership has passed at the April meeting, but that shouldn’t stop you from taking out a new membership at the May meeting. The cost is still $15.00. I will continue to send you a monthly NWHS Emailer for another month, but after that only paid up members will receive them.

Claude LeDoux will be offering a Question and Answer opportunity at our July 14 regular meeting. If you have a question which is wanting an answer please let me know and I will pass it along to Claude.

The NWHS Garden Tour and Annual Potluck Picnic is on Saturday, July 18, so mark your calendar as you don’t want to miss these fun events. Currently Audrey has lined up 2 gardens for the tour. We are looking for other gardens to add to the tour, so if you know of a garden to add to the tour let Audrey know.

Also, at the May meeting you will have another opportunity to sign-up for the Tool Sharpening Workshop being offered by Henk Suijs. This workshop will be held during the afternoon on June 28. The fee is $5.00. Each participant can bring one tool to be sharpened. More details at the May meeting.

Gillian Escalante has done a stellar job in setting up our revamped website. Check out www.newwesthortsociety.org. We, also, have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NewWestminsterHorticulturalSociety.

The NWHS Sketch Group and the Garden Gals extend a welcome to members interested in art and sketching to join the group at 1pm every Tuesday by the entrance of Century House at Moody Park and/or every third Wednesday at the Centennial Lodge in Queens Park between 7pm and 9pm.

Richard Harrison is coordinating the NWHS Seed Exchange. Seed donations can be dropped off at the table in front of the fireplace at the beginning of our regular meetings. Seeds repackaged for pick-up are available at the Free Table in the foyer.

A Mother’s Day Event: Edible Oasis, the Annual Mother’s Day Plant Sale and Garden Tour will be held on Sat. and Sun., May 9 and 10 from 9am to 3pm.This garden and plant sale is located next to the Royal Columbian Hospital on Garrett St., look for the plant sale signs or check the website www.edibleoasis.ca for more information. Gourmet vegetables, urban chickens and honey bees on site, as well as many native, edible, culinary and medicinal plants will be featured.

The Vancouver Ecovillage is looking for volunteers to help with their Permaculture project, located at 6239 Canada Way. For more information on this project visit www.vanecovillage.com or phone 778-288-0824.

Some interesting gardening opportunities:

• 1. Saturday Strolls at Darts Hill Garden, on Saturday, May 16, 30, June 6, 13, 27 from 11am to 3pm. 16th Ave. at 170th St., South Surrey. Admission by donation. For more information: www.dartshill.ca.
• 2. “A Rose Fair”, the largest annual rose show in BC, on Sat., July 4 from 11am to 5pm and Sun., July 5 from 9am to 3pm. Admission: $3.50, children free with an adult. 1000 manicured roses in the 21 yr. old Centennial Rose Garden. Location: Dogwood Pavilion, 624 Poirier St., Coquitlam.
• 3. Erikson’s Daylily Gardens Annual Open House Event, July 11 and 12 from 10am to 4pm. Over 3000 daylily varieties, 500 hosta varieties and hundreds of other perennials and specimen trees. 24642 51 Ave., Langley. For more information: www.eriksonsdaylilygardens.com or phone: 604-856-5758.

Click Here for the Official April Newsletter

What glorious weather! I even saw a few bees today; hopefully they saw my blueberry plants.

Our next regular meeting is on April 14 at 7:30pm. The guest speaker is Beverly Welsh speaking on Roses. She will be bringing roses for sale. The roses are selling for $12.00 each. She is bringing mainly Kordes roses in the Vigorosa series, namely Innocentia Vigorosa (white) and Sweet Vigorosa (pink). Both are hardy to -35, are disease resistant and are ADR certified in the German Trial gardens. They are 3 ft. high and 3 ft. wide, suitable for the front of a garden bed or in a large pot on a balcony or patio. They need at least 6 hr. of sunlight /day.

Our April meeting is a Bring to Share month. Since the weather has been so mild there are many beautiful blooms in the garden. Take a look around and bring something in to share with the club. Almost anything goes with Bring to Share. So, if you have something you want some help in identifying or you have a garden question that needs answering, bring it in and someone in the club may be able to help.

The In-House Plant Sale table is looking for donations. If you have some plants potted up or a garden related item you no longer need bring it along for the sale table. I’ll be bringing some Spanish Roja garlic seedlings and also 3 kinds of kale seedlings.

As well we are gearing up for our annual NWHS Plant Sale which will be happening, rain or shine, from 10:00am to 3:00pm on Saturday, May 2 in front of 720 5th Street, on the boulevard, the same place as last year. There will be a sign-up sheet for volunteers needed for the day of the sale. The clip board will be sent around during the business part of the meeting. At the tea break the sheets will be on the side table near the fireplace. We need members to volunteer for setting up at the beginning and breaking down at the end of the sale. We, also, need sales people and talliers. Please sign up for a shift or to help for the entire day.
Also, we need plants. If you already know what you will be donating for the sale, there will be a sign-up sheet which will be passed around at the business part of the meeting and at the tea break it will be at the side table for you to indicate what you will be bringing. The reason for us knowing ahead of time what will be donated is to help us to research information about the plants and to look for photos so customers can see what a plant or flower will look like when mature.
Tags will be available at the Apr. 14 meeting. The minimum information on the tag should include the name of the plant, the colour of the flower and its height and width when fully grown. As well, include where it is best planted i.e. sun, shade, part shade.
As well, we are asking members to bring along any excess planting pots they no longer need to the April 14 meeting, so people who may need some pots for their donated plants could take what they need. The pot sizes that are most useful are those that are 4” and up to the 1 gal. black pot.
The set-up will start at 7:30am. Plants can be delivered to 720 5th Street the night before (Friday, May 1) from 5:00pm to 7:00pm and should be placed at the back of the driveway. Or, you can bring your potted plants to the sale location in the morning from 8:00am to 9:30am. All plants must have an identification tag.

The Seed Exchange is up and running. Richard Harrison has taken on the job. Thank you, Richard. He has some seed packets which will be made available at the April meeting. To kick start the seed exchange we ask any members who have purchased more seed than needed to bring them to the April meeting. Please donate seeds at the table in front of the fireplace. Richard will add them to the “seeds available for pick-up” which will be set up on the free table. Please donate seeds no older than 3 years. Anything older should not be donated as their germination viability is very poor. A list of the available seeds in our Seed Bank will posted at the free table.

Gillian Escalante has volunteered to set-up our new website.Thank you, Gillian. The Executive Committee wishes to thank Karen Low for being our webmaster for these many years. When it is up and running we will be asking for your feedback.

Trudy Findlay has set-up a private guided tour of Dart’s Hill Garden for Sunday, April 19 from 10:30am to 12:30pm. The entrance fee cost is $5.00. There will be a sign-up sheet for those who are interested in attending. You should indicate on the sign-up sheet if you can offer a ride or if you need a ride .

Also, a tool sharpening workshop will be offered to members on June 28 at Audrey’s house (117 7th Ave.). There is a limit of 15 participants. If more than 15 members are interested in attending, it is possible that Hank Suijs can offer a second workshop on the same day. Each participants can bring one tool to sharpen. More details will be available at our April or May meetings. There is a participant charge of $5.00 for this workshop.

For those interested in floral arts, The Western Association of Floral Art Clubs (www.wafac.weebly.com) was formed in 2014. There is a member group in New Westminster. They meet on the second Monday of each month from 10am to 1pm. Check out the website www.facebook.com/bcfloralartsociety.
There is,also, a Vancouver Ikebana society that meets in Burnaby, quarterly. Their website is www.vancouver-ikebana.ca.

Some interesting things to do or see:

1. The New Westminster Queen’s Park Green House is offering workshops on creating hanging baskets. The workshops are being offered on Apr. 27, May 2, May 7 and May 16. The cost for a 14’ basket is $64.00 and for an 18” basket is $74.00. to register or for more information call 604-777-5111 or visit the website www.newwestcity.ca
2. The Vancouver Dahlia Society is holding its annual tuber sale on Apr. 11 in the Van Dusen Botanical Garden Floral Hall (37th and Oak St. Vancouver). Information at: www.vancouverdahliasociety.com.
3. Annual Plant Sale at Van Dusen Botanical Garden, April 26, 10am to 4pm. 40,000 plants will be on sale. Admission free for this day only.. Contact information: www.vandusengarden.org.
4. 4.Exploring nature: Tree, an exhibition of work by Ximeng Guo, opens at the Arts Council Gallery at the Centennial Lodge, Queen’s Park on March 31 and continues to April 26. Open Tuesday to Sunday from 1pm to 5pm. See: www.artscouncilnewwest.org.
5. Open Garden and Rhododendron Sale, Sunday, April 26 from 10am to 4pm at Fearing’s Farm Rhododendrons, 5376 Ross Road, Abbotsford. This is a private garden, rarely open to the public. There are over 1500 Rhododendrons, 1100 of which are species, distributed in an informal way around a patch of woodland. See: www.fearing.ca. The nursery will be open for sales.

Click Here for the Official March Newsletter

The fine weather continues. I've been potting up plants for the May 2 NWHS Annual Plant Sale. Also, I have planted up at least 5 different varieties of garlic. By our Mar. 10 meeting they will be 6 week old seedlings, ready to go into the ground for a harvest at the beginning of August. They will be on sale at our In-House Plant Sale.

Our next meeting is on March 10 at 7:30pm. The guest speaker will be Barry Belec who will be speaking on Garden Design.

Thank you to the members who paid their annual membership dues ($15) at the February meeting. Ellen is taking fees again this month. Please have the exact change or a cheque made out to NWHS. If you are unable to attend, you can mail a cheque to:
New Westminster Horticultural Society
Box 392, 104 - 1015 Columbia Street
New Westminster, BC, V3M 6V3

The From Our Gardens Plant Sale table continues. I encourage members to donate to the table. Our goal again this year is to raise $600.

We are preparing for our annual plant sale which will be held on May 2, 2015. It will be located on the boulevard in front of 720 5th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues. Help us reach our funraising goal -- We will need plant donations, volunteers to help with the set-up and breakdown,and to staff the tables throughout the day. I have started some tomato seeds for the sale and I encourage any other gardeners who grow their own seedlings to plant a few for the club sale. Blank plant tags will be available at the Mar. 10 meeting.

Audrey will continue to take orders for the Florissa Spring Bulb Club Fundraiser. View the flyer online (copies also available at the meeting). You do not need to be a club member to order these bulbs. Our club retains 50% of the proceeds of the sale.

The popular Plant a Row, Grow a Row Gardeners' Party will be held on Thur., March 12, from 6pm to 9pm at St. Thomas More Collegiate, located on the corner of 12th Ave. and Kingsway in Burnaby. It's a fun time. There are speakers, prizes and goodies.

A reminder ot those registered for the BC Council of Garden Clubs AGM, the meeting is on Mar. 14 from 8:30am to 3pm. at the Firefighters' Banquet and Conference Centre, 6515 Bonsor St., Burnaby.

A couple of events that may be of interest:

• In celebration of the 2015 UN International year of Soils: Sustainability, Climate Change and Society, there is a FREE event at the UBC Botanical Garden on Thur., Mar. 5 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. Register at http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/learn. Advanced registration is required. There are 5 speakers. Refreshments will be served.
• Gardenworks at Mandeville Gardens is offering a Chafer Beetle and Lawn Care Seminar on Sat. and Sun., Mar. 7 and 8 at 1:00pm.

- Julia

Click Here for the Official February Newsletter

Happy New Year and Happy Chinese New Year to all and welcome back to the New Westminster garden club after a fairly long break. The weather was so mild in January I was lured out into my garden on five occasions; I can’t remember when I started gardening so early.

Our first meeting of the year is on Feb. 10 at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker will be Grant Watson who will be speaking on Organic Edible Landscaping. Annual membership fees are also due. We are keeping the fee at $15.00. Ellen Berg will be accepting money at her table. Please have either the exact amount or a cheque made out to NWHS for the $15.00.

Please remember that are club is trying to go Green. Please bring your own mug and deposit any recyclable waste in the bucket provided. If you bring your own mug and buy a ticket in our monthly draw you will receive a free ticket.

The NWHS Executive Committee will be presenting its Draft 2015 Budget for approval by the membership.

The In-House From Our Gardens Plant Sale Table will be available at the Feb. meeting. This sale will be held each meeting except for the Oct. Silent Auction and the Dec. Xmas Party. We are asking members to contribute any plants and garden related items such as unwanted tools, ornaments, books, etc. The In-House Plant Sale is a major contributor to the club’s fundraising plan. So, when you are out in the garden breaking up your perennials pot up some excess for the club. Your contributions are greatly appreciated.

Our annual public Plant Sale will be held on the first Saturday of May ( May 2 this year). This is our major fundraising event of the year. We will be needing and selling plants of every variety. Also, if you are a gardener who starts vegetables and other plants from seed, please think about seeding a few extra for sale at the May 2 Plant Sale. Let us know ahead of time if you will be needing extra pots. We will provide plant tags at our regular meetings in March and April.

Audrey has requested that the photo and container contest participants please pick up their entries at her table in front of the fireplace.

The BC Council of Garden Clubs Spring meeting will be held on Mar. 14 from 8:30am to 3:00pm at the Firefighters’ Banquet and Conference Centre, 6515 Bonsor Avenue, Burnaby. The early bird registration fee is $35.00 ( the NWHS subsidizes this fee by $5.00, so the cost to you will be $30.00). Audrey will be accepting the registration fee at her table in front of the fireplace. Please pay with the exact amount or a cheque made out to NWHS. Separate cheques will be necessary if you paying your membership fee and the BC Council meeting fee at the Feb. meeting. The registration fee includes a buffet lunch and coffee breaks with muffins and cookies. There will be two guests speakers - Tom Baumann and Lynne White. Free parking is available at the Metrotown Parkade closest to the upstairs entrance to the Firefighters’ Hall. If you are planning to attend, the NWHS deadline for registration is Feb. 20.

Bert Garbuio has organized a bus to go to the Seattle Flower and Garden Show on Feb. 11. The chartered bus will leave at 7:00am and return from Seattle at 4:00pm. There will be a stop at a buffet restaurant. The cost for the bus and the entry fee to the show is $95.00. For more information call Bert at 604-299-6876.

There are two Seedy Saturdays I want to alert you to -
1. Seedy Saturday at Van Dusen Garden, 5251 Oak St. at 37th Ave., Vancouver on Feb. 28 from 10:00am to 4:00pm. There is a large organic, heirloom seeds sale and other related garden items on sale, as well as interesting speakers.
2. Seedy Saturday and Garden Expo at the Harris Barn at Kirkland House, 4140 Arthur Drive, Ladner on Feb. 21 and 22 from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Brian Minter and Thomas Hobbs will be speaking on Saturday. Admission is by donation.

Official December Newsletter

I apologize for sending this club emailer out at this late date. I just got back from a lovely trip to Northern Italy, just in time for our club’s annual holiday party and Christmas dinner which will be happening tomorrow, Tuesday, Dec.. 9. The doors will open at 6:00pm and the turkey buffet dinner will start at 6:30pm. There are still 6 unsold tickets for tomorrow night’s event, so if you have been thinking that you might want to attend there’s still time to get one of these tickets, contact Ellen Berg (604-525-27–7827). The price is still the same as last year: $20 for members and $25 for guests.
Also, I just want to remind those members attending the dinner that the famous draw for member-made holiday wreathes, table centre pieces, swags and other treats will be raffled off during the evening.
We will also place some empty hampers at the door for any Food Bank donations. This is the time of the year when the food bank relies on the public to give generously.

There is no club meeting in January. Our first meeting in 2015 will take place on Tuesday, February 10 at 7:30pm. Membership fees will be due at the February meeting. We will continue to charge $15.00 for an annual membership.

On behalf of your 2014/15 NWHS Executive Committee we are wishing you and your families a very happy holiday season. We extend best wishes for a fruitful and productive new year bringing us many moments of happy gardening.

Our next meeting is on Nov. 11/14 at 7:30pm. We will hold our annual general meeting at 7:30pm. There are two items of business. The membership will be asked to vote on a By-Law change (printed in the newsletter). The vote to alter our by-laws requires a two-thirds majority vote to pass. The second item of business is the election of the 2015 Executive Committee members. The President and Vice-President each have one year remaining in their term. All the other positions on the Executive Committee are up for election. The current Executive members prepared to stand for another one year term are as follows:
Treasurer: Ellen Berg
Secretary: Mary Barnard
Show Chair: Lea McDonald
Members-at-Large: Deirdre Antonelli
Trudy Findlay
Monica Mowat
There are two Member-at-Large positions that are seeking nominees. If any member is interested in putting his/her name forward for any of the positions up for election please let the Vice-President, Lorna Cloutier know (email address: lorna_cloutier@telus.net or by phoning 604-524-1942).
After the end of the AGM the regular monthly meeting will commence. The guest speaker is Emma Holmes speaking on Soil. There will be an In-House Plant Sale table, so we are accepting gardening related donations.

The November meeting is when members decide which charity will receive our Xmas donation. One-half of the proceeds of the Xmas decor draw will be donated to a charity voted upon by the members attending the meeting. Last year we donated $400 to St. Barnabas Church to help fund their outreach program. So, think of a charity, preferably a local charity, you would like to see be the recipient of our donation.

Xmas dinner tickets will be on sale before the meeting and during the tea break. I believe there are approximately 30 tickets left. The price is $20 for members and $25 for non-members. Just a reminder no outside alcoholic beverages are permitted. Everyone attending the dinner receives two tickets which can be claimed for glasses of wine.

The Xmas crafts workshops will be in full swing during November and the early part of December. There is a sign-up sheet at the meeting. Audrey will provide details relating to the sign-up. If you have any Xmas decorations you no longer want please donate them to the club so they can be used in making the wreaths and table decorations. Audrey is accepting donations at her back porch until 8:00pm. Please place your donations under the covered part of the back porch. We are not accepting anything scented or anything with glitter. Closer to December Audrey is accepting fresh cut greenery.

Silina Nakatsu’s Fun With Chocolate class is being offered on Nov. 21 from 6pm to 8pm. The cost is $33.00 for members and $38.00 for non-members. There is a sign-up sheet and Audrey is collecting money for the course.

The club t-shirts will be available for pick-up at the upcoming meeting.

Upcoming Events:

Late Chrysanthemum Show, Saturday, Nov. 8 from noon to 4pm and Sunday, Nov.9 from 10am to 4pm
Location: Gardenworks at Mandeville Garden, 7746 SE Marine Drive, Burnaby

It’s About Thyme Nursery (itsaboutthyme@telus.net) has received a gorgeous shipment of feature Conifers, Hamamelis and Hollies. You might want to check out their website.

Official October Newsletter

Fall has arrived, but the warm weather continues. I’ve just prepared my vegetable garden for planting my garlic crop. I’m hoping I have to cut the grass one last time before putting the lawnmower to bed until spring.

Our next meeting is our annual Silent Auction night Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 7:30pm. There is no guest speaker, no free table, no in-house plant sale, no raffle, no library and no new memberships will be sold. It is a members only night of fun and bargain hunting. Refreshments will be set up in the kitchen area. Please be careful not to spill. A recycling container will be set up in the kitchen. The items you purchase can be paid by cash (exact change preferred) or by cheque made out to NWHS.

This is a reminder that the Nov. 11 regular meeting is also the Annual General Meeting date. We will be voting on a by-law change (exact wording listed in the Oct. Newsletter). As well, this is the meeting when the club elects the 2015 Executive Committee. The President and Vice-President are elected for two years and still have another year left in their mandate. All other positions are for one year and will be open for election at the Nov. 11 AGM.

Audrey is still accepting donations for the silent auction. These donations can be left under the covered part of the back porch. The last day donations will be accepted is Sunday, Oct. 12 up until 8:00pm. Silent Auction volunteers are still needed. If you can help with transferring items to the lodge, setting-up tables, highlighting winning bids, tallying bids and doing the final teardown and clean-up please contact Audrey (604-526-8284).

Audrey is also accepting Xmas decorations you no longer want or need. These can be left on the back porch up until 8:00pm any day. The Xmas workshop schedule will be announced as soon as Audrey has a moment to make one up. Please no donations with sparkles or scented.

Xmas dinner tickets will go on sale at the upcoming meeting. Tickets will be sold before the meeting and for 15 minutes after the business portion of the meeting. The cost is $20 for members and $25 for guests. Please pay with either the exact amount or with a cheque made out to NWHS. The dinner is for 120 people. Tickets will also be sold at the November regular meeting or until all the tickets are sold. The Xmas dinner menu will be posted at the Oct. 14 meeting.

Silina Nakatsu will be offering one of her wonderful cooking classes on Friday, Nov. 21 from 6-8pm. The topic will be Fun With Chocolate. The class fee is $33.00 for members and $38.00 for non-members. The fee includes a chocolate comb scraper, a triangular metal spatula and other chocolate making supplies and ingredients. More information will be provided at the Oct. 14 meeting.

For those members who are planning to enter the NWHS Photo Contest this is a reminder that the photos are to be submitted at the Oct. 14 meeting. Audrey will be available to take your entries at the beginning of the meeting.

Audrey is taking orders for our Florissa Fall Bulb. fundraising sale The emphasis is on the spring bulb selections, but also available is a selection of Christmas season bulbs. The deadline for placing orders is at the upcoming meeting. Your filled order will be ready for pickup by Oct. 18. Again payment can be made by cash (exact amount preferred) or by cheque made out to NWHS.

The new club t-shirt order has been placed. Information as to delivery will be announced at the Oct. 14 meeting.

Turtle Island is offering online courses in organic gardening and horticulture. The courses offered include “Growing Your Own Food Naturally”, “Propagation” and “Pruning and Training”. The cost is $50 per course. For more information contact edu@turtleislands.ca or call
1-250-927-3511.

Some upcoming events:
1. Saturday, Oct. 18 from 11am to 3pm Dart’s Hill Open House, 16th Ave. and 170th St., South Surrey. www.dartshill.ca

2.Late Chrysanthemum Show, Saturday, Nov. 8, noon to 4pm and Sunday, Nov. 9, 10am to 4pm, at Gardenworks Mandeville Garden, 7746 SE Marine Drive, Burnaby - Admission Free.

Official September Newsletter

The rain storm we had on Tuesday was certainly a relief for the garden. I was getting pretty weary of the near constant watering.
And, of course, the warm, sunny days are a welcome return.

Our next meeting is on Sept. 9 at 7:30pm. Marilyn Holt will be speaking on Fertilizers - What and When? This is our Bring to Share meeting. Please let us make a good showing. Look at your gardens and choose something to bring in to share with the rest of the club. Also, don’t forget to enter the Edible/Ornamental Photo contest. Show us how you integrated edible plants into your ornamental garden. There is a $10 prize for the best entry.

We will continue to have our From Our Garden Plant Sale Table. Donations are very welcome. Just a reminder: if your plant(s) contribution doesn’t sell, we would appreciate it if you could take it home with you at the end of the evening, especially if it is a big plant. Leftovers are often having to be taken home by myself for composting. We will have 2 and 3 lb. bags of wild bird seed for sale at a very reasonable price.

The October 14 regular meeting will be our annual Silent Auction night. This is your chance to clean out the basement or attic and donate to the running of our club.There is a need for volunteers to make donations of items they no longer use or want. Please nothing with fragrance. The donations can be left at Audrey’s back door before 8:00pm up until Oct. 12, the Sunday before our regular meeting. If you would like to donate a large item, it would be best to take a photo of the item for display at the meeting as there is limited space to display such large items. Please leave your name with your donations. There is also a need for volunteers on the day of our meeting to help transport items and to set up tables. There will be a sign-up sheet asking for volunteers. Just a reminder there is no raffle, plant sale or library table at this meeting. Of course there will be books for sale.

There will be a bulb sale fundraiser again this fall. Audrey will have the catalog offerings available at the meeting.

Silina Nakatsu is offering a pastry class on Saturday, Sept. 27 from 1pm to 4pm. Signup at the Sept. regular meeting. The cost is $32 for members and $37 for non-members. Silina will give more details at the Sept. meeting.

Audrey is also accepting Xmas craft items. These can also be left at Audrey’s back door before 8:00pm. Again, nothing with fragrance and nothing with glitter.

Audrey still has a left-over green garden chair from our picnic in July. Someone brought 2 chairs and took only 1 back. If you are missing your lawn chair, see Audrey.

We have orders for 27 t-shirts. The supplier would like to have 35 to place an order. If you haven’t ordered your t-shirt, you will have one more chance at the Sept. meeting. The cost is $20 and $22 for the XXL size. There is a sign-up sheet at the front table.

There is a proposed club outing to the Ferncliff Dahlia Nursery near Mission. There are two proposed dates, Sept. 13 and Sept. 20. There will be a sign-up sheet and more details at the Sept. meeting. Dahlia tubers can be ordered at the time of the visit and will be ready for delivery next year in time for planting. I went on this outing last year and found the dahlia display garden spectacular.

This is a reminder to members who would like to attend the BC Council of Garden Clubs Oct. 18 meeting, you can sign up at our Sept. meeting (see Ellen). The meeting is at the Firefighters’Meeting and Conference Centre on Bonsor Ave., Burnaby from 8:30pm to 3:00pm. Des Kennedy is the guest speaker. A buffet lunch is provided with the cost of your ticket. The cost for NWHS members is $35 (NWHS provides a subsidy of $5.00, making the cost to you $30). The cost to non-NWHS members is $35 (no subsidy). The ticket price rises after Oct. 1 to $40. This event will likely sell out so buy your ticket early.

Our annual general meeting is held on Nov.11 this year, just before the regular meeting. The AGM is the time we elect our executive committee for 2015. Also, this is the time we vote on any by-law changes to our constitution. We will be voting on one by-law change printed as follows: (The change to the By-law is in bold.)

By-Law Change :Part 13 Expenses

48(Current Wording) Any member incurring an expense while engaged in the authorized affairs of the society shall be reimbursed upon presentation of receipts.

48(Proposed Wording) Any member incurring an expense while engaged in the authorized affairs of the society shall be reimbursed upon presentation of receipts. Expenses should be submitted as soon as possible after incurring the expense and within the claendar year.

Several events worth noting, also listed in the Sept. Newsletter:

1. Dart’s Hill Saturday Strolls throughout Sept., 11am to 3pm. For more information: www.dartshill.ca

2. Treefest, Saturday, Sept. 13, 11am to 4pm, Riverview Hospital Grounds, 2601 Lougheed Hwy at Colony Farm Rd.
Free. For more information: www.coquitlam.ca/treefest

3.Anvil Centre Grand Opening, Sept.14, noon to 6pm. Ribbon cutting at 1:30pm. 777 Columbia St.

4. New Westminster Seniors’ Festival and IMBY Fair, Saturday, Oct. 18 from 10am to 3pm, at the new Anvil Centre, 777 Columbia St.
Free underground parking.

I think that’s it. Looking forward to seeing everybody at our meeting.

Official August Newsletter

Loving this weather! I’m surprised we haven’t had further water restrictions by now.

Our next regular meeting is on Tuesday, August 12 at 7:30pm. The guest speaker is Barry Roberts who will be speaking on Hydrangeas.

We want to thank Audrey Barnes for arranging a wonderful garden tour this year. Also, thank you to all those members who offered up their gardens for us to visit on the tour. Those members who came to Audrey and Steves’ garden for our annual picnic had a wonderful time. Thank you Audrey and Steve for making us welcome again this year.

It’s not too early for setting aside items for the Silent Auction held at our October meeting. Audrey is accepting items which can be left on her back porch (117 7th Ave.) before 8:00pm any day. If you have a large item to donate, please take a picture of the item rather than bringing the actual item to the silent auction.

So far we have orders for 26 t-shirts. We need a commitment for 35 before we can place the order. The cost is $22.00 and $25.00 for the XXL size. The sample t-shirts will be at the next meeting along with a sign-up sheet. If you would like one of these t-shirts and you will not be at our August meeting, please phone Trudy at 604-522-2665.

We are still looking for volunteers to staff the From Our Gardens Plant Sale table There will be a sign-up sheet at the plant sale table. Currently the same members have been staffing this table. One or two additional volunteers would be most helpful.
It you have any plants or other items you would like to donate for the plant sale table, please bring them in.

We will be sending around a clip board asking for any suggestions for speakers or speaking topics. We are in the midst of compiling the 2015 speaker’s list. As well the Executive Committee is looking for a volunteer who will work with Ellen Berg in lining up speakers for the 2015 list. Please speak to myself or Ellen Berg if you would be interested in volunteering for this task.

The Executive Committee passed a motion for a mid-year membership fee adjustment. A $10.00 fee will be charged to new members at the Sept. meeting.

The BC Council of Garden Clubs is holding it next meeting on Oct. 18. Des Kennedy will be the guest speaker. The Early Bird (by Oct. 1) charge is $35.00; after Oct. 1 the charge rises to $40.00. The NWHS subsidizes your cost by $5.00, so you can pay Ellen $30.00 before Oct.1 or $35.00 after Oct. 1. Please see Ellen at her table if you are interested in attending. The meeting will be held at the Firefighters Hall on Bonsor Ave. at Metrotown. An excellent buffet lunch is included in the price of your admission.

Just a reminder that PARGAR is in full swing. If you have excess fruit or vegetables, you can donate these items between 8:30am and 9:15 am at the 12th Ave. entrance to St. Thomas More Collegiate.

Please remember to bring your own mug to the meeting. Also, we will be providing a receptacle to deposit your napkin and any other edible leftovers. Bit by bit we are trying to go green.

The New Westminster Cultural Crawl is on Aug. 9 and 10 from 11:00am to 5:00pm. Century House in Moody Park is hosting “Arts in Action” on both of these days. You will be able to engage with 30 Century House artists displaying their work.

I was given a recipe for an organic weed killer. 1 gallon white vinegar, 1 cup table salt and 1 tbsp. dish soap. Spraying this concoction on those pesky weeds between paving stones seems to do the trick.

Looking forward to seeing everybody on Aug. 12.

Official July Newsletter

Wishing all our members a very wonderful Canada Day. There are many celebrations happening here in New Westminster and throughout the Greater Vancouver area. I hope you take some time to enjoy the day.

Our next regular meeting is on July 8 at 7:30pm. The NWHS Annual In-Club Show is featured. Check your garden and bring in your best.
The guest speakers are Edith Scherk and Lorna Herchenson. They will be speaking on Begonias.

The In-House Plant Sale will be on. If you have plants that you will not be using in your own garden, please bring them in for the sale table.

The T-shirt sign-up sheet will be at the front table. We need to sell a minimum of 35 t-shirts in order to fill the order. Currently we have 21 members who have indicated they want our new t-shirt. If you haven’t ordered a t-shirt at the last club meeting, you have an opportunity to order on July 8. The cost is $22.00, a bit more for the XXL size.

The Executive Committee continues to encourage recycling. Currently we are asking members to bring their own mugs to each meeting as we are no longer purchasing styrofoam cups. We are, also, going to put in place a method to recycle our green waste.

Audrey has lined up 6 or 7 gardens for our Annual NWHS Garden Tour. They are fairly close together, so there won’t be a lot of driving. Details will be available at the July 8 meeting. Following the garden tour is our wonderful club potluck picnic. It will be held at Audrey and Steves’ house. There will be a sign-up sheet at the July meeting so you can indicate what you will be bringing to contribute to the potluck. The club will provide wine, a non-alcoholic punch, coffee and tea. We ask everyone who comes to bring their own cutlery and plate. We are providing mugs and jam jars for drinks. As there is a limited number of chairs, those of you who have a convenient folding chair please bring it along.

This is a reminder that PARGAR is in full swing, so if you have some spare produce to donate, your offerings are being accepted at St. Thomas More Collegiate entrance on 12th Ave. on each Sunday from 8:30am to 9:15am.

Here are a few interesting events you might be interested in checking out.

1. The Plants Only Garden Centre in Abbotsford is opening its Bradner area nursery to the public. For more information go to www.plantsonly.biz or phone the office at 604-625-8448.

2. The 13th Annual Open House at Erikson’s Daylily Gardens at 24642 - 51 Ave., Langley (Phone- 604-856-5758) is open on Saturday and Sunday, July 12 and 13 from 10:00am to 4:00pm. This nursery offers not only daylilies, but also, hostas, ferns, and other perennials.

3. The 11th Annual New Westminster Cultural Crawl is being held on Saturday and Sunday, August 9 and 10 from 11:00am to 5:00pm. For more information go to www.nwculturalcrawl.com.

Official June Newsletter

So much to do, so little time. This beautiful weather is a boon for the garden. Where to find the time to weed, cut the grass, plant the annuals, get the vegetables in, etc. I’m not complaining; I love being out there.

Time to take a break and come to the June meeting and celebrate the 80th anniversary of our wonderful garden club. There will be special treats and a trip back in time in the history of our horticultural society. The meeting is on June 10 at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker is Kevin Hudkins who will be speaking on Thoughts on Composition in Photography. Kevin is the judge for our photo contests. Bring your questions on how to get that perfect picture.

Audrey has two gardens lined up for our annual garden tour happening on Saturday, July 12. She is looking for at least four more gardens preferably in New Westminster to complete the tour. So, is there anyone out there who would be willing to volunteer their garden for the tour or do you know of a garden that should be considered for the tour,please let Audrey know.

Following the garden tour the club’s annual potluck picnic will take place in the Barnes’ back garden. There will be a sign-up sheet at the head table asking members to list the food offering they will be bringing. The club provides assorted beverages, the members provide the food.

Don’t forget the Edible/Ornamental Challenge. The club is urging members to interplant vegetables within their ornamental gardens. Take a photo of your effort and bring a print to display in a special section of the September Bring to Share.

The Beginners’ Dim Sum cooking class was a great success. Thank you, Silina, for planning and putting on this wonderful cooking class as a fundraiser for the club.

The Executive Committee feels it is time for a new t-shirt offering to club members. At the June meeting there will be a sample of the t-shirt we have chosen. There will be a sign-up sheet for those members who are interested in buying one of these t-shirts. The cost is $.22, a bit more for the XXL sizes.

The In-house From Our Gardens Plant Sale table continues. If you have any left over seedlings or plants from your garden that you will not be using please consider bringing them in for the in-house plant sale. Members have been very generous in bringing in plants. Other unwanted or unneeded garden related items can also be donated to the sale.

There are several community garden tours I would like to bring to your attention:

1. The Heritage Vancouver Garden Tour is being held on June 21 & 22 from 10:00am to 4:00pm. It is a self-guided tour of Vancouver gardens. Tickets are $35 online at www.heritagevancouver.org.

2. The Country Garden Tour on June 22 from 9am to 4pm is a fundraiser for the Sunshine Foundation “Dream for Kids” put on by the Maple Ridge Garden Club. Contact Gayle (604-467-2956) or Margaret (604-467-1885) for more information. Ticket cost: $20.

3. The Point Roberts Garden Tour, July 20. This is a self-guided tour of 7 private gardens in Point Roberts. For more information go to www.pointrobertsgardenclub.org.

Official May Newsletter

I’m sending this emailer out a bit early as I want to remind you of our garden club’s annual plant sale. Again this year we are on the boulevard in front of 720 5th St. which is between 7th Ave. and 8th Ave. Keep your fingers crossed that the weather holds and we have little or no rain. We are setting up between 8am and 9:30 am. The sale starts at 10:00am. Come out and visit and see what we have for sale.

Our next regular meeting is on May 9 at 7:30pm. Our guest speaker will be Senga Lindsay whose topic will be, Growing the Edible Landscape.

For those of you who have not renewed your club membership, this emailer may be your last. Your membership fee came due at our April meeting. If you still intend to be a member you can pay the annual membership fee of $15 at the May meeting or you can mail in your cheque to our postal address: NWHS, Box 392, #104 - 1015 Columbia St., New Westminster, V3M 6V3. Or, if you come to the plant sale tomorrow, Ellen Berg will take a cheque for $15.00.

We are hoping to sell all our plants tomorrow, but if some are left over we will be bringing them to sell at our in-house “From our Gardens Plant Sale on May 9.

This is a reminder that the day trip to Rose’s Rhododendron Garden is happening next Saturday, May 10. Members will meet at the garden, 13895 Harris Road in Pitt Meadows at 11:00am. As there is no eating facility nearby, pack some food and a drink. The tour is on rain or shine. Wear walking shoes, bring a hat, and don’t forget your camera. Remember your membership card, as you will get 10% off any purchases you make.

There is still some room in the Beginner’s Dim Sum cooking class offered by Silina Nakatsu. The class is scheduled on Friday, May 23 from 6pm to 8pm. The cost is $30 for members and $35 for non-members. Bring an apron, rolling pin and containers to take home what you make.
You can register upon payment at the May 13 meeting.

Hope to see you at the plant sale tomorrow.

Sorry about sending out this addendum to the May NWHS Emailer. I try to only send the one email per month.

Our guest speaker for the June meeting is Senga Lindsay, speaking on Edible Landscape Design. I failed to mention that she will bring copies of her book, Edible Landscaping, to sell. The cost is $22.00.

There are two garden related sales I wanted to mention:

1. Tracey Loslo of i-Dig Gardening will be selling 20 litre bags of super nutrient rich organic veggie soil for $6.50/bag as a fundraiser for Animal Aware, an NGO which rescues malnourished dogs and cats. Her sale is in the back alley at 323 Queens Ave. on May 10, during the Queens Park Garage Sale.

2. Plant, Harvest, Eat is holding a 2 day plant sale Sat. and Sun. May 10 and 11 from 9:00am to 3:00pm at 415 Garrett Street in Sapperton, located between the Royal Columbian Hospital and the Skytrain Station.

Official April Newsletter

Finally a string of warm, sunny days to get out into our gardens and begin to start on the many tasks that lie ahead. Today I’m planting the beautiful Oriental Lilies I bought a couple of weeks ago. I, also, hope to get around to dig under my vegetable garden and plant the onion sets and maybe even the first planting of peas. The excitement mounts!

Our next meeting is on Tuesday, April 8 at 7:30pm. Tom Baumann will be speaking on Growing Raspberries. Many members will remember the last time Tom came to speak to us on the topic of Growing Blueberries.

Our April meeting is a “Bring to Share” meeting. Showing off our plants, trying to find the answer to a gardening question you may have or sharing a gardening tip, all of these entries are included in the Bring to Share. The categories are: Garden Glory, Photos, Great Tips and Other. Those members who enter will have a chance of winning one of 3 draw prizes of $5.00 each.

Our April meeting will be your last chance to order from the Florissa Spring Campaign. Audrey will have the order forms at her table.

The From Our Garden in-house plant sale continues. I want to thank all members who have been contributing to this fundraiser and, also, thank all the members who have made purchases. Last month the club raised $120.00. If you have anything to contribute for this coming meeting, all contributions will be welcomed.

Our Side of the Road Plant Sale is happening on May 3, on the boulevard in front of 720 5th St., between 7th Ave. and 8th Ave. We need plants. I’ll be sending around a couple of clip boards asking members to indicate which plants they are planning to donate. Ideally we would like to have the names of the plants that will be available for sale as Audrey will look for the photos of your offerings when they are in bloom. A picture always helps to sell the plant. If you have grown any seedlings that you plan to donate please indicate that on the clip board sheet as well. There will be tags available at the Apr.8 meeting. The basic information needed on the tag is the name of the plant (Latin name not essential), the colour of the flower if applicable, the height of the plant, and the growing condition needed (sun, pt. shade, shade, etc.). We are assuming most members have pots hanging around, but if you need some pots, please email me before the next meeting and I’ll try to round up what you need and bring them to Apr.8 meeting. When potting up your plants please try to finish the task 2 weeks before the May 3 plant sale. The plants will need this 2 week period to establish their roots. The potted up plants can be dropped off the day before the sale, between 6:00pm and 8:00pm, on the driveway beside 720 5th St. or you can bring your plants the day of the sale between 8:00am and 9:30am. The sale starts at 10:00am and ends at 3:00pm. The Fundraising Committee will be looking for some volunteers to make this club fundraiser a success. Our goal is to raise $1000.

Just a reminder Rose’s Rhododendron Garden Tour is on May 10. There is a sign-up sheet available at our next meeting. Details as to time will be announced at the meeting.

The Seed Exchange is in full swing. Heather Best is looking after this area. If you have collected seed or have purchased seeds that you don’t want, please bring them to the meeting, so Heather can include them in the seed exchange. The collection box will be at the Bring to Share table.

The Beginner’s Sushi Class was held last Sat. I attended and want to say it was a great success. Those who attended had a fun time, learned to make, under Silina Nakatsu excellent guidance, a number of different sushi, including the very beautiful flower sushi. We got to bring home all that we made. I want to thank Silina for generously offering this course. Silina will be holding a second course, Beginner’s Dim Sum. The cost for this course is $30 for members and $35 for non-members. The class size has a maximum limit of 15., with a minimum number of 8 for the course to run. An “Are You Interested?" sign-up sheet will be available at the Bring to Share table.

Finally, a few gardening announcements:
1. Treekeepers is a project offering $10 fruit trees (apple, pear, fig) for more information contact www.treekeepers.ca.
2. New Westminster Parks Hanging Baskets workshops are being held on Apr. 28, May 3, 8 and 17. Contact Queen’s Park Arena 604-777-5111 to register. Classes fill fast.
3. Maple Ridge Country Garden Tour held on June 22 from 9:00am to 4:00pm, cost $20.00. All proceeds will go to the Sunshine Foundation “Dreams For Kids”.
4. The Vancouver Rose Society’s 61st Rose Show, June 22 from 1:00pm to 4:30pm at VanDusen Garden Floral Hall, 37th and Oak, Vancouver. Free.
5. Open Garden and Rhododendron Sale, Sunday, Apr.27th, 10:00am to 4:00pm at Fearing’s Farm Rhododendrons, 5376 Ross Rd., Abbotsford, 1100 rhodo species. Pictures on www.fearing.ca.

And, here I thought we were in for an early spring. Hopefully we have seen the last of the snow and we can get on with gardening.

Our regular NWHS meeting is on Mar. 11, starting at 7:30pm. Our guest speakers are Art Baker and Bryn Jones who will be speaking on Honey Bees in New Westminster Gardens.

Our newly established Fundraising Committee is busy planning for our On the Side of the Road Plant Sale which will be held on May 3 on the boulevard in front of 720 5th St. between 7th and 8th Avenues. I've started some tomato seeds and have decided on the perennials I'm going to break up to pot up for the sale. I'm encouraging members to do the same if possible. Our goal is to earn approximately $1000 to be used for club activities.

Our in-house From Our Gardens Plant Sale is well under way. Thank you to all who contributed in the February sale. We are accepting not only plants, but items that can be useful to gardeners. Our goal this year is to raise $500 through these in-house sales.

A reminder that the popular, Plant a Row, Grow a Row Spring Gardeners' Party is on Mar. 13, 6:00pm-9:00pm, held at St. Thomas More Collegiate. This is a fun event. There are prizes to be won and gardening information to be learned. Please bring non-perishable food items to contribute to the New Westminster Food Bank.

Audrey will be taking orders for the Florissa Spring Bulb Club Fundraiser. The colourful flyer will be available at the meeting. You do not need to be a member to order these bulbs. Our club retains 50% of the proceeds of the sale.

The NWHS will be celebrating its 80th Anniversary this year. The club will mark the occasion at our regular meeting on June 10 with special sweet treats. Highlights from our long history will also be on display. Mark your calendars and come and celebrate our proud history.

Since we had no one signing up for the proposed Outing and Workshop Committee, the Executive Committee is rethinking its approach. Two club members have stated they would be willing to organize an outing in May to a garden in Maple Ridge; there will be more information on this event at the Mar. regular meeting. The Executive Committee is hoping that a couple of other club members would step up to organize an outing in the fall. I will make the request at the Mar. meeting, so please think about whether this is something you would be willing to do for the club.

Just a reminder, membership fees are now due ($15.00). Ellen and her helpers will be accepting money or a cheque made out to the NWHS. Exact amount of money is helpful.

Happy Chinese New Year to all. Weatherwise January and now February is off to a good start. I spent part of January cleaning up my garden and yesterday putting back the leaf blanket on those plants that might be damaged by this week's cold weather. I guess winter is not over.

Our newly founded Fundraising Committee will have its first meeting this coming Wednesday. Our regular NWHS meeting on Feb. 11 will see the first in-house plant sale meeting of the year. If anyone has been out in the garden breaking up perennials, please think about donating a pot or more to this fundraising effort. We will have this in-house plant sale each meeting, except for the months of Oct., Dec. and Jan. So think of the club when you are thinning out your gardens or grow a few seedlings for us.

We will be having a public plant sale on Saturday, May 3 in the same location as last year ( 5th St. between 8th Ave. and 7th Ave.). The club has purchased 7 packages of tomato seeds and 4 packages of sunflower seeds. I will be asking for volunteers to plant these seeds and grow the plants for sale at the plant sale. So please think about whether you can take one of these packs to grow for the May 3 sale.

The Feb. 11 meeting starts at our regular time of 7:30pm. Our guest speaker will be Senga Lindsay who will speak on Edible Landscaping. Please remember to bring your mug to the meeting. As well Catherina Pan will speak briefly on the Green Your City Mentorship Program.

February is NWHS membership renewal month. We are continuing to keep our annual membership fee at $15.00. Ellen Berg is accepting payment ; please ensure you have the exact change or pay by cheque.

The Executive Committee will by presenting its 2014 Draft Budget for scrutiny and approval by the membership at our Feb. 11 meeting.

The Spring meeting of the BC Council of Garden Clubs is holding its meeting and AGM on Saturday, March 22 from 8:30am to 3:00pm at the Firefighters' Banquet and Conference Centre, 6515 Bonsar Street, Burnaby. The registration fee has been raised to $30.00 (the NWHS subsidizes each registration by $5.00, so the cost to you is $25.00). Audrey will be accepting registration fees at the Feb. meeting. This includes the entry fee and a buffet lunch. Parking is available in the Metrotown parkade. Thomas Hobbs will be speaking and the second speaker is yet to be announced. The deadline for payment is Feb. 18.

The Executive Committee approved a motion to form a small (4 to 5 member) committee which will take on the task of organizing a minimum of 2 club outings for 2014. An Executive Committee member will also sit on this committee. Please consider volunteering for this committee.

One of our members, Pauline Baldoumis, is looking for volunteer seniors or retired persons for a Vaudevillian group to sing and/or dance. This non-profit group raises money toward supporting bursaries for performing arts students at Douglas College. Please contact Pauline at 604-451-5548 or pauline_bshaw.ca for more information.

One last item: Seedy Saturday is on Feb. 23 from 10:00am to 4:00pm in the Floral Hall at the Van Dusen Gardens, 5251 Oak St., @ 37th Ave., Vancouver . There is a large organic heirloom seeds sale, other garden related items on sale, as well, there are a number of interesting speakers. As I recall the admission when last I went is either by donation or by a modest fee.

ADDENDUM

I'm sorry for this late notice. Senga Lindsay who was to speak on Edible Landscaping is unable to give her talk due to illness. Bill Bischoff has agreed on very short notice to give a talk on Growing Cyclamens. He will also have both cyclamen and fern plants for sale. We will try to schedule Senga Lindsay at a later date.

Also, there is a correction for the Seedy Saturday notice in my emailer. Seedy Saturday will be held at Van Dusen Garden on Saturday, Feb. 22 from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

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