Garden Tour June 9, 2013

Merry May Meeting - May 27

The May meeting is held at St. George the Martyr Church, 197 John Street. Doors open at 6:30pm. The meeting starts at 7:30pm.

This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the merging of the Parkdale Hort with the Toronto Hort, which we will celebrate at our May meeting. We hope to make it a festive occasion with birthday cake and no charge for refreshments, lots of door prizes, and special acknowledgements for many of our hardworking volunteers. 

Here is a brief outline of what you can expect:

• Enjoy a stroll in St.George’s garden when you arrive.
• Green Elephants for sale.
• Plant divisions for sale.
• Purchase your Garden Tour tickets.
• View the entries in the Flower Show.
• Eat cake.
• Presentation by Hort member Gina Matesic.
• Celebrate your fellow volunteers.
• Answer Trivia Quiz questions and choose your prize…
• Two special presentations on Étienne Brûlé and Historic Swansea.

Check your door prize stubs—prizes are courtesy of :

• Windergarden
• Fiesta Gardens
• Martin’s Flower Shop
• Guffin Hardware
• Alternative Grounds

Please come. Bring spending money, an empty tote bag for your prizes.

Strawberry Social - Monday June 24

All Hort members are invited to the Strawberry Social, to be held in the garden at St. Martin in the Fields, on Glenlake Ave. between Keele St. and Indian Grove. Rain or shine the event is on. Please bring a non-alcoholic beverage for yourself. Time 6:30pm to 9pm.

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Plant Fair May 11, 10:30AM - 1:30PM

Coordinators Mary Mosser and Anne Wong bring you the Plant Fair at Parkdale Public School and Community Centre (in the gym), located at 75 Lansdowne Avenue at Seaforth. It is always a busy, fun day for beginning and sophisticated gardeners.

We’ll have a fantastic selection of plants, products, green elephants, information and vendors. To find out more click here.

LEAF subsidized backyard tree planting program

It’s spring! Consider planting native trees around your home through LEAF’s subsidized Backyard Tree Planting Program. Native shrubs and garden kits are also available to help you build biodiversity and attract songbirds, butterflies and other pollinators to your yard. Help protect and improve the urban forest. www.yourleaf.org

On Island Time - April 29 Hort Meeting

As the summer turns to fall, our intrepid traveler, David Leeman leaves Toronto Islands and heads south to the equally beautiful islands of the Caribbean, where he has become something of an expert. He will show us his favourite gardens in St. Lucia, Barbados and other island paradises.

DAVID LEEMAN’S BAJUN TANNING AND WEIGHT LOSS PLAN

Well, it’s that time of year again. No! I don’t mean that! If you haven’t already divided your perennials and potted up your donations to the best Plant Fair in the city, this isn’t a reminder. No, it’s time for snowbirds to re-acclimate to Toronto weather after their winter migration. Though he misses three or four of our meetings through the winter, our Hort’s ‘resident’ snowbird, David Leeman, always makes it back just in time to present on his winter ‘vacation’ before we go on summer hiatus. No doubt he’s having a hard time adjusting to the winter that seems to have lingered a little too long this year. Then there’s the lifestyle change: no more Sunday morning “Hike Barbados fun walks”, the three hour hikes through “some of the most beautiful and otherwise inaccessible parts of the island”. (www.funbarbados.com) Gone are the fresh exotic fruits growing in the backyard, like golden apples. Nope, David’s now done with his winter of honing his mixology skills, natural weight loss plan, and laying down the best base tan a Torontonian could expect by April. So he’s back here and ready to share his lovely ‘winter project’ photos, as well as tales of pests, disease, and natural woes—all manner of adventures he manages to pack into a few short months as a reverse seasonal migrant worker.

David claims this winter’s work was particularly arduous—working long hours in the hot winter sun of the Caribbean, putting in a brand new garden from scratch. That was the most exciting part of the experience, he says, working with a blank slate—almost literally. Only, it wasn’t slate, but limestone, the bedrock beneath the shallow, “ugly, heavy clay soil” that made this a real challenge. Come out to hear and see all about the inventive ways David made it all work out, from his unconventional source of plant material to sleeping in flannel pajamas, and more!

- Maria Nunes

Hort Coach Tour to Niagara Region - June 22, 2013

Our annual coach tour will be on Saturday, June 22, 2013. The Fletcher Tours coach will pick us up at the Keele subway (Indian Rd. side) at 8am and return us at 6:45pm. The cost is $70 per person and includes the following:

• Palatine Fruit & Roses - After a short lecture on roses we will then have the opportunity to purchase some of the gorgeous specimens grown at this nursery.
• Buffet lunch - At the Best Western Beacon Inn,with its view overlooking lake Ontario, we will dine on a variety of salads and vegetables, pasta, roast chicken and desserts.
• The garden of Wayne Rubel - We will be treated to an exclusive tour of this beautiful private garden, which has been the feature of many magazine articles with its arbours, ponds and skilful plantings.
• Magnotta Winery - Wine tasting is on the menu at this award winning winery, along with the opportunity to purchase from their extensive selection.
• Northland Nurseries - Located in Clapison Corners, this nursery has an extensive variety of plants for the connoisseur. As an added bonus all 1 gal pots are $5.99.

Do remember to dress for the weather, rain or shine. In particular you may wish to wear comfortable shoes and bring your water bottle and sun hat. To reserve your spot, please mail your cheque, made payable to the Horticultural Societies of Parkdale & Toronto, along with the names of the participating individuals, to Patrick Mulroney, 153 Westminster Ave., Toronto, M6R 1N8. Reserve as soon as possible, as the places go quickly. Questions? Please email bustour@parkdaletorontohort.com For a more detailed description of the tour click here.

Humber Arboretum Tour - April 20

The Humber Arboretum, in support of community education in horticulture and landscape stewardship are pleased to present the 2013 series of Free Outdoor Tours, a partnership between the Etobicoke Master Gardeners and Humber Arboretum.

Please join us for the first 2013 Tour “Spring into the Arb”. Please check out our flyer for details on future 2013 tours and events.

• Tour: “Spring into the Arb”
• Date: Saturday, April 20th, 2013
• Time: 10:00 – 11:00AM
• Location: Humber Arboretum  (at Centre for Urban Ecology) 205 Humber College Blvd, Toronto, Ontario
• Trail Difficulty: Moderate (not wheelchair accessible)
• FREE Admission

Book your spot today:

Registrations via phone 416-675-5009 or email arboretum@humber.ca

www.humberarboretum.on.ca

Rain Barrels For Sale

Green 13, a dedicated environmental group, is pleased to partner with rainbarrel.ca for a ‘truckload of rain barrels’ fundraiser. Buy a rain barrel made from food grade, recycled plastics at a very competitive price of $60.00 - all taxes included.

Orders are now being taken for a Saturday April 27 pickup date.

Distribution: April 27, 12:00 PM to 3 PM at FreshCo, east end of parking lot, 3400 Dundas Street West (just west of Runnymede).

Size: 220 litres/55 US gallons.

Details: Each rain barrel comes equipped with a leaf and mosquito filter basket, an overflow adaptor that permits multiple barrels to be connected in series, 1.2m of overflow hose and a spigot that attaches directly to a garden hose. (Additional overflow hose can also be purchased if required.) No household limits and no residency requirements are imposed; however, only barrels ordered in advance are guaranteed to be available.

Colours: Gray, white, or blue.

To order your rain barrel please click here.

Proceeds will help inform our community about the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) which is killing our ash trees and in the process decreasing our tree canopy.  We are also working on transitioning to a low carbon neighbourhood. We organize monthly movie screenings and public meetings on various environmental issues. See the Green 13 website here.

What's Blooming in your garden?

Want to share images of spring blooms you’ve seen or have growing in your garden? Send images to newsletter@parkdaletorontohort.com and if they make the cut your image could get added to our Spring 2013 picture gallery. Click here to see what we have so far.