Category: Garden Club

See https://champlainpark.org/garden-club/ for basic Garden Club information.

Garden Club – October 8

Please come to what will be a remarkable slideshow and talk by one of the most knowledgeable naturalists in Canada. Mike Runtz is a lecturer (voted best at Carleton University), brilliant published photographer, birder, wolf call howler in Algonquin Park, expert canoeist and has many, many other talents.

How about this for the title of his talk: Wildflowers and their sex slaves: the steamy side of pollination. Even if you never thought much about wild flowers, Mike will astound. Mark your calendars!

[Bio photo of Mike Runtz from Carleton University]

He will be the special guest speaker at the Garden Club on Tuesday October 8 2024 at 7:00 pm at the Champlain Park field house – 149 Cowley Avenue.

Drop in fee is $7.00 for this night but if you join for the season ($25.00 plus a current Champlain Park Community Association membership) each meeting is only $2.50.

The Garden Club page also has general information about the club.

Garden Club – September 10

Please join us for a new season of the Champlain Park Garden Club on Tuesday September 10 at 7:00 pm at the Champlain Park field house. Our guest is Ottawa Master Gardener, Odette McIntyre.

[Some Vegetables from Google]

We meet the 2nd Tuesday of the month from September until June.

We have great season ahead with some really great topics, guests, tours and workshops. For example: famed naturalist Mike Runtz on wildflowers, Goth Gardening (yes that’s right) new perennials for the garden, pruning tips for shrubs and small trees, Christmas slide show of members gardens and others they admire.

Here’s an outline of Odette’s slideshow and talk for next Tuesday…

SEED SAVING – Preparing for the future

Saving your own vegetable seed makes your garden more sustainable, self-sufficient and saves you money. Learn how to save heirloom varieties, not available commercially, using veggies you harvested. Keep seed from special ornamentals, native plants, medicinal plants or perennials.

The cost to join is $25.00 plus a current Champlain Park Community Association membership. Drop in fee is $5.00 a night but if you join each meeting is only $2.50.

The Garden Club page also has general information about the club.

New Field House Garden’s Plant Mystery

via Laurie Fagan, posted on Facebook too:

Hello fellow residents,

You may have noticed the new ornamental/pollinator garden in front of the field house. It has taken several years – yes I said years – to get approval from the city of Ottawa to build it.

Earlier this Spring someone dig up and helped themselves to a peony I planted there last fall. (It was dug up and the hole it left wasn’t even covered over)

Today I noticed an Asiatic Lilly has been snapped off at ground level and the phlox have been sheared off. I am an experienced gardener and I am fairly certain this latest damage isn’t from an animal.

If you live in Champlain Park could you take a minute to talk to your family members and tell them about the garden and all the hard work that went into creating this project. Many generous residents donated the perennials making it a truly community initiative. Let’s ensure it lasts.

The good news is the Champlain Rose has started blooming.

[Fieldhouse Garden started in 2024]

[20240621 Rose in Fieldhouse Garden]

Flower Farm Stories – March 12

Come and see and hear what it’s like to run a flower farm business from the owners of Ganden Gardens. They grow thousands of tulips, roses, dahlias and many other beautiful flowers.

Champlain Park Garden Club meeting Tuesday March 12 at 7:00 pm at the field house. Drop in fee is $5.00.

Nancy Jordan and her daughter Katrina Blackburn from Ganden Gardens in Winchester will bring us a slideshow and talk on operating a prosperous flower farm in our area. They offer bouquet subscriptions, sell at local stores and the night market at Parkdale.

[Flowers in a vase]

Garden Club – January 30

via Laurie on Facebook…

The Champlain Park Garden Club meeting on orchid growing that was rescheduled from earlier this month (cancelled due to weather) is now tomorrow night, Tuesday January 30 at 7 pm at the field house.

Drop in-fee is $5.00 (and you must have a current Champlain Park Community Association membership).

Janet Johns from the Ottawa Orchid Society will present and slide show and talk on growing these stunning beauties.

[Photo of an Orchid blossom]

See the Garden Club page for details about the meeting location.

Garden Club: Shrubs – October 10

After a 3 year absence the Champlain Park Garden Club is reconvening it’s monthly meetings. (We meet the first Tuesday of the month from September to June) We have talks, demonstrations, workshops and garden tours.

[An English Garden with Shrubs]

Join us tonight at 7 pm for a slideshow/talk on Shrubs with interest throughout the year. Our speaker is Master Gardener and owner of Green Thumb Nursery, Mary Reid (heard today on Ontario Today’s garden phone-in) we meet at the field house. Masks are optional and we’ll distance the chairs.

Membership is $30 for the year. As well you must have a current Champlain Park Community Association membership (purchased online). There is a drop in fee of $6.00.

Planting Spots Available

Room to Bloom

Calling all gardeners (or wannabees)!

Have you noticed the large concrete planters at the north end of Champlain Park? You know the ones, they block off the de-paved section of Pontiac by the Environment Committee’s Pollinator Garden and its forest terraces.

These planters are planted and tended annually by some very avid gardeners, some of whom may also happen to be your neighbours. This year, some planters remain available, and we are looking for someone to fill them with some wonderful colours or greenery.

[Freshly planted Planter at Pontiac Street depaved area]

As the adoptive parent of a planter, you would be responsible for filling it with non-invasive herbs, vegetables, or colourful flowers, and then tending it for the season.

Please reach out to Alexandra at alexandra@evershed.ca if you are interested.

Thank you for helping make our community just a little greener. Every action helps!

Champlain Park Environment Committee