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THE BULLETIN - February 2010
Tribute to Wally Gutzman
Early in the new year, our Society lost a much loved and honoured member. Wildemar Leonheart Gutzman (our Wally)
passed away on January 6th. Wally was remarkably enthusiastic about life and had many interests; gardening and
participating in our shows were two of his many passions. Although his garden was never open to our members’ tours,
Wally brought his garden to us by entering his creations and best specimens in all the shows. Of course, Wally won
many well-deserved awards. His generosity in contributing to our May plant sales and fall plant exchanges had no
boundaries. Every year Wally donated trunkfuls of plants and was on hand to expertly answer customers’ and fellow
members’ queries about plant species and their care. Wally’s suggestions and knowledge made many of us better gardeners,
or at least enthusiastic gardeners. Several of his gifts found their way in our gardens. To all of us, Wally was an
inspiration and he will live on in our hearts, in our gardens and the spirit of the Pointe-Claire Horticultural Society.
Happy New Year 2010! Another exciting new year with myriad new plans and projects is already in full swing. Ten
years into the new millennium and we are already witnessing remarkable accomplishments in all known and unknown fields of
discoveries. In the world of horticulture alone, every year brings new hybrids and species in a wide range of new wild colours,
not thought possible in the olden days of our youth. According to current issues of garden magazines, this trend will continue.
To fill the long cold months, many avid gardeners have made it their winter hobby to peruse old and new issues of garden magazines
(we never throw them away!), marking pages with post-its and wish lists. If we are to believe the current publications, gardeners
will opt for colourful but easy gardens in 2010. The fight against grubs and yellow grass will end for many of us as lawns will be
converted into flower beds and edible gardens. Splashes of colour created by much loved and trusted perennials and summer bulbs
(dahlias, anyone?), interspersed with small hardy bushes, native plants, and edibles will replace hard-to-maintain green spaces.
Ground covers will thrive - the lawnmower will be retired. Easy to maintain gardens, composting in every garden and crisply delicious
homegrown vegetables: this sounds like a magnificent garden in the land of Utopia.
On February 14th I visited the Annual Seeds Show at the Montreal Botanical, attended the conferences and
spoke with many of the merchants. There is nothing more uplifting in the middle of winter, albeit unseasonably mild,
to hear enthusiastic speakers expound on the wonderful world of earthworms, the new hybrid juicy tomatoes, the sweet
taste of the Montreal melon and all those certified organically correct seeds. I came home with seeds for “Cherokee Purple”
tomatoes, of unique purple-mauve colour, seeds for “Super Marmande” tomatoes, to grow into unusual shapes such as cushions or
snowmen, pumpkin seeds guaranteed to give a crop of pumpkins ranging from 100 to 500 pounds each! These will definitely grow in
somebody else’s garden.
The 2010 Program
- The January 27th presentation “All about dahlias” by Michèle Cartier was well attended. Many members showed interest in this popular
topic as Michèle presented many different varieties of this garden favourite and amazed the audience with the
beautiful slides showing her amazingly large garden of dahlias. It was also the Annual General Meeting night
wherein the Executive Committee for the coming year was approved.
There was an overwhelming response from six members to volunteer for kitchen and community duties.
I take this opportunity to welcome and thank these volunteers: Thank you Olive Balderson, Carolyn Crotogino, Isabel Schluter,
Sharon Lazette, Inara Leimanis, Frances Shaughnessy, as new kitchen coordinators,and Jamila El-Ariss, community coordinator.
Thanks to you and all our volunteers, the PCHS will continue to be a fun and happy Society and make us all proud to belong.
- The February 24th meeting greeted Lindsay D’Aoust who presented “Tree peonies”, another interesting and popular topic.
- A long-awaited and popular topic, “Pruning Trees & Shrubs”, presented by David Wees of MacDonald Campus of McGill University,
will take place on March 24th.
The March meeting will also be a “Bring a friend for free” night.
Members are encouraged to invite a gardening friend, neighbour or acquaintance to come and learn an expert’s techniques, all for free.
- The April 28th presentation will feature “Shrubs for year-round interest in the garden” with expert Stefan Sobkowiak.
In view of current trends, this should also be a very interesting topic.
- I would also remind everyone that the Garden Photo Contest - Four Seasons through the lens, will take place on May 19th.
Rules can be found on page 7 of your 2010 Program. A prize will be awarded for the winner.
Photos of last year’s winner garden can be viewed under Photo Archives below or click here.
A sweet treat for our tweeting friends
If you really want to cook for an appreciative crowd, the following recipe will do the trick.
A colourful congregation of
cardinals, chickadees, titmice (bad name, but lovely birds), and others I am not on first-name basis, will be most happy guests
in your garden. You may also see the uninvited crows and squirrels, but they will be so thankful! (ref. Canadian Gardening – Fall 2007)
Combine in large bowl:
- 2 tbsp. (30 mL) corn oil
- 2 cups (500 mL) rolled oats
- 1 cup (250 mL) peanut butter
- 1 cup (250 mL) unsalted sunflower seeds (I use shelled)
- ½ cup (12 mL) whole-wheat flour
- ½ cup (12mL) crushed eggshells
- 1 cup (250 mL) vegetable shortening
- Cornmeal, if desired.
Form balls (3) or bricks, coated with cornmeal if desired. Then freeze overnight.
I use a 9” x 9” cake pan and once
frozen I put the frozen square into a long-handled barbecue grill,
using
a bent wire hanger shaped into a hook to hang onto a tree branch.
Until next time,
Jacqueline Bouchard
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