Tweed Horticultural Society

Members of the Tweed and District Horticultural Society were creative at the October meeting as they made fall arrangements using a pie pumpkin as the container. 

Fortunately, there had not been a frost, so members brought in bundles of greenery, ornamental grasses, hosta leaves, dahlias, sunflowers, autumn joy blossoms, rudbeckia and other flowers from their gardens. The tables were filled with a lovely variety of flowers to be used in the arrangements. The pumpkin and oasis were supplied and Jess, Joan and Charles kindly cleaned out the pumpkins for everyone.

As she made an arrangement, member, Linda Holmes gave tips to help the members as they each made their own arrangement….

-use floral foam as it provides lot of moisture to enhance the lifespan and vibrancy of the flowers and greenery

-soak the foam by placing it in water and allow the foam to soak up the water like a sponge….do not press down on the foam

-use greenery around the opening of the pumpkin and if your foam extends over the opening, the greenery will hide it; the lid of the pumpkin can be used as part of the arrangement-attach in place by using a wooden skewer

-start by using some taller grasses or flowers and then add the shorter ones to fill in

-add a bit of water every few days to keep the foam moist

After the demo, the members selected their greenery and flowers and started creating. Comment like…” Oh I like that idea.” “That looks great, I think I will add it to my arrangement.” “Wow, your arrangement is fabulous!” …could be heard as the evening progressed. 

Special thanks to Linda for her guidance throughout the workshop. Her “students” were thrilled with their arrangements. A group photo of the participants and their pumpkin arrangements completed the fun filled evening!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

October 25…Tweed and District Horticultural Society will be hosting the District 3 Ontario Horticultural Societies.

November 4…Valerie Sills of Rawdonrim Acres will demonstrate floral arrangements for Christmas. The Annual General Meeting will be held. The Financial Report of the past year will be presented for approval. The Executive for 2026 will be introduced.

Colin Campbell, owner and chief arborist at Campbell’s Orchards in the County was the guest speaker at the September meeting of the Tweed and District Horticultural Society.

According to Campbell, ALL trees need to be pruned in early spring. Pruning helps to stimulate growth of the trees. He suggested purchasing the best pruners you can afford. 

Mid-April is the ideal time to add fertilizer around the “drip line” of the tree-not around the tree’s trunk. This will encourage the roots to grow out from the tree. Only small amounts of fertilizer need to be sprinkled on the ground. 

Fruit trees require lots of maintenance due to disease and pests. Some newer brands of apples are more resistant to disease – Snow Sweet and Honey Crisp. According to Campbell, the older varieties are more susceptible to disease. Speaking from years of experience, Campbell says it is much easier to “prevent” disease than to “cure” it. 

Campbell sprays the trees in his orchards. According to Canadian regulations, spraying must be stopped 45 days prior to harvesting. Campbell recommends buying Canadian grown apples whenever possible as Canada has very strict rules for food. Inspectors constantly check it ensure that farmers follow the regulations. 

Due to the amount of work involved in grafting, Campbell, instead, plants trees that he purchases from reliable sources. Every year he does lose a percentage of his trees due to disease, climate and age of the trees, 

Often an apple crop will yield a bumper crop one year but the following year it will be much smaller. The reason for this is the stress on the tree to produce such a huge crop the previous year. And of course, weather plays a role in crop production. 

Campbell had several varieties of apples from his orchard for the members to taste…. a delicious taste of fall!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

October 7…Pumpkin Arrangement Workshop with Linda. Pumpkins and oasis will be supplied. Members can bring flowers and greenery from their gardens. Under Linda’s guidance, members will create a flower arrangement in their mini pumpkin. Bring your snips and create!!

Tweed and District Horticultural members welcomed Victoria Whitney from Griffin’s Greenhouses located in Peterborough. After a cold rainy spring, members are looking forward to a summer filled with warmth, sunshine and gardens filled with colourful annuals. Victoria’s presentation highlighted just that…. sun and heat tolerant annuals that will provide colour throughout the summer months in gardens and containers. 

Climate change is creating hotter and drier summers. As Victoria explained, this extreme heat is hard on plants, particularly annuals. Growers are continually developing heat tolerant plants that will survive in gardens.

Victoria had a display of heat and sun tolerant annuals that would be suitable for containers and gardens. She divided the plants into three categories…thriller, body and trailing plants.

“Thriller” plants add the “WOW” factor to the container or garden. Examples of thrillers suggested by Victoria are Kim Queen, Bird of Paradise, Mandevilla and grasses such as King Tut. Thrillers can be brought indoors over winter but Victoria admitted that few survive due to the limited number of hours of sunlight during the winter months. 

“Body” plants are added to the container or gardens to fill in the space around the thriller. Dipladenia is a good example of a body plant and in comes in a range of gorgeous colours. This plant is interesting in that its roots store water and release the water as needed by the plant. Some body plants shown by Victoria included Dahlia (not tubers), heliotrope, tall verbena, summer snapdragon, nemesia, sun patience, solenia begonia (replaces the shade begonia), canary wing (can handle sun but notheat), angel wings (can handle heat and about ½ day of sunlight). 

“Trailing” plants cascade over the container to add extra foliage and colour. They can also be used along the border of a garden. Super petunias are a favourite trailer. According to Victoria, these petunias “eat like a teenager” so they need to be fertilized on a weekly basis for continuous blooms. And the good news is that they do not need to be deadheaded…. simply trim back about 1/3 of the plant when it grows too long. Trailers such as lotus vine, mezoo, lemon coral sedum, cupcake portulaca are suitable for sunny locations. Coleus can handle heat but not sun.

Victoria planted a container to show the members how to incorporate the three types of plants-thriller, body and trailing. BIG pots work the best as they hold lots of soil and lots of soil holds lots of water. Drainage holes are essential as most plants do not like wet feet! When planting, gently pull the roots apart as you remove it from its container. It is important to fertilize annuals at least once a week for continuous summer blooms. Never fertilize when the soil is dry as the fertilizer can burn the roots.

And a lucky member won the beautiful container!!! Members were able to purchase a variety of plants that were discussed throughout Victoria’s presentation. 

In conclusion, Victoria urged the members to try new annuals in their gardens and containers…. you might be pleasantly surprised with your choice!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

July 4-6…Tweed Fair.

August 5…Pot Luck dinner. More details to follow.

September 2…7 pm at Tweed Library… Collin Campbell, owner and chief arborist at Campbell’s Orchard will provide details about pruning fruit trees and monitoring for disease and pests.

In spite of a rainy forecast, the weather mostly held for this year’s Tweed Hort plant sale. Shoppers came early to stock up on their favourites from the several plant-filled trailers at Memorial Park. All the plants are donated from local gardeners.

Christene Gilby, owner of Sunworshipper Succulents in Belleville, returned as guest speaker for the May meeting of the Tweed and District Horticultural Society. This time, Christene spoke about her second “love”, air plants. The colours, shapes and texture of these plants are what makes them so unique in addition to growing without soil!!!

Christene’s presentation highlighted the unique characteristics of air plants and their care:

-although the plants, which are native to Mexico, Central and South and America do not require soil, they do have a root system that allows them to attach to trees in their natural environment

-they tend to grow on the north side of trees to avoid direct sunlight

-in her store, Christene uses the fluorescent lights; bright indirect lighting in the home is fine and grow lights can also be used

-distilled water or water treated with water softeners should never be used to water air plants; acceptable water is pond, rain and tap water 

-watering is scheduled in the store and she uses the “soak” method; plants are soaked for 4 hours, shake off water by grabbing the roots and letting dry on a towel for several hours

-shaking the plant is important to avoid too much water collecting between the leaves that can rot the plant

-misting is another way of watering…a light mist only

-water every two weeks in summer and every ten days in winter

-room temperature is acceptable

If you notice brown tips, simply snip off the brown. If a leaf breaks, cut off the leaf on an angle. The root system can also be trimmed. 

The colour on air plants, called “blushing” occurs prior to blooming. If more colour is desired, parts of the plant can be manually painted or spray painted with a special paint. After blooming, the plant produces its babies.  When the baby is a third the size of the parent, it can be carefully removed with sharp scissors to become its own plant. 

Christene had several unique containers to display the air plants. 

Members were given the opportunity to shop for air plants at the conclusion of the meeting. 

The store, Sunworshipper Succulents is located at 191 Dundas Street East, Unit #3 Belleville

Phone 613-970-1556

Email…sunworsuc@gmail.com

UPCOMING EVENTS:

May 17…Plant Sale at Tweed Memorial Park @ 8am

June 3…Victoria Whitney from Griffins Greenhouses in Peterborough will talk about the best annuals to include in your gardens and planters for continuous colour throughout the summer. There will be plants for sale. Cash only.

After a weekend of ice, snow, wind and power outages (Ice Storm of 2025), it was wonderful to enjoy George Thomson and Elizabeth Churcher’s power point presentation, “Pollinator Power” at the April Meeting of the Tweed and District Horticultural Society. Through their  presentation, members were able to learn about the many different plants that help pollinators in our gardens. 

A pollinator is a living organism that carries pollen from the stamen (male flower part) to the stigma (female flower part). Pollen must move in order for the plant to different plants fertilized and produce fruit, flowers and seeds. Bees carry pollen back to their nests on their backs. They “buzz” pollen by moving their wings and this helps pollen to fall. 

Pollinator gardens must be pesticide free and have blossoms throughout the spring, summer and fall. Some examples of pollinator plants…phlox, flax, lamium, butterfly bush, milkweed, blackeye Susan, obedient. And for wet areas, heliopsis, cardinal flower and blanket flower. 

George and Elizabeth’s gardens reflect their desire to attract pollinators. In the herb garden, they have planted dill, lavender and sage to attract swallowtail butterflies and bumble bees. Broccoli will flower in the fall and the butterflies enjoy it until snow. Their property has orange hawk. prickly ash, sumac, high bush cranberry and lupins which are all wonderful pollinators. 

Pollinator gardens do not have to be large…they can be established in any space. The secret is having the correct plants to attract the pollinators.  Even a vegetable garden can attract pollinators. George and Elizabeth add zinnas to the edge of their vegetable gardens. Sunflowers are a great addition to vegetable gardens as they attract 73 different kinds of butterflies and moths. It was interesting to learn that the flowers on potatoes have no nectar but do have pollen…good idea to add potatoes to the veggie garden!

Suggested plants to attract pollinators…monarda, shasta daisy, lamb’s ears, liatris, gaillardia, tall coreopsis, sedum, hyssop, brown-eyed Susan, verbena, New England aster.

Native trees and shrubs…hackberry, chokeberry, blueberries, mountain ash, fruit bushes, serviceberry.

Non-native herbaceous plants…. hollyhock, tall phlox, oregano, chives, columbine, centaurea, sweet William.

Non-native trees and shrubs…. apple, flowering crab, willow, weigelia, Korean lilac, mulberry. 

In conclusion, George and Elizabeth said they try their best to help nature and by doing this it gives them a personal feeling of self-fulfillment. And members now have a wealth of plants that can be added to their gardens for “Pollinator Power”!!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

May 6 @ 7 pm…Christine Reid-Gilbey, owner of Sun Worshipper Succulents in Belleville will talk about Air Plants. She will have plants for sale. 

May 17…Plant Sale at Tweed Memorial Park

Carson Authur shared his knowledge of bagged soils, fertilizers and amendments at the March meeting of the Tweed and District Horticultural Society. Carson is the owner of Carson’s Garden Market in the County and host of Take it Outside on CJBQ radio Saturday mornings.

When shopping for soil, compost, fertilizers and soil amendments consumers are faced with many choices. Throughout his power point presentation, Carson stressed the importance of READING THE LABELS!!! 

Carson started his presentation by defining the difference between dirt and soil…. dirt is what we get on our hands and pants whereas soil is filled with nutritious microorganisms that promote healthy plant growth.Top soil is the 6 inches of soil removed from an area. Once the area sits for 60 days, more “top soil” can be removed…. however, the quality of the soil decreases over time. Charcoal is added to the bags to make the soil black-hence the name “Black Earth”!

Potting soil has soil whereas potting mix has no soil. 

According to Carson, gardeners LOVE triple mix…but do they read the label to see what constitutes triple mix?? Triple mix is a mixture of any three ingredients…. soil, sand, compost, peat moss and even “scary products” can be added to the mix. Read the label to see what the three ingredients are in the bag you are buying. If buying in bulk, ask the supplier. 

He suggests replacing peat moss with manure or coconut fiber.

According to Carson, organic fertilizers are better for plants. Yes, they may be a bit more work and money for the gardener but the results are well worth the extra effort. Chemical fertilizers weaken the plants over time. Carson gave the example of strawberries from California…. largeand red but tasteless when you bite into one as the farms use chemicalfertilizers whereas the strawberries that were fertilized with an organic fertilizer are perhaps smaller but very tasty! 

Examples of organic fertilizers…. Bone Meal, Blood Meal, Kelp,  chicken manure.

Chicken manure contains nitrogen and no weeds but should not be used around lettuce (potential of E coli or salmonella).

Cow manure is a good source of fibre to replace peat moss…use the oldest available.

Horse manure is good for trees and hydrangeas but not vegetables…. weed seeds and dewormer is present.

Lamb manure contains lots of weed seeds…needs to be sterilized before using…contains fiber.

Pig manure should not be used on plants. 

According to Carson, the #1 manure is Alpaca manure. Llama is also good but harder to collect. 

Bagged mushroom compost is suitable to use in garden. 

Carson touched on the topic of composting during his presentation. Veggie scraps are good compost. But it takes 3 years for scraps, leaves, etc. to breakdown and become compost. So, he suggests building a 3-compost bin…. the first bin is this year’s scraps, the second bin is last year’s and the third bin is ready to use! Adding a $5 container of worms speeds up the composting. 

Some home remedies to amend the soil…

-egg shells…can take 3 years to beak down; need to be baked at 200 degrees to kill any salmonella

-coffee grinds…good but chipmunks love them! And they can be toxic to dogs

To conclude his presentation, Carson’s advice was to READ THE LABELS, ASK QUESTIONS and look for ORGANIC OPTIONS. By doing these three things, we as gardeners are making better choices for our gardens and ultimately for the food we consume.

NEXT MEETING:

April 1 @ 7 pm…Helene Darisse, a local herbalist will share her knowledge of foraging herbs growing in our backyards to make remedies for aches, pains and minor illnesses.

To start 2025, Tweed and District Horticultural Society welcomed Nadine Campeau, the dietitian at Gateway Community Heath Centre in Tweed. Nadine facilitates a Collective Kitchen Program at GCHC twice a month to help participants prepare heathy meals that they can take home after the session. 

Using a quick and easy recipe, Nadine prepared pickled vegetables for canning. Throughout the demonstration, Nadine discussed the “safety” aspects involved in canning to prevent cross contamination and spoilage.

General Guidelines that Nadine shared throughout her presentation….

-use Mason jars as they can withstand higher heat; each jar requires a metal disk and metal screw band; jars must be sterilized in boiling water

-sterilize any equipment that will be used during the preparation

-always leave the proper headspace; recipe indicates this

-remove air bubbles after filling the jar

-tighten lids “finger tip tight”

-use a jar lifter to place jars in canner and to remove jars

-adjust processing times based on altitude above sea level

-after processing, do NOT retighten bands or turn upside down

-allow jars to cool for 12-24 hours; press centre of disk to see if it is concave; if the centre does not flex up, the lid has a good vacuum seal

-after 24 hours, remove the screw band (properly sealed jars do not require a band to hold the lid in place), wipe the jar and store in cool dry place

After an hour, the pickled vegetables were ready to be tasted. 

Nadine briefly talked about pressure canning procedures…. again, she stressed the importance of sterilizing equipment, using good quality ingredients, adjusting time and pressure for higher altitudes; following scientifically tested recipes.

Members can now plan their gardens to incorporate the veggies (cauliflower, peppers, small white onions, carrots, zucchini, celery) that were used in Nadine’s simple pickled vegetable recipe or purchase them from your local grocery store at this time of year. This recipe is a sure hit with almost any meal!

NEXT MEETING:

March 4 @ 7 pm…Carson Arthur, owner of Carson’s Garden and Market in the County and host of Take it Outside with Carson Arthur on CJBQ, will discuss the “tricky” world of bagged soils, fertilizers and amendments. He will also address compost and manure. 

NOTE: This meeting will be at the White Building which is located at the fairgrounds in Tweed. Free will offering for non-members.