Land of Lakes Garden Club

Rosemary Teed | May 04, 2016

The Land Of Lakes Garden Club is a vibrant group of community residents who meet summer and fall, each month from April to November on the second Thursday of the month, at 7PM in the Pineview Church basement in Cloyne. We come from far and wide; some members are from as far east and south as Verona and Arden as well as from the communities of Cloyne, Northbrook, Plevna, Flinton and area at large.

Our collective backgrounds are diversely varied but we hold at least one thing in common and that is a love of plants, and gardening. Each of us gardens in a different way, but the essence of earth and sun and rain and the miracle of planting a seed and seeing it bloom or produce food is a bond that crosses every divide. We are indeed a band of gardeners and we are always looking for more.

We host interesting and informative speakers each month who talk to us on a myriad of garden and environmentally related subjects. This summer we have a lineup of excellent speakers dealing with topics like Garden Pests; and How Herbs both Culinary and Medicinal enhance our physical selves.

Tiered and Terraced gardening is another upcoming subject in July. We have seven speakers in total scheduled for 2016 and we are delighted to have you join us for any one of these talks. If you choose to become a member we are pleased…our membership fee is a mere $10 per year and your rewards from joining will be tenfold.

We hold workshops and hands-on events too, such as the making of Christmas Swags and Wreaths, a very popular event.

Besides our regular meetings our group has initiated and continues to evolve many community-enhancing projects that benefit our larger community.
We organize and execute a Community Planter Program. You will see our containers around the area of Northbrook, Cloyne, and Flinton during the summer, overflowing with our flower picks for the season. We keep the Pioneer Cemetery on Little Pond Rd well planted and maintained. The Township Halls in Cloyne, Harlowe and Flinton all benefit from our plantings and maintenance. The planting of shrubs, trees and flowers enhance a public building and demonstrates pride in our area and we feel this is a project that has been and continues to be successful for the community. Two of our members make up flower baskets for the homebound clients of the Meals on Wheels program at Easter and Thanksgiving.

And what is our seniors’ home, Pine Meadow, without the joy of gardens with flowers and shrubs that the residents may enjoy? This is a significant project that involved the design and planting of the gardens at Pine Meadow as they exist today. We all know that a garden planted must be maintained, refreshed and enhanced. Our Pine Meadows project continues.

This year we will hold our spring cleanup on May 16 to clear up winter’s detritus, and June 20 is our big planting day when all the colourful annuals that the residents enjoy so much go into the gardens. Our crew of volunteers enjoys this project as much as the residents enjoy the result.

The months of May and June are extremely busy ones for all our members, as we have cleanup days, planting days and one of our best events, our annual Plant Sale. This takes place May 28 at 9AM at the Barry Township Hall in Cloyne. This event draws eager buyers who line up for entry opening at 9AM. The plants for sale come from great gardener’s gardens and are healthy products, acclimatized to the area and ready to bring joy into your garden. The plant types are many, from beloved Hostas to Day Lilies and all sorts of perennials as gardeners love plants and you may come across some lovely and unique specimens. Arrive early so not to miss out on this LOLGC Spring Plant Sale. All our proceeds go back into our maintenance and expansion of community projects.

This year we are planning a big Community Project for Canada’s Sesquicentennial in 2017 …watch for articles in this newspaper that will provide readers with information on planned events upcoming in 2017 sponsored by the LOL Garden Club.

Our Mission Statement reads: To promote awareness and an appreciation of nature’s bounty, through members’ commitment, and community outreach, to encourage participation in diverse gardening activities through mentoring novice gardeners and by educating all members in current gardening practices through workshops, guest speakers, field trips and other related activities.

Come join us and bring your ideas and enthusiasm to a great group, doing significant community work. Whether you are a seasoned gardener or a beginner makes no difference. Join us and enjoy what this great group has to offer.

Here is our schedule of upcoming events. All meetings start at 7pm with the exception of the last meeting in November, which starts at 5pm.

May 12: Doris Power, Master Gardener from the Kingston Horticultural Society will talk to us about “Know your Enemy”, Garden Pests; how they reproduce, what damage they cause, and how to eradicate them!!

May 28: annual Plant Sale at the Barrie Hall, 9-11am.

Jun 9: Brad Smith & Michelle Cole from Herb Haven in Napanee will talk to us about the benefits of herbs, both culinary and medicinal and how the vitamins & minerals in herbs help to build & protect our systems.

Jul 14: Carol Hegadorn, Master Gardener from the Kingston Horticultural Society, will talk to us about tiered & terraced gardens.

Aug 11: Katherine Aunger will talk to us about Celestial Gardening – planting by the phases of the moon.

Sep 8: Conrad Grol from Tweed will talk to us about the Clematis vine and will give us different ways to display this very showy plant. Conrad has studied Horticulture at the University of Guelph.

Oct 13: Diane Huddle, Master Gardener from the Kingston Horticultural Society will show us how to make a beautiful Winter Planter.

Nov 10: Once again we are very happy to have Michelle VandenBosch come back to teach us some new Christmas decorating ideas. Always lots of fun!! This is also our AGM with a pot-luck dinner and will start early, at 5pm.