TUESDAYS at 7:30 p.m.

Upcoming Events

Saturday, May 13
9 a.m.
Volunteers needed
Digging up perennials
Northern Perennials
R.R. #1 Astorville

Tuesday, May 23rd
General meeting 7:30 p.m.
Speaker : Sue Greig
Container gardening
made simple

North Bay Horticultural Society
Plant sale
Saturday, May 27th
Christ Church Anglican
890 Vimy Street

Flower show Saturday, July 8th
Northgate Shopping Centre

Next meeting

Tuesday, May 23th
General meeting 7:30 p.m.
Master Gardener Q & A
Speaker : Sue Greig Master Gardener, will be talk about container gardening at Christ Church Anglican, 890 Vimy Street, 2 streets north of Scollard

There is loads of parking and easily accessible to all. This is the same location that we have been holding our plant sale for the past two years. The church is on 890 Vimy Street, two streets north of Scollard Avenue and 3 blocks up from Algonquin. Don’t forget that our meetings are now TUESDAY evenings, still at 7:30 p.m.!

PLEASE, PLEASE LUG YOUR MUG !!
Help us protect the environment!!

LOST AND FOUND
A pretty flowery mug was left behind at the potluck. Claim at membership table at next meeting.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED – Here is an easy one everyone can help with

We would love to get the word out about our great plant sale. If you could post the poster attached to your last Green Thumb in your workplace, favourite store, or other location, we would be grateful. Spread the word!!

May and June. Soft syllables, gentle names for the two best months in the garden year: cool, misty mornings gently burned away with a warming spring sun, followed by breezy afternoons and chilly nights. The discussion of philosophy is over; it's time for work to begin.
- Peter Loewer

GARDENING GUIDE
Mid May to Mid June
Fertilize grass with a good quality lawn fertilizer. This will supply a boost of nutrients to get turf grass plants off to a good start this season.
Prune out dead and spindly wood on rose bushes. Cut remaining canes back so each has 3 to 5 buds left - top bud should be outfacing.
Plant shrubs, trees, hedges and roses. Evergreens should be planted in late spring and always with a ball of earth.
Transplant biennials (violas, pansies, foxgloves, etc.), perennials, container stock, Fall mums. Pinch out new growth in mums to encourage plants to fill out and increase size for fall.
Check trees for caterpillars and other insects.
Turn compost heap to start it working after winter dormancy.
Deadhead faded blooms from spring bulbs. Do not remove leaves - they provide nutrients to the bulbs.
Prune raspberries, vines, evergreens, hedges, hydrangeas, and lilacs and crabapple after flowering.
Water lawns and gardens regularly, preferably in the morning. Use seed-free grass clippings and compost on gardens to conserve moisture and control weeds.
Stake tall-growing perennials and tie up vines.
Continue to seed cool weather vegetables for a continuous crop for table and freezer. Seed warm weather vegetables (e.g. green and wax beans) once soil has warmed up and transplant tomatoes, peppers, basil, etc.
Mow lawn, cutting to not less than 2 inches. Leave clippings where they lie, at least occasionally. This provides protection from the sun, provides nutrients as the clippings decompose and helps retain moisture.
Weed vegetable and flower gardens. Regular hoeing keeps the task from becoming a time-consuming chore. Put a neat edge on all flower beds.
Most overcrowded perennials can be divided Pot up the extras for the plant sale!

Master Gardener’s Question of the month

Q: My bridal wreath spirea has branches which seem to die off all during the year. What can I do to prevent this?

Master Gardener’s Hotline 495-0920
Have a gardening question? Leave a message on their answering machine and local Master Gardener volunteer will call back with an answer! A free service.

Do you have a question for our new Master Gardener section of the newsletter? Please send them to [email protected] or drop them off at the membership table on meeting night!

SPRING Plant Sale Saturday May 27th 9 a.m. Christ Church Anglican

This is a reminder about our plant sale which will take place Saturday May 27th 9AM at Christ Church, Vimy St, North Bay.

Please bring your plants on Friday 26th May after 5PM when we will be setting up. Help is needed on Friday 26th May 5PM onwards to set up and on Saturday 27th May 8AM onwards for the sale and clearing up after the sale.
Sandra Charette and her team will be providing coffee and muffins again this year.

PLEASE NOTE. It is the usual tradition for members who help set up the sale on Friday evening to choose plants when the work is done on Friday; this is one of the perks of giving your time. BUT this is only after the work is done, not during set up. The reason for this is that it causes a lot of hard feelings which are difficult to deal with. Please be considerate and observe this rule.

For more information, call 497-3121 or 472-9836

On Saturday, May 13th, at 9 a.m. we will be digging plants at Northern Perennials, RR 1, Astorville, (705) 752-1882. They have been very graciously provided by Marie Luise Fraenkel for our plant sale.
We need help with digging up, potting and storing of these plants until the day of the sale. Bring a boxed lunch if you’d like.
WE NEED STRONG MEN to dig and divide a hydrangea shrub, so guys, if you can give us an hour of your time it would be greatly appreciated.
Take Hwy-11 south from North Bay approx. 12 minutes to Hwy-654 (Lake Nosbonsing/Lake Nipissing). Turn left Lake Nosbonsing Rd. (toward Astorville) and proceed east approx. 6 km until you see Wheelers Restaurant. Turn left and Northern Perennials is on your left.

Thanks to our Volunteers!!!!!!

Thanks to Norm McLeod who has generously donated new wooden tubs for our flowers which beautify our Chamber of Commerce.

Civic beautification

Our beautiful gardens throughout our City will be bursting with blossoms soon. We will be needing help with weeding and watering at the waterfront (theme garden), the public library, Canadore College, Dellandrea Place and the Chamber of Commerce.
We will be planting Wednesday, June 17th at Canadore College (round the back by the pond), in time for their graduation ceremonies. If you would like to help, please meet at our gardens at 9:00 a.m. rain or shine. You can park at the back while working in the gardens.
If you would like to join our teams at any of these beds, please contact Ruby McLeod at the next meeting or email us at [email protected].

100th Anniversary Convention information
Tentative agenda for Ottawa 2006
FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2006.

a.m. Plenary Speaker Andre Poliquin- Topic: CLEMATIS
1:30 Bus tours leave.1. Rideau Hall 2. Herb Garden 3. Rideau Canal Boat tour.
1:30 -2:30 Seminar speakers and workshop:
- 1. My Luscious Lucretias - Brian Carson
-2. Trough workshop - Ottawa Valley Rock Garden Society
-3. Slide competition
-4. Habitat Gardening - Phillip Fry
3:00-4:00 Seminar speakers and workshop
-1. Hardy Roses - Mark Dallas
-2. Sub-Tropical Gardening - Marc Ladouceur
-3. Design - Joanne Plummer
-4. Perennials - Suzanne Patry

SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 2006.
a.m. Plenary speaker Alexander Reifer: HISTORICAL GARDENS
1:30 Bus Tours leave....
- 1. Rideau Hall
- 2. Experimental Farm
-3. Private Gardens
1:30-2:30
- 1. Hardy Roses - Mark Dallas
-2. Sub-Tropical Gardening - Marc Ladouceur
-3. Perennials - Suzanne Patry
-4. Garlic - Paul Pospisil
3:00-4:00
- 1. My Luscious Lucretias - Brian Carson
-2. Trough Workshop - OVRGA
-3. Slide competition
-4. Habitat Gardening - Philip Fry
7 p.m Banquet and Keynote Speaker: Ed Lawrence

Sunday, August 13th a.m. 9 a.m. Plenary speaker Mary Pratt - Topic: PEONIES
For more information, please see www.gardenontario.org or speak to Darlene at our meeting.

***Gilberte Lambert of the Sudbury Horticultural Society has asked any in the North Bay group who are interested in the bus trip to Ottawa OHA Convention to contact her.
Gilberte can be reached by phone at (705) 524-5779 or via e-mail at [email protected]

Understanding our pesticide bylaw

North Bay’s 2006 pesticide by-law says that no applications of pesticides, including weed and feed, are allowed unless there is a very serious infestation. There are certain conditions, called thresholds, in which pesticides can be used, but the majority of yards will not qualify. If pesticide applications are done, even by the home owner, the City needs to be notified, and the yard posted with signs to let the neighbours and other residents know. The City has signs available for this.

Some have asked “how will the by-law be enforced?” A by-law enforcement officer is being hired and it takes very little horticultural expertise to pick out the weed-free lawns in any neighbourhood.
Thanks to Peggy Walsh Craig of Nipissing Environmental Watch for this information.

Website of the month
http://www.healthylawns.net/english/index-e.html

Here is a great resource for getting your lawn off pesticides. This website includes starting a lawn, lawn maintenance, and common lawn problems.

Deer eating your garden????
We've never seen so many deer. Reports on television and in newspapers from many parts of the country report a widespread problem with deer invading even city yards and eating expensive plantings. I've found a simple, chemical free and inexpensive way to keep them from devouring my gardens and shrubbery. Through the years, I've observed the feeding habits of cows and horses in our pastures and learned some basics. Cows will not graze where other cows have deposited their droppings. Horses, on the other hand, will eat where there is cow dung, but they won't eat grass in an area contaminated by horse manure. Interestingly, deer join horses in the pastures and seem to have the same eating habits, but I can never get close enough to them to see where they feed and where they don't.
So it happened that six years ago, when a new crop of asparagus emerged in my garden, the deer devoured it as quickly as it came up. I didn't know what to do. I put up an electric fence and it helped some, but the wiser critters soon jumped it and helped themselves. So one day, I sprinkled horse manure on part of the asparagus bed and left the other part of the bed alone. The next morning there was plenty of asparagus still sprouting from the manure covered area, but every shoot was eaten where there was no manure. Was it a coincidence, or did the deer just prefer the asparagus without manure? To find out, I covered the rest of the asparagus bed with horse manure and had no further problem with deer eating it that entire spring. Apparently deer, like horses, will not feed where there's horse manure. Since this discovery, I've routinely applied horse manure to my asparagus each spring and there hasn't been a deer problem yet.
In other parts of the garden, I stuck with chicken manure and cow manure for a while, and the deer kept coming. Last year, however, I decided to switch to horse manure as my universal fertilizer. It protected favorite deer foods like corn seedlings and early spring peas and it kept marauding nibblers from blueberry bushes. It protected everything.
To prove the point, I set out several new young azalea bushes early last spring. The only horse manure I had on hand was too fresh to put on the young, tender shrubs, and by the next morning, they were eaten almost to the ground. Later in the year, I moved some azaleas I'd rooted from cuttings. I put on a layer of ground leaves for mulch, then a light layer of aged horse manure and the azaleas have done very well. I've seen deer sniff and nuzzle them, but they have not taken a single nibble. In our area, as in many areas, riding stables are happy to give folks manure free of charge, so long as they load and haul it away themselves. Some stables will deliver it for a reasonable price. Several friends have horses and I can obtain extra from them when our horse can't provide enough.
For those who don't have local access to riding stables or neighbors with horses, the next time you go for a ride in the country, take along some covered garbage cans (with liners if you prefer and keep on the lookout for horses. I've found that many folks who stable their horses in the winter are delighted to have someone volunteer to haul away the manure in the spring. My husband makes fun of me when I go out with my garden tractor, trailer in tow, and using a flat shovel as a king sized pooper-scooper gather manure in die pasture. I tell him I'm going on a treasure hunt... for brown gold.
Source : Mother Earth News, October/November 1999

Interested in learning how to design a kitchen garden??? You don’t need a farm to feed two people, just a well-planned kitchen garden. Perk up your taste buds at every meal – grow fresh herbs, a veggie or two and plenty of salad greens. Learn the techniques and see how it’s done by the pros. Don’t have a garden? The same techniques can be adapted to container gardening. Bring a willingness to learn and be prepared to get dirty. Children under the age of 16 are welcome, but must be accompanied by an adult.
Where : Canadore College (Artsperience)
Instructors : North Bay Horticultural Society’s Geri Openshaw and Audrey Morton
Date: Wednesday, July 12th, 8 a.m. – noon
To register, call Canadore College at 474-7600, ext. 5420

Spring - An experience in immortality.
- Henry D. Thoreau

Recipe of the month

Roasted asparagus with herbs Serves 4.

3 Tbsp. olive oil 2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. fresh thyme ½ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. pepper
1 pound medium asparagus 1 red or yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
4 shallots, sliced thin 10 oz. button mushrooms, quartered
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar or herbal vinegar

Adjust oven rack to upper position and heat oven to 450F. Stir oil, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper in a bowl. Spread asparagus across a baking pan and drizzle with half of the garlic mixture. Toss, then added sliced peppers, shallots and mushrooms.
Roast until asparagus begins to soften (about 10 mins.). Asparagus will turn bright green with some dark edges. Drizzle with the vinegar and continue roasting until asparagus is softened (about 5 mins.) Toss and serve.
Note: Shallots can be substituted with green onion.

Gardening gift

Think of sharing our Society with friends and family. Give a Society membership (which includes this newsletter) to friends and family for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthdays, etc. Our timely tips and local garden events keep everyone informed.
Share our love of gardening…tell a friend…only $10.00 single/$15.00 family

Need to contact us with comments, questions or suggestions?
North Bay Horticultural Society
P.O. Box 1482, North Bay, ON P1B 8K6
Website : Go to www.gardenontario.org and follow the links!
Email : [email protected]

If it's drama that you sigh for,
plant a garden and you'll get it
You will know the thrill of battle
fighting foes that will beset it
If you long for entertainment and
for pageantry most glowing,
Plant a garden and this summer spend
your time with green things growing.
- Edward A. Guest, Plant a Garden

Local events of interest

North Bay Downtown Farmer’s Market
Every Saturday May 20th to Oct 7th
Rain or shine
NEW Location – Parking lot across from City Hall

After visiting our flower show at Northgate Shopping Centre,
why not check out some of North Bay’s beautiful gardens
on the Symphony Garden tour, Saturday, July 8th!

Powassan Horticultural Society’s Garden tour
50th anniversary year, Saturday, July 15th, 9 – 4 p.m.
11 gardens and municipal park
Tickets $8.00 or 2 for $15.00

North Bay Waterfront Gardens tours
Take a guided tour of your beautiful waterfront
With friends, co-workers or other groups
Guided tour rates
1-4 people - $20.00 flat fee
5 – 12 people $5.00 per person
Hours – seasonal, by appointment only
For more information call Gail Green 476-2323
[email protected]

Treasurer’s report Apr 25/06 – submitted by Ruth Wright
Investment savings (at 1.9%) …………..$4,140.88
Deposit…………………………………….$1,033.30
Bank statement…………………………...$1,931.72
Outstanding cheques…………………….$ 90.56
Total current account…………………… $2,551.95

General Meeting Minutes Apr. 25 /06 Christ Church Anglican
Attendance 36
President Darlene Lecour called the meeting to order at 7:34pm.
Minutes of the March 28, 2006, general meeting, as printed in the Green Thumb, were moved to be adopted by Geri Openshaw and seconded by Daphne Andrews.
Motion by Helen Bannerman and seconded by Dawn Carlson - “We accept Ruth Wright’s treasurer’s report as printed in the Green Thumb”. Carried.
REPORTS
Civic Beautification - Ruby McLeod said - “Gardening time is here and we need your help”. We will be meeting at 9:30am on May 17th to plant the five beds at Canadore, rain, shine or snow, for their June 2nd graduation. Ruby would like at least three people for each bed, to plant and maintain our other locations at Dellandrea Place, the Library, Chamber of Commece, the Theme bed, the Lilac bed and the Wildflower Project. Ruby had a sign-up sheet for volunteers to autograph.
Green Thumb - Geri Openshaw asked if members had any submissions for the newsletter to give them to her or Email them, and she would like any information members would like to contribute.
Program - In May, Sue Greig’s topic will be Container Gardening. For the Strawberry Social in June, Rupert Weimer will speak on Water Gardening.
Flower Show - June Charette said - “Last year it was a Mini in-house Flower Show - this year we will have more power. Everyone is asked to bring at least one flower to the Flower Show. June would also like some help.
Plant Sale - Sue Finnis will have a map in the newsletter with directions to Marie Louise Fraenkel’s garden, for digging and potting, on May 13th at 9:00am. A strong person is needed to dig some hydrangea. Sue had a volunteer sign-up sheet for members who can help. Please bring your donations of plants after 5:00pm on May 26th, to Christ Church. Big pots are needed. The Plant Sale will open at 8:30am on May 27th.
Sandy Charette will look after the coffee and would like muffins donated.
Social - Judy Watling thanked the members who donated goodies for tonight’s menu and she asked for three members to contribute to the social for the next meeting.
New Look Committee - June Charette is looking for a new logo for the Society’s letterhead and for new Tshirts. June said she was not trying to change anything she is trying to get a new look.
History - Betty Foy had a quantity of History books for viewing. The president thanked Betty for taking the time to bring them and set them up.
Coming Events -
The Annual Spring Meeting is at Bracebridge United Church on April 29th.
Our Plant Sale is at Christ Church on May 27th.
Our Flower Power Show is at Northgate Shopping Centre, in Sears Court, on July 8th.
The OHA Convention is August 11-13/06 in Ottawa.
Door prizes were won by Aurelia Khey, Sue Greig, June Charette and Audrey Morton.
Master Gardener was Helen Tripp.
Guest Speaker was Peter Nosko who had a visual presentation of Kew Gardens at
West Sussex, England.
Submitted by Peggy Dillon, Secretary

Adjustment to General Meeting minutes of March 28/06
Guest speaker Betty Morrison ‘on trellises’ should have been
‘is conducting a Youth Program involving trellises’.