In alphabetical order, printed below, you will find the annual reports covering all of the projects and operations of the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society in 2024 – A clear reflection of the contributions of both directors and members to the society and to the community.
Annandale Museum Gardens – Liz Bukta, Chairperson
The Annandale gardens are filled with many annuals, perennials, bulbs, shrubs and trees providing a beautiful landscape of colour, texture and fragrance. Each year the gardens are cared for by a group of dedicated volunteers who have a passion for gardening.
2024 was an active year, which started with our regular spring clean up. The volunteers completed many tasks such as clearing out the beds and common areas of leaf debris, weeding, sweeping walkways, garden edging and the cleaning of pots to make ready for the coming seasons. In addition to the garden beds surrounding the museum and the house, there is also the flowerbed across the street near the school. This bed is cleaned up three times per year to keep it looking nice. After our clean up we completed any necessary pruning of shrubs and other plants. The Town of Tillsonburg provided us with approximately 15 bags of topsoil, which was put to good use, were needed around the gardens.
In April we filled flowerpots with pansies and dogwood branches to welcome spring. During this busy time, after making a review of the gardens, we transplanted perennials where needed and divided others. One necessary task that was completed in spring included the removal of an old hydrangea bush that had a split down the middle of the trunk due to winter damage. This bush was located at the old front entrance of the house on Hyman St. A “White Star” magnolia was purchased and planted in its place.
The spring shopping trips to various nurseries helped us to search for plants and provide ideas and inspiration for landscape design. As a result, we purchased ten new perennials because of their uniqueness and three new large heavy-duty pots. These pots were placed on each porch (front and side) and at the back entrance. Other purchases included basic garden supplies needed such as fertilizer. We are grateful for the help from Jami and her husband as they completed a major pruning of the Japanese Maple (near the side porch) using their specialized tools for the job. This tree was severely overgrown and needed re-shaping.
In May we prepped for the Horticultural Society plant sale. The Annandale gardens contribute a large number of perennials each year. We were very busy digging/dividing and potting up plants. The gardens provided approximately 25 – 30 pots for the sale.
For the summer, 13 flowerpots/planters were completed and displayed around the grounds. The three main flowerpots in front were designed with Bird of Paradise as the center feature surrounded by Red Dipladenia’s and trailing Ivy. Annuals such as Red Geraniums, Petunia’s, Impatiens of white, orange, red and large Marigolds were also planted in the garden beds. The two wall planters included Orange/Peach Begonia’s. Other purchases included three Orange Daylilies that were planted in the front garden bed. Regular hand watering is completed by our volunteers. This includes all the pots and any annuals and/or perennial beds depending on weather and/or location. Due to the very humid/wet season we unfortunately had a problem with powdery mildew on various plants.
Maintenance during the summer involves dead heading any annuals, perennials and spring bulbs near their end. We also have a continual problem with large weeds coming through the fence line at the back from neighbouring yards.
In the Fall, we planted daffodil bulbs donated to the society and are looking forward to them coming up this spring. Reflector sticks were purchased to protect the flowerbed adjacent to the parking lot in the hopes of keeping salt and snow from being moved into the garden. The Fall flowerpots included Fountain Grass, Mums, Cabbage and Peppers. Fall also includes clean up of beds and some planters are put away for the year.
For the Winter/Christmas season we designed and planted 11 flowerpots with seasonal greenery and decor, making sure all are completed in time for Annandale’s Open House.
It has been a busy and enjoyable year. Throughout the year the volunteers strive to keep the gardens looking their best not only for the general public but also for the many events at the museum such as “Music on the Lawn”.
All this time and hard work is accomplished by many volunteers. Those volunteers were:
Liz Bukta. Tony Bukta, Lois Hersey, Jami Stephenson, Mary Speechley, Betty Koppens, Lucy Manville and Maggie Reid
Volunteer Hours:
Bert Newman Park – Cathy Kovacs, Director
Bert Newman Park is one of the Town of Tillsonburg’s neighbourhood parks located on the corner of Lisgar Ave and Bridge St. East. The THS looks after the park’s gardens.
The season started in April with a volunteer from last year cleaning up the majority of the gardens at the end of April, beginning of May. Six volunteers signed up to help with the gardens and showed up on June 4th and 5th to plant red salvia, alyssum, marigold, vinca, impatiens, orange dragon wing begonias, lime green coleus, as well as, cana lily bulbs and perennials left from the Garden Auction.
Unfortunately, due to illness two of the volunteers had to rescind their commitment. Three others ended up having to limit their time due to heat issues, family, and vacations. This left one person doing the majority of the watering, weeding and maintenance of the park. A volunteer from last year looked after the butterfly garden which was started last year but she did not want to devote more time to the park due to other commitments. In the fall, three members from the Board helped plant spring bulbs and mums in the Park.
Fortunately, this past summer we had a wetter than usual July and August which helped with the watering of all but the centre garden in the Park. The dragon wing begonias were not a good choice for the centre garden and suffered. This has been noted for next year. The other issue with the garden is it is sloped from the middle of the garden down which does not allow the garden to hold water. The other gardens in the park did very well.
Concern was brought to the attention of the THS Board President, a Vice President and Cathy Kovacs in September over the lack of watering at the park by a couple Horticulture Society members. This is being addressed. We are looking at more drought tolerant and native plants for next year. We are also looking into possible enhancements to the park which will help alleviate the amount of water needed for the gardens, particularly the centre garden.
This summer, the Town was asked by THS to fix the brick retaining wall around the Lisgar Ave flower bed and to trim the tree canopy of large dead branches for safety reasons. They were also asked by the neighbour to fix the wood retaining wall behind the benches. This was done and has enhanced the look of the park. The Town looked after mowing the lawns. The fence around the Park is old and looking rundown in many spots. The neighbours of the park and THS has been involved with the Town in looking at options to replace or even possibly remove the fence. This is in the hands of the Town and a possible decision is awaiting 2025 budget decisions. Last year’s issues with the homeless were basically non-existent.
This year a Floating Cloud Japanese Maple was planted in late May in memory of a local resident by her family. The hydrangea tree in the memorial garden between the benches was replaced with a new one. Four shrubs and the Siberian Pea tree were removed as they were dying. These will be replaced with by plants or shrubs in the Spring. This fall, 320 spring bulbs were planted throughout the gardens in the Park. Overall, it is a lovely Park which the local residents enjoy fully. They appreciate the efforts the THS puts into maintaining this small corner of Town.
Volunteer Hours: 310
Financial Statement – Frank Van Heck, Treasurer
Financial Statements for the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society from November 1, 2022 to October 31, 2024.
Volunteer Hours:
Garden Auction and Plant Sale – Christine Nagy, President
The 16th annual fund-raiser was held on Tuesday, May 21 in the Lions Auditorium of the Tillsonburg Community Complex, as per usual.
Set up started at 9:00 a.m. with an army of volunteers. Doors opened at 10:00 a.m. for donations to be received. This year, it was felt that there were not the same number of plant donations as in years past. However, there was a fair number of “gently used” tools and equipment that seem to make up the difference.
There was a new group of volunteers who created various plant baskets and pots and who did an excellent job.
There were very generous donations for the bake table as well as generous sandwich donations from 3 local deli’s.
There were generous new item donations from close to 100 companies and businesses located as far away as St. Thomas, Verchoyle, Ingersoll and Norwich as well as from our town of Tillsonburg.
We had a full complement of fundraising stations:
- Cash Table for plants, tools, equipment, etc.
- Herb & Vegetable Table
- Prize Table for donations and plants
- Bake Table
- Live Auction
The evening auction was conducted by Bev Burrill for his 14th time. We had 4 excellent student volunteers who smoothly delivered auction wins to patrons and cheerfully helped loading vehicles with purchases.
It was a very successful event, matching financial goals and expectations and ending at 8:45 p.m.
Volunteer Hours: 350
Greetings – Dena Luyt, Director
Each member receives a name tag at our meetings. This allows us to get to know each other, to ensure those attending are current members or guests and also to keep track of our membership numbers.
Volunteer Hours: 15
Junior Gardener – Cathy Kovacs, Director
The Junior Gardener Program is offered by the THS to children in our community ages 6 to 14 years old. The theme this year was “A Sensory Garden”. We had 67 children register for the program. 60 children picked up their planting packages at Tillsonburg Garden Gate the first weekend of June. Each package included thyme, basil, Rainbow carrots, Sugar Snap peas, Detroit Dark Red beets, snapdragons, marigolds, nasturtium, Tithonia Torch, Crocosmia bulbs, Grape Hyacinth bulbs, daffodil bulbs, the last two for the fall which were not judged,tomato plants, and an information booklet.
The Junior Gardener’s independently planted, watered, weeded, and nurtured their gardens all summer. They were encouraged to add additional plants and were asked to make a “Sense-a-tional” accessory to enhance their gardens. Their creations were sensational. We have some very talented young people in our community.
This year 17 children elected to have their gardens judged by five THS volunteers in August. The judges visited the gardens and asked the gardeners about their gardens and their gardening experiences. Each gardener received a Certificate of Achievement and a garden kneeler. The gardens were exceptional and the gardeners were very proud of their gardens.
Volunteer Hours: 173
Membership – Marg McCrimmon, Director
Royal Canadian Legion – Jean Martin, Director
There were two white cedars that needed to be replaced. The Legion team added more dirt to improve the soil to the beds alongside the building and replaced the trees with Blue Arrow Junipers. These will take up less space in the limited area and will withstand the salt on the adjacent walkway. We removed the spent tulip leaves and planted the cross shaped bed in front of the RCL building with red begonias. The cross was bordered with Dusty Miller. The beds along the building were planted with additional Dusty Miller and red begonias, and purple petunias and bracopa were planted on the parking lot side of the building. The team spent the rest of the summer watering, pruning and maintaining the beds. The combination of the red begonias and the silvery white/green of the Dusty Miller worked well. As an added bonus, the Dusty Miller continues to look good so we have left it for visual interest over the winter. The team did great work over the summer. Looking forward to the red Spring tulips!
Volunteers: Jean Martin, Jen Thompson. Jane Tunks and Hanna Hopper
Volunteer Hours: 54
Scholarship – Judi Misener, Director
The $1500 scholarship was awarded to Shauna Puente. She is pursuing studies at Niagara College. Her program is very interesting and so appropriate for receiving the scholarship – Green House Technology.
Volunteer Hours: 5
Senior Centre Gardens – Dena Luyt, Director and Co-Chair Diane Pozsgai
Early May, the Tillsonburg town employees safely straightened up 2 leaning edge boulders in the middle garden.
In keeping with the colour of this year, coral Orange & white geraniums in the east garden and yellow and Orange marigolds along the north garden were planted by our volunteers. Three spirea plants were planted in the east garden. Three variegated hostas were planted in the side garden.
From then on, the annuals and newly planted perennials were watered 1-2 times weekly depending on rainfall along with weeding and dead-heading as necessary.
Late June, most of the marigolds withered away possibly due to insect infestation, so coral Orange & white geraniums were added to replace the marigolds.
In July, Barb Quantrill assisted us with labelling the various perennials. As volunteers in this garden, we hear so many compliments about the variety and colours of the gardens plants throughout the summer! The Liatrus, Lillies, Fern Leaf Coreopsis among other perennials were radiant with multi-colours.
Tulip bulbs and autumn chrysanthemums were added to the gardens in early October.
Fall garden cleanup Oct 19 was a pleasure with the help of lots of volunteers and a lovely, sunny fall day.
Volunteer Hours: 100
Social Media / Facebook – Pat Zeyen, Director
In 2024, THS social media were active on two platforms, Facebook and Instagram.
Posts were generated on social media pages, once or twice a week. Facebook and Instagram posts included brief descriptions and photos of THS general meetings, Annual Spring Buying bus trip to KW area, 16th Annual Garden Auction, Junior Gardener Program, Community Gardens, Turtlefest, Members 2024 Summer Garden Tour, Annual August Social at Barb & Frank Schuster’s property, THS 2024 “Newmarket Christmas Home Tour”, Annual Christmas Potluck, “It’s still just dirt” by Sue Healey, articles of horticultural interest, THS member garden pictures and cartoons for laughs.
We have 300+ social media friends that follow us. We have a community awareness and encourage people to join our society through our social media accounts.
Volunteer Hours: 120
Speakers Program – Barb Quantrill, Director
The 2024 monthly speakers for the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society did not disappoint this year. Educating our members on all aspects of gardening is our top priority. Topics on Bugs and Diseases, Starting Seeds and Cuttings, Native Plants, Spring Bulbs and Hostas were just some of the presentations that are members enjoyed. We even had a physiotherapist demonstrate exercises and stretches to keep all of us injury free while working in our beloved gardens.
Our 2nd annual March Madness –Panel of Knowledge, where our members email in a gardening issue, and a duo of Master Gardeners and a Nursery Owner, answer their questions at the March meeting, was again a great success.
This year we started an email survey after each meeting asking attendees to give us a 1–5-star rating on the speaker they saw. This will help us to book the type of topics our membership would like to see in the future. We had a total of 9 speakers this year. Each has received an average of 4-5 stars from our members.
Volunteer Hours:
Station Arts Centre – Sue Healey, Director
2024 brought ample rain and enough sun so that our 4 planters at the entrances to the Station Arts Centre were splendid throughout the year. The season began with a refreshing winter arrangement, beautifully composed by The Tillsonburg Garden Gate. Summer brought new planters kindly donated by Green Theory, located in Tillsonburg. These new urns brought an opportunity to increase our society’s impact with their larger profile. Once again, Tillsonburg Garden Gate rose to the challenge to provide four impressive displays of thrillers, spillers and fillers for autumn and winter. Watering help came from our local BIA and a few mystery volunteers.
Volunteer hours:
Sunshine and Greetings – Marie Smith, Director
A total of 24 cards have been sent out to members of the Society. The cards were either get well, thinking of you and sympathy cards.
Volunteer Hours: 9
Tours – Christine Nagy, President
Two tours were planned and executed for the 2023=4 calendar year. The Spring Buying tour was sold out which really is no surprise – it’s a very popular tour regardless of where we travel. The “Newmarket Christmas House” tour was poorly received with only 35 passengers on board. Regardless of this, both tours generated income. Totally there were 91 passengers from both trips. A big thank you to all members who supported these Society excursions. While very social, these tours always include a horticultural component, whether purchasing spring plants or becoming inspired with the creative holiday talents of gardeners and professional designers. These trips provided, once again, an opportunity for members to meet other members, gaining new friends in the process.
May 30, 2024 – Spring Buying Tour and Private Garden Tour in Kitchener and Area
November 18, 2024 – “Newmarket Christmas” in Newmarket and Fergus Area
Volunteer Hours: 100
TurtleFest – Jean Martin, Director
We participated in Tillsonburg’s TurtleFest on June 15, 2024. The Horticultural Society had a table with information on the Society and on the Junior Gardiners Program. There was a Name that Plant activity and a craft offered to construct mobiles with painted egg carton cups. Cutting and painting the egg carton cups was time consuming and there were a number of volunteers enlisted to help with this. The event ran from 11:00 a.m. to 7 p.m. on June 15. A call for volunteers was generously answered and we had full coverage for the event. We are looking forward to next year and further outreach and promotion of the Horticultural Society to the Tillsonburg community.
Volunteers: Betty Ann Mulholland, Mary Jane Leighton, Joan Massicotte, Bev Bowman,
Emily Sloan, Hanna Hopper, Jean Martin, Jackie Oliver, Donnagene Nichols, Annette Mitchell, Jan
Peters, Ruth Jones, Millie Heimbecker, Millie Corman, Margaret McCrimmon, Alana Keba and Diane Collins
Volunteer Hours: 19.5
Volunteer Awards – Marian Smith, Director
Volunteers aren’t paid – not because they’re worthless, but because they are priceless.
Volunteers are recognized for continuous years of commitment and dedicated service to the Horticultural Society. This means continuous service throughout the year, not just one time service (which we also appreciate). Tillsonburg Horticultural Society is extremely grateful to all their volunteers who accomplish so much. Certificates of Appreciation will be given to the following volunteers and their names were submitted to the Province of Ontario for the Ontario Volunteer Awards. Recipients of appreciation certifications for 2024 are:
Sue Healey – 5 years
Dena Luyt – 15 years
Albert Acre – 20 years
Marian Smith – 20 years
Website – Pat Zeyen, Director
The THS website was a new responsibility for me in 2024. The WordPress program had a learning curve.
All pages were updated with current information and photos. Website pages included Welcome ~ Presidents Message, Who We Are, Galleries, News, Events/Meetings, In the Community, Membership, 2024 Garden Auction and Plant Sale, Junior Gardens and “It’s just dirt” article. The latest news is easily viewed on the welcome page.
Please visit the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society website at https://tillsonburghorticultural.ca
Volunteer Hours: 80