Welcome to the web site of Athens Garden Club & Horticultural Society!
Monthly Meetings
Date: Third Tuesday of the month (except July, August and December; no meetings)
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Athens District High School, 21 Church Street, Athens
Our meetings feature guest speakers and social time in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. See NEWS & EVENTS for a list of our speakers and meeting topics in 2011.
Join Us
Everyone is welcome. We invite you to become a member. Annual fees are:
Individual; $10
Couple; $15
Alternatively, try us on for size, or come to meetings when you can, for $3.00 per evening.
About Us
We are a lively, active group that includes all age groups, with varying levels of horticultural expertise from novice to very experienced, and a shared love of gardening. The club was founded in February, 2003 and response by community residents was enthusiastic. Since then, the club has moved from its original location to larger quarters at Athens District High School and has taken on a number of community projects in addition to its regular club meetings. In 2005, the club became a member of District three of The Ontario Horticultural Association.
Our membership of about seventy includes residents of several area communities as well as Athens.
Our Emblem
The club has adopted the pitch pine as its emblem. The choice of this tree reflects the club's approach to gardening in harmony with the natural environment, its interest in nurturing and protecting native trees, and its location in the Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve, within whose limits the pitch pine is uniquely found in Canada.
Athens Garden Club Program - 2012
JANUARY 17 – World Class Gardens
Chinese Gardens with Louise Richards. Come and share in the flora and history of one of China's ancient gardens (a UNESCO World Heritage site) and see the interesting plants Louise came across during a two-month trip around China,.
The Keukenhoff with Celia Godkin. Located in Holland, this is the world’s largest flower garden. The spectacular displays of spring bulbs are only open to the public from the end of March to mid May. Enjoy a feast of colour.
FEBRUARY 21 – 100 Mile Diet
Wendy Banks will introduce us to the versified food selection available within our 100 mile area and to those who produce them. Her presentation will include slides and samples. Also: a seed exchange!
MARCH 20 – Tools R’Us
Selecting the right gardening tool for the right job; presented by Lee Valley Tools. This meeting will be held at the Joshua Bates Centre.
APRIL 17 – Peonies
Bill Wegman is the team leader for peonies at the Experimental Farm in Ottawa and also handles the seed exchange for the Canadian Peony Society. He also has over 100 different peonies in his own garden. Bill will answer your questions from his wealth of knowledge.
MAY 20 – The New Gardening: the Dutch Way
Paul Fritz will introduce us to New Wave planting, which features mass plantings of perennials and grasses, chosen for their year-round structure and colour.
JUNE 19 – Prune in June: Lose Your Fear of Pruning.
This meeting will be held in the early evening in Laurie Wight’s garden.
Horticultural biologist Allan Goddard of Almonte Landscape Services will demonstrate practical pruning of trees and shrubs.
SEPTEMBER 18 – Books and the Gardener
A half hour of readings by David Russo. Members will be asked to bring one gardening-related magazine, book or catalogue to show to the group.
Athens librarian, Freda Schaafsma will set up a display of the garden books
available at Athens Public Library.
OCTOBER 16 – Flowering Shrubs
Kelly Heath, retail manager of Gemmell’s Garden Centre, will talk about flowering shrubs with year-round interest, introduce images of some new-and-better varieties, and provide ideas for creating a shrub border.
NOVEMBER 20 – AGM; Making Grapevine Baskets
A hands-on evening! Joanne Flikweert will demonstrate making grapevine baskets. Please collect grapevines with diameter no bigger than a baby finger.
Executive Committee
Co-Presidents:
Kathy Nichol ,
Elaine Delves
Past President:
Ursula Quantz
Vice-President:
Mary Slade
Secretary:
Jean Brassington
Treasurer:
Laurie Wight
Program Coordinator:
Donna Washburn
Newsletter:
Celia Godkin
Publicity Coordinator:
Jenny Van Rywyk
Membership Secretaries:
Noni Pietersma, Bev Vanderkloet
Tree of Knowledge Coordinators:
Ursula Quantz, Pat Blanchard
Memory Garden Coordinator:
Pat Blanchard
Rose Garden Coordinators:
Ursula Quantz, Jenny Van Ryswyk
Refreshments Coordinator:
Jane Hart
Member-at-Large:
Pat Halbert
Our Community Projects
Shades of Green: A Memory Garden
The Garden Club launched its first community project in May, 2003. In partnership with the Township of Athens Community in Bloom Committee, a demonstration shade garden was created on public land adjacent to Township Hall, with a huge maple tree as focal point. A wooden bench, a bird bath, and all perennial plants needed were donated by members. Shrubs were purchased through a collection taken at a Garden Club meeting. The Municipality donated a load of topsoil.
Begun as a demonstration shade garden, the focus of the garden changed after the maple tree developed a crack and was felled by the municipality in April, 2004. The tree had been the last survivor of eleven maples originally planted around Township Hall to commemorate the supreme sacrifice made by eleven 'Athens boys' who died in the Great War of 1914-1918. Where the maple had stood, a volunteer team of club members erected a sundial, donated by a Club member, and created a circular rose garden around it, which they planted with eleven 'Hope for Humanity' roses.
In June, 2005, the garden was formally opened by the mayor of Athens and a sign bearing the name of the garden, designed and donated by Keith Heine of Heritage Signs, was unveiled. On Remembrance Day, 2006, a black granite memorial bearing the names of the eleven soldiers was unveiled and the garden was dedicated to their memory by Padre Blair Ross, NFB Kingston, at a moving public ceremony in which family members of the soldiers participated.
The garden is maintained by members of the Club.
Dancy Park Tree Planting, 2004
In April 2004, the club sponsored a four-session workshop series, open to all members of the community, entitled 'Take Time for Trees'. As a sequel to the course participants created an earth berm and planted twelve pine and spruce trees in Dancy Park, a previously featureless rectangular area of mown grass. Thirty shrubs, including willow, highbush cranberry and red twig dogwood, were also planted in the park. The construction of the berm involved moving more than 30 tonnes of topsoil by wheelbarrow about 80 meters across the park - during the wettest Spring conditions experienced for many years!
'Albert's Gardens' Climate Change Project, 2005-2008
In October, 2005, a group of volunteers from the club planted 300 'Red Emperor' tulips, provided by the National Capital Commission, at the Cenotaph flower bed in Memorial Park, Athens, as participants in a project to assess climate change. Eleven horticultural societies in the region planted the same number of the same kind of tulip during the same week. Students from Athens District High School recorded specific information daily in 2006, 2007 and 2007, during the growth cycle of the tulips. The data from all sites was analyzed by Mississippi Field Naturalists, as part of a study named for Albert, a Lanark County gardener who observed the spring growth of plants in his garden.
Athens District Health Center Garden, 2008
During 2007 and 2008, the Athens District Health Center building was renovated and extended. On completion of the work, Athens Garden Club and Township of Athens Community in Blooms teamed up to jointly fund, design and plant a new garden at the front of the building. The garden was planted with shrubs and perennials in the fall of 2008. The plantings have thrived and the attractive setting is much appreciated by staff and clients of the Health Center.
New Garden at Athens District Public Library, 2008-2011
Our latest project is the creation of a new garden in front of Athens Public Library, a heritage stone building which was formerly Front of Yonge Township Hall. The garden is intended to demonstrate what can be done to meet the demands of a changing climate. The Club is grateful for the assistance of the O.H.A. which has awarded a grant of $500.00 towards costs of this project.
In October, 2008, a contest was announced, open to area residents as well as members of the Club, to select a design for the garden. Design criteria included low maintenance demands; water conservation and drought tolerance; use of native plants; re-cycling; and food and shelter for beneficial insects and birds. A panel of judges chose the best three designs entered in the contest, which were then displayed at the Library during March, 2009, so that members of the public could vote for their favorite design. The winner was Athens Garden Club member, Terri Olivo.
During the summer of 2010, flower beds and a walkway were constructed and a tree, shrubs and Spring-flowering bulbs were planted. Perennials and decorative features, including benches, birdbath, bird-feeder and trough gardens, will be added to complete the garden this Spring.
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