Hardy Plant Fall Study - Oct 25

Hardy Plant's upcoming Fall Hardy Plant's upcoming Fall Study Day. Use the QR code to register  https://www.vancouverhardyplant.org/fall-study-day-saturday-october-25th-2025

Date correction to October 14 Meeting- Topic: Worm Composting

Join us at the Britannia Community Centre in the 55+ Room at 7:00pm on October 14

Topic: Worm  Composting 

Speaker: Jenny Arntzen 

Bio: Jenny Arntzen is a novice gardener, having started her first garden at the age of 8, in 1964, in Lynn Valley. She has always had a great passion for digging up the beds, never really understood planting seeds, and still learning how to build watering routines. However, after planting over a million trees between 1975 and 1988, she is pretty good at transplanting. Two years ago she was introduced to vermaculture, the practice of worm composting. The worm castings provide rich soil amendments to support plant growth. After purchasing a handful of worms and cocoons in the spring of 2022, her worm farm now is 12 large bins producing continuous harvests of worm castings for building soil health.

Jenny writes about her gardening experiences on her blog:

https://jennyshadegarden.blogspot.com/

      

Special Afternoon Lecture- Troy Scott Smith

Vancouver Hardy Plant Group Presents:

Troy Scott Smith -Head Gardener 

Sissinghurst- A Garden, in a Ruin, in a Farm

Wednesday September 17

1:30-3:00 HR MacMillan Space Centre, 1100 Chestnut St., Vancouver 

Tickets $25

Information: vancouverhardyplant.org

Garden Club - Tuesday, Sept 9 - Topic: - Pot Culture: The Why and How of Growing Plants in Pots

 Hello Gardeners 

Hope you have enjoyed your gardens and the sunny weather!  

Join us at the Britannia Community Centre in the 55+ Room at 7:00pm 

Topic: Pot Culture: The Why and How of growing Plants in Pots.

Speaker: Dana Cromie - a Lifelong Artist and Gardener

Bio: Dana is a lifelong artist and gardener living in Vancouver, British Columbia. 

Dana studied Visual Art at Capilano College, Institute Allende de San Miguel, and Vancouver School of Art. He then worked in clothing manufacturing as a production manager and as a planner.

The son of a green thumb and ardent volunteer, Dana has a renowned garden full of unusual plants. Dana has a deep engagement with the local garden community, and his garden has been toured multiple times by the Alpine Garden Club of BC, the Vancouver Rhododendron Society and the Vancouver Hardy Plant Group.

Dana wrote and photographed ‘In My Garden’ for Vancouver Lifestyle Magazine from 1999-2001 and has contributed to the Annual of the Rhododendron Species Foundation and the Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Club of BC.

After retiring, he became a Friend of the UBC Botanical Garden where he was head of the FOGs’ guides and coordinator of their various propagation units. Dana coordinated the acquisition and catalog descriptions of the plants for the UBCBG Collectors’ Plant Auctions from 2004 - 2011.  Dana is and has been chair of the UBCBG Treasured Bulb Sale since 2015. 

He has studied botanical illustration at UBC Botanical Garden with Alison Watt, at Emily Carr University with Elizabeth Mancini, and privately with Mary Comber Miles. 

From 2012-2014, Dana was Artist in Residence at UBC Botanical Garden.

Dana is currently co-Chair of the Vancouver Hardy Plant Group, and Co-Chaired their recent Hardy Plant Study Weekend, which is a conference which rotates between Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle, and Portland.

Dana is a regular judge at the Vancouver Island Rock and Garden Society spring show.

      For September Meeting:

• We are seeking 2 volunteers to provide goodies per meeting.  If you would like to volunteer for the October meeting, please reach out to me or Moira
• Non-members are welcome to drop in for $4. Invite your friends!
• Please bring your own tea cup and, if you like, something that is looking lovely in your garden this month.
• There will be door prizes! (And by the way, you’re always welcome to bring/donate garden-related things  — plants, books, tools — to be awarded as door prizes.)
  
  
  See you at Britannia on Tuesday, September 9th! 

Also note - Meetings are the 2nd Tuesday of the Month - Oct 7, Nov 11, Dec 9 - December Meeting will be a Holiday Potluck. 

No Garden Club Meeting July and August

 Reminder no meeting until September 

Enjoy your Summer! ☀

June Meeting - June 10 - Introduction to Soil Science and Its Application in Garden Settings

Join us at the Britannia  Community Centre in the 55+ Room at 7:00pm 

Topic: Introduction to soil science and its application in garden settings. 

Bio: Morgan is a backyard gardener and soil scientist with a background in agricultural research. She completed her Masters at UBC in which she looked at the effects of biochar (a soil amendment) on nutrient dynamics in a coarse textured agricultural soil. She enjoys sharing practical applications of the fundamentals of soil science, believing that this foundational knowledge can be used as a tool to deepen the relationship with the environment and how we garden.

  

      For June Meeting:

• Non-members are welcome to drop in for $4. Invite your friends!
• Please bring your own tea cup and, if you like, something that is looking lovely in your garden this month.
• There will be door prizes! (And by the way, you’re always welcome to bring/donate garden-related things  — plants, books, tools — to be awarded as door prizes.)
  
  
  See you at Britannia on Tuesday, June 10! 

Also note - No meeting in July and August!

Remember that the Garden Tour is June 15!

East Van Garden Tour! Sunday, June 15

This year's East Vancouver Garden Tour is on Father's Day, Sunday, June 15th. It's our one fundraiser for Britannia Neighbours, and the proceeds go to maintaining the Napier Square Greenway (at Napier and Commercial). 

We use the money we raise to buy plants and supplies, and to pay someone to water the Greenway in the warmer/dryer months.

This year’s tour will feature about ten wonderfully diverse home gardens, both well established and newer ones.

The gardens are a mix of ornamentals, flowers, vegetables, and fruit trees. There will either be home gardeners or Master Gardeners at each garden to chat and answer questions.

To start the tour, you check in with us and pick up your map (indicating where all the gardens are and including brief descriptions of each of them) at our usual home base at Figaro’s Garden (https://www.figarosgarden.ca) at 1896 Victoria Drive. 

The tour will be in an area close to Figaro's, so you will likely be able to walk to a starting spot ... and the tour itself should be comfortably walkable for most people.

Once again this year we need to limit the number of tickets we sell so the gardeners whose gardens we visit are not overwhelmed. 

And we won't have tickets available on the day of the tour. You'll need to get your tickets for the tour ahead of time. 

There are two ways to get tickets this year — online through Simpli Events or in person (cash only) at Figaro's Garden:

• Click on photo above to get your tickets online. (There's a small Simpli Events service charge on top of the $20 for each ticket.)
• Drop in to Figaro's Garden to buy tickets (exactly $20 — in person and cash only) while they last!! (You might want to call first to be sure they have tickets -- 604-253-1696.)

Tickets will be available until Saturday, June 14th or until we sell out (whichever happens first). Avoid disappointment and get your tickets early!