ON-SITE STROLL IN COUNTRY GARDENS 

Please Join the Omemee Blooms Garden Club on Monday, July 15 at 3pm as we tour the lovely country gardens of Nancy Kunzel and Richard Strang.

They are located at 1659 Morton Line, Cavan L0A 1C0.

Nancy describes their gardens as follows……..

We’ve only been playing in the gardens for about 7 years, therefore my gardens are a bit young in the grand scope of the garden world.

We live on a mainly wooded property.

I tend to love shade garden opportunities to blend colour, texture & shape into my big 200 ft. west border. This garden mainly consists of a hosta collection mixed with a variety of shade companion plant material. Around our mostly armour stone patio, strawberry vanilla hydrangeas show their happiness in late August. My gardens are always evolving as I try to find their happy place to live.

I hope you enjoy a stroll around our protected woodland property (don’t forget your mosquito spray to ensure your comfort.)   

Reservations are being made at Castle John’s in Peterborough (Lansdowne & Kawartha Heights) for 4:30pm. If you wish to join us for dinner & fellowship, please contact Joan Harding at 705-799-5378 or djharding2014@outlook.com.

Here is a sneak peek preview of these lovely country gardens:

• Horticultural Trivia:  A lighthearted but challenging evening of “test your memory” on all things horticulture. Great for challenging your group to put their knowledge to the test, either individually or in groups. Bonus:  Prizes!

Mary-Jane Pilgrim joined the Peterborough Hort Society and the Peterborough Master Gardeners over 10 years ago and loves getting out and meeting other gardeners to “talk plants”. The love of gardening is probably hereditary as she grew up in a large farm family with Dutch immigrant parents.  She definitely was not a fan in those days of weeding rows and rows of vegetables, but loves the colour and fragrance of her garden today.  MJ was the president of the society in Peterborough for the last 8 years and now serves as the Past President.  She was also an assistant director for OHA District 4 in 2021-2023.

While not too applicable to this talk, MJ enjoys cycling, playing squash and making/fixing stained glass windows.  

WHERE: Omemee Legion

Join us for Fellowship, coffee/tea & snacks. Don’t forget to Lug-A-Mug & some cash as there are some draws. ‘Donations of Tips’ for coffee/tea are appreciated as it benefits the Omemee Swans who support the Community.

Monthly Mini-Competition:   Photo: ‘Love Affair Between a Flower and an Insect’

Flower Specimen:  One stem of Your Choice: Iris, Peony, or Allium   

All Are Welcome!!

David Ahmad has been a Master Gardener since 1998 where he was an active member of the Toronto chapter of the Master Gardeners of Ontario obtaining his official certification through the University of Guelph. David was awarded his Master Gardener Emeritus status in 2007. While formally educated as a Mechanical Engineer at Ryerson University (TMU), David spent his entire career in Investments & Finance with the Royal Bank.

David is also a well-known Dance Music DJ with a career that spanned over 20 years & can be seen in the 2023 documentary “Drop The Needle” now in International release. David has a soft spot for roses & ponds, enjoys growing his own vegetables from seed & seedlings and revels in the textures, colours & shapes in gardens of all styles.

David will guide us through considerations & processes around the garden design/redesign process & will discuss general rules-of-thumb & how to apply them. The presentation will include a discussion of small ponds (David has a small pond in his garden) & shrubs for those who are starting to downsize. He will also discuss considerations around statuary & hardscaping.

WHERE: Omemee Legion

Join us for Fellowship, coffee/tea & snacks. Don’t forget to Lug-A-Mug & some cash as there are some draws. ‘Donations of Tips’ for coffee/tea are appreciated as it benefits the Omemee Swans who support the Community.

Monthly Mini-Competition:   Photo: ‘A Flower on a Shrub’

Flower Specimen:  One stem of Your Choice   

All Are Welcome!!

Talking points of ‘How To Plan A Successful Garden’ will include but will not be limited to the following:

The Design Process

General design rules-of-thumb, Site analysis: Considerations, Inventory: Plants & Equipment, Moving plants: Division & Swaps, New plants, Use of Containers, Raised planters, Statuary and hardscapes (Styles , Materials)

Maintenance Free:    Variable definitions, What definition suits your style/needs,   Automation/irrigation

Ponds:                 Site, Light, Predators, Pests, Fish or no fish,   Maintenance

Appropriate Shrubs and Considerations: Zone, Size,  Cultivation,  Maintenance

Other Considerations:   Budget, Time constraints, Winter preparations, Available assistance

Please make sure you come with lots of questions and a notebook!

Richard has 35 yrs. experience as a vegetation biologist. He’s worked for several government agencies, including Toronto Region Conservation Authority, Ministry of Natural Resources, & the University of Toronto. He’s taught plant taxonomy, ecology, & the history & effects of plants on human civilization at several colleges & universities. He’s co-authored 9 books including Weeds of North America, Plants of Southern Ontario, & the ROM field guide to Wildflowers of Ontario. Weeds of North America was awarded “Book of the Year 2014” by the American Horticultural Society in Washington DC. He’s now involved in invasive plant & biocontrol management field studies in southern Ontario.

When: Monday, April 15^th.  6:30pm

Where: Omemee Legion

Join us for Fellowship, coffee/tea & snacks. Don’t forget to Lug-A-Mug & some cash as there are some draws. ‘Donations of Tips’ for coffee/tea are appreciated as it benefits the Omemee Swans who support the Community.

Monthly Competition:   Photo: ‘A Breath of Spring’

Flower Specimen: What is peeking out in the garden?  

All Welcome!

Dave Ellis will be giving a presentation at Omemee Legion on Saturday, December 9th. as part of Omemee Blooms Garden Club Christmas celebration. 

He and his wife have Wildlife Calendars for sale. They can be contacted at:

Through the Peterborough Examiner

Or through his Flickr website

Dave Ellis is a wildlife photographer from Omemee. 

Dave grew up in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. When he was younger, he travelled and lived in places all across Canada and eventually settled down in Toronto. There, he operated a small handcraft business right downtown on Yonge Street. That was an education!

He says the best move he and his wife Astrid ever made was when they moved to Omemee in 2001. With all of the lakes and rivers and nature areas here, it is a great place to be. They love it here and even more so since they took up wildlife photography as a hobby in 2016. The wildlife that is all around us here is quite phenomenal, and they really enjoy being out in nature most days photographing it.

In 2018, Dave Ellis started writing a wildlife column with photos in the local newspaper Kawartha Lakes This Week. His column also gets published in other newspapers owned by Metro Media. His photos are also regularly published on PTBO News Canada, an online news website for the Peterborough area.

Dave Ellis enjoys sharing his photographs and the stories that go with them at presentations all around the Kawarthas.

Join us Nov. 20th at the Omemee Legion as Anna Mizyn creates a beautiful winter evergreen container that some lucky person will take home.

Our scheduled speaker had to cancel due to some health issues. Anna has graciously stepped in at the last minute.

Anna is originally from Poland and came to Canada in 1989. In Poland she spent 2 yrs. at Horticultural College and worked at the local Farmers Co-op. In her spare time, she worked in local orchards along with growing and selling some of her own plants. 

She now owns and works at Anna’s Perennials, a small, independent nursery with 4 acres of gardens located 10 minutes from Omemee.  

Right now, for 2 weeks, Anna has been selling evergreen boughs and making Christmas containers to order. 

Please note the special date & time.