Speaker Series at EHS Monthly Meetings

Rock Gardening Basics with Cathy Kurio

Come and learn basic techniques for building rock gardens, plus tips on planting and growing rock garden plants. Cathy will provide a handout with this information, including a list of easy rock garden plants. She will share photos of rock gardens and gorgeous photos of plants you will want to grow!

Cathy will also introduce you to smaller varieties of well-known garden plants, as well as sharing some of her favorite alpines. Alpines are happy in rocky, infertile soil and can withstand dry conditions. They are small in size, but have large flowers and interesting growth habits.

Get Variety out of your Veggies! with Sharla Woloschuk

Did you know that vegetable gardening grew in popularity by over 20% in 2010?  Not only does veggie gardening provide delicious produce right from your own backyard, but it also offers a unique twist on container gardening. 

Horticulturist Sharla Woloschuk of Greenland Garden Centre will offer terrific tips for growing vegetables in containers.  Sharla will suggest unusual vegetables to try and introduce exciting new varieties for 2011.

A Passion for Daylilies with Pam Erikson

Pam is an award-winning daylily hybridizer from Langley, B.C. On this evening, she will share her passion with us, providing information on some of the older daylilies and the evolution to newer varieties. She will also discuss plants she has found to be good, hardy companion plants and share stories from her display garden.

Let's Stop Making Ugly Gardens with Marjorie Harris

This is an evening not to be missed as renowned Canadian garden writer, Marjorie Harris joins us. Marjorie is known for her wit and insights. She is on a tear about boring plants and designs in today's gardens. She will share samples of really terrible gardens and suggest how to avoid the clichés and the mistakes to achieve better, instant results. Marjorie believes we have a responsibility to build gardens that are not only habitat for insects and birds, but that will give pleasure to the eye.

Gardening with Colour: How to use the Elements of Design to make your garden a work of art with Rob Sproule

Using living things to create a living, breathing, changing sculpture is an elegant way to be creative in the garden. By using some simple principles of design, you will start to think more about your own designs as art, your garden as the gallery, and yourself as the artist who makes it all happen.

The elements of design are the rules of how colours, textures, and forms can work together in different ways to make a composition attractive to the eye. Rob will provide you with the tools you need to be confident in taking chances with your own living art. He also wants to make you excited about container gardening. It is truly an art form with no boundaries. Whatever your space, budget, or time limitations, you always have as many possibilities at your fingertips as your inspiration allows.

This presentation is based on Rob's new book, Gardening with Colour. The book elaborates on the elements of design and contains dozens of recipe ideas to inspire and challenge you.

Speed Gardening

During this evening, the audience will be invited to circulate through three topics. Each session will be 20 minutes in length and small groups will allow time for questions and discussion.

Backyard Composting Tips with Mark Stumpf-Allen
Mark is the City of Edmonton's Compost Programs Coordinator. He will provide tips on getting started and maintaining a home composting program.

Soil Fertility Management with Ieuan Evans
There is no such thing as artificial or natural chemical fertilizers.  In most, if not many Edmonton gardens the biggest barrier to vegetable production is tree roots resulting in summer garden water shortages. Without potash from Saskatchewan, phosphate from places like Florida and nitrogen produced by natural gas power, the world would well be on its way to starvation.

Attracting Wildlife to your Garden with Richard Knapton Richard will be chat about what to plant to bring in nectar-feeding birds, such as hummingbirds or berry-feeding birds such as waxwings; what dimensions to use for building nest boxes for species we would like to encourage, such as wrens and chickadees, without attracting house sparrows; and what other wildlife questions (e.g. frogs/dragonflies to a pond/water garden) you may have.

Ieuan Evans

Richard Knapton

Spring Flowering Bulbs and Overwintering Perennial: Preparing Now with Gail Rankin

Gail will discuss how to grow beautiful spring-flowering bulbs, including their continued care through the growing season, hardiness issues and planting tips. She will also review the differences between bulbs, corms, tubers. etc.

Gail will provide tips on what to do with geraniums at the end of the season and care of summer-flowering bulbs such as begonias, dahlias. This will be a great learning session with a renowned gardening specialist.

No meeting this month, Check out our alternate events

Edmonton Front Yards in Bloom Celebration, August 11, 7:30pm, City Hall

Show What You Grow (Bench) Show, August 27 & 28, Fort Edmonton Park

EHS Awards Night

Don’t miss this special opportunity to enjoy an inspiring slide show of winning gardens from our 2011 Garden Competition, as well as presentation of awards for best gardens and photos. Come celebrate gardening with us!

House Plants: Keeping them healthy and thriving with Gerard Amerongen

Come learn from one of the growers at the Muttart Conservatory. House plants add an air of the tropics to any living space.  They help soften formal lines and hard surfaces while helping to keep the air clean.  In this talk, you will learn all about the different houseplants and what it takes to keep them healthy and thriving in our home spaces.  Gerard will cover such topics as light, soil, watering, pests, and more.

Islamic Gardens with Azim Jeraj

Azim Jeraj will inspire us with slides and a discussion of Islamic gardens: their concepts, elements and features and influences. While Azim will deal more generally with the topic, members will be interested to know that an Islamic garden is in the future plans for the U of A's Devonian Botanic Garden.

No meeting. Happy Holidays