SPEAKERS
We aim to have interesting speakers on a variety of garden related topics.
FIELD TRIPS
We like to go on field trips to gardens both on and off the island. There is an extra cost for these trips if they are off island.
COMMUNITY
We use some of our funds, time and effort to give back to the Mayne Island Community.
NEXT EVENT
Garden Club Field Trip to Victoria – May 11, 2023
see details below, also for other upcoming MIGardenClub events
Mayne Island Garden Club Events 2023
January and February 2023 – No Meeting
March 4, 2023 (Saturday) – Seed Saving Presentation by Linda Beer, 1pm – 3pm at Ag Hall
Not a Garden Club Event, but sure to be of interest to members. Learn how to save seeds from your own garden, as taught by outstanding and humorous local farmer, Master Gardener and seed saving enthusiast, Linda Beer.
March 18, 2023 (Saturday) – Participation in “Seedy Saturday” 10:00-2:00pm at Ag Hall.
Seedy Saturday is a MI Ag Society event, but we will have a booth set up to renew memberships and provide MI Garden Club info.
March 30, 2023 (Thursday) – Linda Gilkeson – Resilient Gardens in a Changing Climate – 1:30 at Ag Hall
This will be a Zoom presentation by Linda Gilkeson, a well known West Coast Gardener. The topic is Resilient Gardens in a Changing Climate: Our regional climate is changing as the global climate changes. Learn how extreme weather affects plants, including trees, how to design resilient food and ornamental gardens and help plants survive extreme weather. Also find out the role gardeners can have in mitigating climate change, including designing landscapes to capture carbon.
Please arrive at 1:30pm to enjoy tea and treats and to enjoy some social time! The presentation will begin at 2pm.
April 20, 2023 (Thursday) – 1:30 pm – Mayne Island Japanese Memorial Garden Tour
We are happy to provide a repeat tour of last year’s very popular presentation of Michael Kilpatrick’s walking and talking tour Mayne Island Japanese Memorial Garden: History and Design. Michael is an architectural and landscape designer who has lived in Japan, and has generously agreed to share his specialized knowledge.
May 11, 2023 (Wednesday) – Tour of Vancouver Island gardens!
We will start with the 7:05am ferry to Swartz Bay, First stop: Wildwood Nursery (4660 Elk Lake Drive); Second stop: 11:00am – Abkhazi Gardens (1964 Fairfield Road, Victoria) for a self-guided tour. Entry fee: $10. “Elevenses”: $28. Last stop: 1:30pm – Kittiwake Garden (11044 Kittiwake Place, North Saanich – close to Swartz Bay). 4:20pm ferry back to Mayne.
Registered members will be put in contact with drivers, info to be sent out by email.
June 10, 2023 – Hanging Flower Basket Sale
A team of garden club members have been busily planting up beautiful hanging baskets this spring for you to enjoy. There will be some early bird sales, contact Julie at Mayneislandgc@gmail.com The remainder will be sold at in early June, likely June 10, place yet to be determined.
June 22, 2023 (Thursday) – Tour of 3 Mayne Island gardens!
Location: we are still developing this list. Time: likely a 1:30pm start. One of our most popular events and not to be missed!
July – If at all possible, a return to our summer Potluck!
Date and location to be confirmed.
Autumn Events – To be determined
Mayne Island Garden Club Events 2022
MI Garden Club Membership Fees:
We are not asking for renewal of your membership, deciding to carry forward paid memberships to 2022 since we have not been able to schedule any tours/events due to Covid. However, if you have held off on paying the annual membership fee, then we would gratefully accept any small donation if you are attending the upcoming events. New members are welcome to join us and pay the membership fees. Membership fees will start again for 2023.
April 27, 2022 (Wednesday) – 1:30 pm -Mayne Island Japanese Memorial Garden Tour
Join us at the Japanese Memorial Garden to hear Michael Kilpatrick’s walking and talking tour Mayne Island Japanese Memorial Garden: History and Design. Michael is an architectural and landscape designer who has lived in Japan, and has generously agreed to share his specialized knowledge.
April News 2022 – Hanging Flower Basket Sale
A team of garden club members will be busily planting up beautiful hanging baskets this spring for you to enjoy. Stay tuned! They will be sold at the Saturday Farmers’ Market in early June, and always sell out very quickly. This is a major fundraiser for our garden club. We are hoping that some of you might be able to contribute a bit to the purchase of bags of seasoil with gift card donations via MI Home Hardware to help defray our expenses. We will be purchasing supplies and assembling the baskets the end of April.
May 26, 2022 (Thursday) – 1:00 – 3:30 Three Local Garden Tours
A three-garden tour has been planned! We are fortunate to be able to have a tour of the lovely gardens of Brian and Mary Crumblehulme, Robyn Yeldon and Ellen Visser, and Nancy and Michael Wells. Further instructions and scheduling have now been sent out to the members. If you have not received your email invitation please contact MayneIslandGC@gmail.com
September 15, 2022 (Thursday) – 1:30 pm – Pruning Workshop for trees and shrubs at Japanese Memorial Garden and a home garden
Expert Gordon Mackay will show us pruning techniques suitable for shrubs and trees, which tools to select for which job, how to sharpen those tools, as well as demystifying such terms as ‘wound paints’, ‘flush cuts’, ‘heading back’, ‘reduction cuts’, ‘woundwood’, and more! This event will take place at two locations: first we will meet at the Japanese Memorial Gardens at 1pm to discuss pruning techniques of flowering trees and shrubs, followed by a demonstration of fruit tree pruning at the garden of one of our members (details to be sent out to our members). Mr. Mackay received his training in horticulture at the Threave School of Gardening and at Pershore College of Horticulture in Scotland and has been working in the nursery industry in Scotland and here in BC since then. As well as working in the world of arboriculture, fruit culture and apiculture, he currently runs his own nursery and pruning business, works with the horticulture therapy team at Providence Farm, and teaches at the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific. We will have to limit the number of attendees, so please let us know, by contacting MayneIslandGC@gmail.com if you plan on attending.
October 25, 2022 (Tuesday) – 2 pm – 30th Anniversary of MI Garden Club
This year is the Club’s 30th Anniversary and we are bringing in someone special to help us celebrate! The speaker will be Claude LeDoux, and his presentation will be “The Queens Park Rose Garden – Then and Today”.
Says Claude: “The Rose Garden talk will take you on a journey from historic photos of the original site in Queens Park through a number of renovations and its current look. Showing the uses of the rose garden for the enjoyment of the community, weddings and the International Rose Society visit in June 2009. As well as the dedication of the Rose Garden and our own Royal City Rose hybridized by Brad Jalbert of Select Roses.”
Although the rose garden is located in New Westminster, it is a well known garden that is equated with the rose garden in Stanley Park (some would say it is better!). With a degree in Agriculture and Horticulture from Louisiana, Claude was the Horticultural Manager for New Westminster from 1991 to 2018. He is well-respected for his work there, including his very popular hanging basket designs as well as City and Park landscape designs, etc. He is also a co-coordinator of New Westminster’s ‘Plant-a-Row-Grow-a-Row’ program. We are so looking forward to listening to and laughing with this popular horticultural expert and hope you can join us!
Space will be limited, Club members may ‘reserve’ a spot by contacting Julie or MayneIslandGC@gmail.com by October 5th. Any left-over seats will then be advertised to the general public.
December 1, 2022 (Thursday) – Christmas Wreath Making Workshop at Ag Hall – two sessions
“Deck the Halls!” – Or at least the front door, or a table! Our popular Christmas Wreath-making Workshop is back! There will be two sessions at the Ag Hall. A small fee is being charged to cover the materials – all of which are being provided. There is limited capacity for this event, so reservations are required. We are offering this great workshop to our members first. Please email Julie or MayneIslandGC@gmail.com in order to reserve your spot no later than November 18th, after which this event will be opened to the general public if spaces are still available. Be sure to tell me which session you want and which size frame.
Thursday, December 1, 2022:
Session #1- 10am – 12 noon
Session #2 – 1pm – 3pm.
Ten inch wreath (great for hall or dining room tables) = $10
Sixteen inch wreath (great for doors, walls, fences) = $15
One wreath per person.
We do not have a lot of the sixteen inch frames this year so if that is the size you want, let me know right away, because once they are spoken for, that’s it. But, we do have lots of the ten inch frames! If you have any sixteen inch frames that you would like to bring and use (or to donate if cleaned of last year’s material) please let me know!
If you have any interesting branches, etc. and are willing to help supply the workshop, please let me know!
Also, please bring your own secateurs/clippers.
As always, if you are feeling unwell on the day, please stay home. Masks highly recommended.
Mayne Island Garden Club Events 2021 – What We Could Accomplish
Please Note that due to covid cancellation of 2021 events, ALL MEMBERSHIPS PAID IN 2020 WILL APPLY FOR 2021
January 2021 – No meeting
February 2021 – Seedy Saturday Events – February 19-21, 2021
The Ag Society have planned a Seedy Saturday event – it was virtual on a province wide program (in conjunction with Farm Folk:City Folk) from February 19 to 21. Mayne Islanders and the garden club were welcome to participate.
Mayne Island does have a Seed Library where people can borrow seeds of a number of different vegetable and flower species. They will be expected to grow out the seeds, allow one or two of the plants to go to seed and then return the cleaned seed to the library in the fall or winter so more people can have access to those seeds in the future. This is one very reasonable way for gardeners to acquire seed that will grow well on this island at next to no cost and increase the island’s food security.
June 12, 2021 – Hanging Flower Basket Sale
Hanging Baskets! A small but ferocious group of volunteers had potted up moss baskets (16 inch) and some plastic baskets, which we went on sale the weekend of June 12th at the Farmers’ Market. Thank you to those of you who donated cash or Home Hardware gift cards for the purchase of supplies, and to Kim and Larry for the buckets of donated soil and for picking up supplies! And a big thank you to Ellen and Robyn who have organized this whole endeavour, including ordering the baskets, gathering moss, lining and filling the baskets ahead of planting, etc., etc.
See the Gallery page for a view of the fledgling baskets and volunteers.
September 16, 2021 – Mayne Island Garden Tour
We were pleased to be able to offer tours of two outstanding Mayne Island gardens. The Long garden has developed attractive landscaping without fencing, letting the deer wander at will. Filled with interesting plant specimens and intriguing artistic elements, the Marsh garden is, by contrast, a fenced property.
October 14, 2021 – Pruning Trees and Shrubs ****CANCELLED Due to Illness*****
Gordon Mackay of the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific was to give a presentation on Pruning Trees and Shrubs: When, Where, and Why?! Unfortunately this presentation was cancelled, as the speaker’s voice is unwell. We are hoping to schedule him another time, stay tuned.
December 2, 2021 – Christmas Wreath – Ag Hall – December 2, 2021
“Deck the Halls!” – Or at least the front door, or a table! Our popular Christmas Wreath-making Workshop was back!
There were two workshops on December 2nd to ensure adequate spacing for Covid protocol- view the Gallery page for the beautiful creations!
Mayne Island Garden Club Events 2020 – What Had Been Planned
January 2020 – No meeting
February 15, 2020 (Saturday) – Participation in “Seedy Saturday” 11:00-3:30pm at Ag Hall.
For more info see https://www.facebook.com/events/880534599028142/
April 30, 2020 (Thursday) – To Squish or Not to Squish – ***CANCELLED***
Speaker Ingrid Hoff, from the UBC garden, will present an informative and fun talk on the good, the bad, and the ugly bugs. Come learn about useful insects in the garden, as well as those that may do harm.
May 21, 2020 – (Thursday) – Victoria Gardens Tour! – ***CANCELLED***
Oh the beauty of spring gardens! The garden club will car pool to take members on a tour of three beautiful Victoria gardens: Kittiwake – a jewel of a private garden; the showy Abkhazi Garden; and to finish, the extensive gardens at Government House.
June 25, 2020 – (Thursday) – Mayne Island Gardens Tour! – ***CANCELLED***
A treat in store for our members – a tour of three outstanding Mayne Island gardens! Our gracious hosts include Robyn Yeldon and Ellen Visser, Nancy, and Brian C.
July 23, 2020 – Herbal Gardens and Summer Potluck ***CANCELLED***
Our guest speaker, Ana Dushyna, from Ana’s Apothecary, will give a fascinating presentation on creating an herbal garden for kitchen and medicinal purposes, with a tasting of fresh herbal teas!
As well, research your best recipes, as our infamous Mayne Island summer Pot Luck Luncheon will ensue.
October 15, 2020 – (Thursday) – Pruning Trees and Shrubs ***CANCELLED***
Sharpen up those snippers! Gordon Mackay of the Horticultural Centre of the Pacific will give the presentation “Pruning Trees and Shrubs: When, Where, and Why?!” There will be a few myth busters and a good grounding on the concepts involved, along with some do’s and don’ts.
November 25 and 26, 2020 – (Thursday) Christmas Wreath Making Workshop at the Ag Hall IS CANCELLED
With the latest announcement from Dr. Henry, we have decided that the safest course of action is to cancel our Wreath Making Workshops that were scheduled for this week.
Wreath frames and greenery were sold to registered participants who still wished to make a wreath at home. See Gallery Page for some Christmas cheer!
For those of you not all that experienced at making wreaths, here is a link to a great set of instructions:
How to Make a Fresh Greenery Wreath
Mayne Island Garden Club Events 2019
January 2019 – No meeting
February 16, 2019 (Saturday) – Participation in “Seedy Saturday” 12:00-3:30pm at Ag Hall.
April 11, 2019 – (Thursday) – Butchart Gardens Tour
A sight for ‘winter weary eyes’. The garden club will car pool to take a tour of the beautiful spring blooms at the Butchart Gardens in Victoria. Tour the gardens at your own speed and whim, but we’ll meet at The Blue Poppy at 11:45 a.m. for lunch together and to compare ‘floral notes’.
May 9, 2019 – (Thursday) – Christina’s Garden Tour
A tour of Christina’s Garden is always a treat! An added bonus on this visit, Christina will give a presentation on ‘Planning Ahead’. She will give us food for thought on the whole process of planning our gardens from menu to harvest. The presentation will start at 1:30 p.m., a Q & A session and tour will follow. Garden Club memberships will be available at the event.
June 1, 2019 – Saturday Farmers Market – MI Garden Club Hanging Basket Fundraiser
Our Garden Club members have created some beautiful moss hanging baskets! We will be selling them on June 1st at the Farmers’ Market for $40 each. What a deal!
These baskets are full of lovely, colourful, healthy plants and we even have a few pure white-themed baskets for anyone interested. These stunning baskets will sell quickly so pop by early for the best selection.
Check out the gallery page for photos of the volunteers preparing the flower baskets in April.
June 20, 2019 – (Thursday) – Three Garden Tour on Mayne Island
Garden Club members have a big treat in store this summer – a tour of three outstanding gardens! Trish, Colleen and Mirjam have graciously agreed to show their wonderful gardens.
July 18, 2019 – (Thursday) – Mini-Garden Tour and Summer Potluck Lunch
“Little Jewels” is the theme of a special brief mini-tour of little garden gems. Fifteen minute glimpses of the gardens of Libbie, Elisabeth and Nancy, will be followed by a Pot Luck Picnic Lunch at the Japanese Gardens.
September 19, 2019 – (Thursday) -!CANCELLED! Brad Jalbert – Easy Care Roses !CANCELLED!
Unfortunately our scheduled speaker, Brad Jalbert of Select Roses, had to cancel at the last minute. As we were unable to find another speaker at short notice, the September meeting has sadly been cancelled. Our sincere apologies for this turn of events.
November 28, 2019 – (Thursday) – Christmas Wreaths and Pot Luck Luncheon
Our genial Robyn Yeldon will lead our garden club members in a green wreath-making workshop for the holidays. There will be a $5 fee to cover the cost of the wire frame, bows, etc. Also on the menu is our annual (and most delicious) Christmas Pot Luck Lunch.
Mayne Island Garden Club Events 2018
January 2018 – No meeting
February 10, 2018 (Saturday) – Participation in “Seedy Saturday” 12:30-4:00pm at Ag Hall
March 15, 2018 – (Thursday) – Kristin Crouch – Crazy for Tomatoes – 1:30 pm at Ag Hall
As the days warm up, it’s time to think about summer salads and fresh garden tomatoes. Learn about new tomato varieties, potting up, care of your new plants and saving seed from master gardener Kristin Crouch. Kristen as been growing heirloom tomatoes for a seek bank for five years.
April 12, 2018 – (Thursday) – Gary Lewis of Phoenix Perennials presents “Hot New Plants” – 1:30 at Ag Hall
Phoenix Perennials is among the first nurseries in Canada to offer new cultivars developed by the best international breeders. Gary will give you the inside track on recent new cutting edge garden plants and talk about where plant breeding is heading in the future. If you love new plants, you won’t want to miss this talk. Gary will be bringing along some of these hot new plants for sale!
FYI – Vancouver Island Rock and Alpine Garden Society Spring Show 2018
Although this will not be a planned Mayne Island Garden Club tour, we can highly recommend you take in the much anticipated VIRAGS show and plant sale on April 20-21, 2018. It will be held at the Cadboro Bay United Church, 2625 Arbutus Road, Victoria. Go to the VIRAGS.com website for complete details.
May 27, 2018 (Sunday) – Hypertufa Planter Workshop – 1-4 pm Home Hardware (adjacent to Garden Centre)
Judy Lashley of the Lynn Valley Garden Club will lead us through creating attractive pots and small planters. Hypertufa refers to a technique of mixing cement, peat moss, and perlite to create rustic, textured planters that look like natural volcanic rock.
June 9, 2018 (Saturday) – Farmer’s Market at Ag Hall – 10 am to ~1 pm Hanging Basket Fundraiser
Hope you can pop over to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday June 9th to peruse and hopefully buy one of our beautiful hanging baskets! Lovingly crafted by our own Club members, there are 14 inch and 16 inch as well as a few assorted containers of gorgeous plants that will make a splash on any deck or beside any door.
June 21, 2018 (Thursday) – Market Garden Tours – 1:15 to 3:30 p.m., approximately
Two wonderful farm gardens to tour, and both our hosts are open to your questions on growing supreme vegetables! Meet at 1:15 p.m. at master gardener Linda B’s farm for a guided tour of Linda’s market garden operation. We will pause for a brief “tailgate tea break”, before heading to Hardscrabble Farm for a tour hosted by Amber A. We will allow approximately one hour per visit.
July 12, 2018 (Thursday) – Summer Garden Club Pot Luck Luncheon – 12-3 p.m. at Ag Hall
Bring your favourite dish to share, and we will dine ‘al fresco’ on the patio of the Ag Hall. Garden Club Chair, Julie Schueck, will give an informative presentation on “What the Judges Look For” when it comes to prize veggies and flowers. Just in time to prepare for the Mayne Island Fall Fair!
August 2018 – No Meeting
September 20, 2018 (Thursday) – Field Trip to Victoria’s Horticultural Centre of the Pacific, with stop at Russell’s Nursery
Grab your sunhat for an autumn treat in Victoria that has been planned for garden club members. Car pooling, we’ll head out on the early morning ferry to Swartz Bay, and visit the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific. We’ll visit these lovely gardens from 9 – 11:30 a.m., and have a bite of lunch at their little cafe, Charlotte & the Quail. Afterwards our group will carry on to Russell Nursery on Wain Road near Swartz Bay, where we’ll have time to browse their terrific Fall Sale for some great bargains, and to have a short presentation on fall gardening from owner, Laurel Rassenti.
October 11, 2018 – Bob and Verna Duncan – Citrus and Tropical Fruit Trees- 1:30 at Ag Hall – please note this is second Thursday this month, not the usual third Thursday
We are pleased to have Bob Duncan of Fruit Trees and More Nursery & Demonstration Orchard in North Saanich give a presentation to the Mayne Island Garden Club on Growing Citrus and Sub-tropical Fruit Trees in South Coastal B.C. Who knew?! Who knew we could grow lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit, kumquats, yuzu, sudachi, avocado, pineapple guava, pomegranates and loquats on Mayne Island! He will cover the selection, planting, care, harvesting of fruit, pruning, and wintering of these exotic trees.
Bob and his wife, Verna, will bring along a small variety of trees for sale, as well as homemade marmalade.
November 15, 2018 – Garden Club Christmas Potluck Luncheon with Guest Speaker Mark Dickerson of Garden Coach Solutions – 12:00 at Ag Hall
Our wrap up for the year will be the traditional scrumptious Christmas potluck to be held at noon at the Ag Hall. Our special guest will be Mark Dickerson of Garden Coach Solutions in Victoria. He will demonstrate how to create attractive seasonal outdoor planters that can be transformed for the festive season and later for spring.
Mark develops and grows succulent plants as well, and he will have an assortment available for purchase at the meeting.
Mayne Island Garden Club Events 2017
January 2017 – No meeting
February 11, 2017 (Saturday) – Participation in “Seedy Saturday” 12:30-4:00pm at Ag Hall
March 20, 2017 (Monday) – Brian Crumblehulme, Presentation on Growing Herbs – 1:30pm at Ag Hall
Brian Crumblehulme is an energetic gardener who moved to Mayne Island in 1978, starting the first commercial herb garden in the Gulf Islands. His vast horticultural experience and entertaining style finds him in great demand for presentations and newspaper articles.
April 2017 – April 21 – 23 (Fri, Sat, Sun) – Participation in The Active Pass Festival
May 15, 2017 (Monday) – Kristin Crouch – Create a Year Round Successful Kitchen Garden – 1:30 pm at Firehall Meeting Room; please note change of venue!
Kristin Crouch is a passionate 25 year master gardener, active in promoting community gardens and garden education. She currently blogs on her website ThatBloominGarden.com , and writes for several newspapers and magazines.
June 19, 2017 (Monday) – Field Trip to Vancouver! We will be privileged to tour the personal garden of Claude LeDoux, considered “an urban sanctuary in New Westminster” by B.C. Living Magazine. Claude, Parks Horticulture Manager, New Westminster, will then give us a guided tour of landscaping development sites in Glen Brook Ravine and Queen’s Park. After a tailgate picnic lunch, we will head to prestigious Select Roses Nursery. Owner Brad Jalbert will give a special presentation on roses, after which we will be able to browse and make purchases. We catch the evening ferry back to Mayne. Car pool arrangements will be organized for the day trip. Further information to be posted at a later date. Please respond to Julie ASAP!
July 17, 2017 (Monday) – Garden Club Al Fresco Luncheon at Robyn and Ellen’s place (756 Kippen). Eleanor and Allan E. have kindly agreed to a tour of their beautiful garden prior to the luncheon.
August 2017 – No meeting
September 18, 2017 (Monday) – Linda Beer – The Garden in Autumn – 1:30pm at the Firehall – note change of venue
There is a cornucopia of pleasant tasks to keep a gardener occupied throughout the fall. Linda Beer will be sharing information on what she is harvesting, and what she does to ensure her garden is prepared for winter. Enjoy and informative mini seminar on seed saving, sowing garlic, lazy winter greens, early spring sowing and preserving the harvest.
Linda Beer is a well known Mayne Island Organic Master Gardener, and provides very entertaining and knowledgeable presentations on various garden topics.
October 16, 2017 (Monday) – John Eckfeldt – Micro-Irrigation Systems – 1:30 at the CHURCH HOUSE on GEORGINA POINT ROAD – Note New change of venue
Tired of watering by hand? Come find out about irrigation systems for your garden. John Eckfeldt of Pender Island will display and discuss irrigation equipment, drip versus spray, in gravity systems, or using pumps, how to lay it all out, setting up with control systems and timers…
November 20, 2017 (Monday) – Christmas Pot Luck Lunch at noon at Ag Hall, with guest speaker Paul Spriggs speaking at one
For the potluck, please bring along food to share, either for lunch or dessert (with serving utensil), and your own dishes and cutlery. You are welcome to attend if you are not a member, please also bring a dish for potluck (if arriving for lunch and not only the speaker) and consider making a donation at the door or signing up for 2018. We will be accepting membership payment for 2018 at this meeting.
Paul Spriggs is an avid rock gardener, plant explorer, photographer and mountaineer, owner of Spriggs Gardens Landscaping Company, and current VP of Vancouver Island Rock and Alpine Garden Society. Paul specializes in a new style of rock gardening called Crevice Gardening, having learned from some of the European innovators of the style. He has a passion for all wild plants, especially those of dwarf stature. His talk will focus on the basics of rock and crevice gardening, with the hopes of converting some members from regular gardeners into rock gardeners!
December 2017 – No meeting
