The History of Grey County Master Gardeners

From 1996 to 2016

1996

  • March:  Chesley and District Horticultural Society (C&DHS) passed a motion to sponsor a Master Gardener program at no cost to the C&DHS. 
  • May-June:  Articles in local newspapers invited people interested in taking the Master Gardener Program to attend an information session. 
  • July:  The information session held at Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) office, Walkerton. 
  • Fall:  Meetings at OMAFRA office for participants to register, take and pass entrance test, and begin taking the Master Gardener program. 
  • Participants must complete three horticultural courses offered by the University of Guelph’s Distance Education program, 20 hours of volunteer advice hours and 10 hours of administrative duties. 

1997

  • Monthly meetings at OMAFRA office, Walkerton.
  • Fall:  First plant sale in Elmwood. 

1998

  • Second plant sale in Chesley
  • First garden-related books donated to local library 

1999

  • Vote to dissolve Tri-County group passed and we became Grey County Master Gardeners.  The other subgroups became Huron, North and South Bruce Master Gardeners. 
  • In our first year as our own group, we participated in "Grown in Grey", prepared and circulated "Horticulture Smart Sheets", and attended Master Gardener Technical session in Kitchener-Waterloo. 
  • Started Advice Clinics at community events. 
  • Gave a presentation on "Caring for Houseplants" to Paisley and Area Garden Club. 
  • Our Fall Plant Sale becomes an annual fundraising event.

2000

  • Donated $100 to the Walkerton Commemorative Garden Project. 
  • Master Gardeners of Ontario advice calendars sold to raise funds. 
  • Advice Clinics expanded to include Owen Sound Home Show. 
  • Annual Fall Plant Sale moved to Grey City Mall parking lot (Owen Sound Bowling Alley). 

2001

  • Community events expanded to include Advice Clinic and Xeriscape presentation at Meaford Home and Garden Show as well as presentations and Q & A on the Hanover Community Radio and Bluewater Radio stations. 
  • Donated $300 to create Memorial Garden Parkette at Sts. Peter and Paul School, Durham. 
  • Gardening books donated to Dundalk, Kimberley and Ayton libraries. 
  • Hosted our first technical update for other Ontario Master Gardeners and community and all speakers were professors from University of Guelph. 

2002

  • Community events expanded to include Dundalk Home & Garden Show. 
  • Members arranged an educational session at University of Guelph Arboretum to learn about the Elm Recovery Project and the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO Herbarium). 
  • Fall Plant Sale moved to Heritage Place Shopping Center, Owen Sound. 
  • Five-year pins presented to Valerie Neal, Verna Beckenhauer, Diane Everest, Diana Lenk, Ursula Karalus, Margaret McDonald, Edith Geffken, Paul Statia and Shirley Veen. 

2003

  • First year for Advice Clinics at the Flesherton Farmers’ Market. 
  • Grown in Grey booth updated to increase visual interest and make learning more hands-on. 
  • More gardening presentations created for the growing number of invitations from local garden clubs, horticultural societies, libraries, etc. 

2004

  • Group was invited to join the local horticultural societies in hosting a display at the Meaford International Plowing Match (IPM). 
  • Monthly meetings include an educational session, such as learning:

             - how to identify and propagate ferns from Botanist and author Joan Crowe; 

             - hands-on, the principles of flower arrangements in the garden of founding member Margaret McDonald. 

2005

  • Donated Joan Crowe’s First Book of Ontario Wildflowers to local libraries. 
  • The list of Advice Clinics continues to grow and this year we added the Durham Herb Fair. 
  • Annual educational session at the garden of clematis specialist, Christopher Andrews, in Mount Forest. 

2006

  • Our 10th anniversary! 
  • In addition to local advice clinics, members volunteered to staff the Master Gardeners Advice Clinic at Canada Blooms in Toronto, and were joined by Master Gardeners from other parts of Ontario. 
  • We made our first donation of a 2 year subscription to “The Gardener for the Prairies” (now “The Gardener”) to 10 local libraries. 
  • Members visited the school Butterfly Garden designed by founding member Paul Statia.
  • Donated $200.00 to the “Elm Recovery Project”, in memory of Henry Kock, Horticulturalist, University of Guelph 
  • We hosted our second technical update for other Master Gardeners and community groups “The Times They Are A’ Changing:  Gardening in an Era of Climate Change” with presenters Shannon Wood, Botanist, John Tripp, Master Gardener, and Joan Klaassen, Senior Climatologist, Environment Canada. 

2007

  • In addition to our regular advice clinics, we had our first advice clinic at “Art in the Garden”, Keppel Croft Gardens, Big Bay, with the added bonus of exploring this beautiful garden. 
  • Jackie and Verna participated in an Anti-Pesticide Forum at Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre, Owen Sound. 
  • Annual education day was a tour of Edith and Wolfgang Gefken’s garden, “My Heart Is In It”.
  • At the request of local horticultural societies in Zone 8, we volunteered at the 3-day OHA Annual Conference in Owen Sound. 
  • Our first Gardening Seminar ”Fall Gardening” at the Owen Sound Legion with hands-on demonstrations from our own Master Gardeners about "Planting Fall Bulbs" by Ursula Karalus and Sue Connelly, and "Dividing Perennials" by Verna Beckenhauer and Pat Draves. 

2008

  • We started advertising with a “Where Can You Find a Master Gardener When You Need One?” brochure, bookmark, and event card.
  • The list of advice clinic events continues to grow with a new one held at the Hanover Co-op. 
  • Feedback from libraries on “The Gardener” was excellent.  All 10 library 2-year subscriptions were renewed. 
  • Gardening Seminars are officially an annual event.  In October, we presented “Pruning, Perennials & Pollinators” at the Owen Sound Legion. Speakers were Master Gardener Ursula Karalus, Chris Graham, former chief horticulturalist at the Royal Botanical Gardens, and Master Gardener Dr. Anne Morgan.. 

2009

  • We started e-mail notifications of upcoming events to Horticultural Societies and Garden Clubs, which has grown into an extensive e-mail list that continues to grow. 
  • The Hanover Horticultural Society invited us to answer questions at their spring plant sale. 
  • This was the first year for an advice clinic at Meaford Farmers’ Market, now one of our annual advice clinics. 
  • Annual education day was a tour of “Artemesia Day Lilies” in Priceville (now moved north of Kimberley). 
  • Reader’s Digest A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants was donated to Elmwood Library. 

2010

  • The Meaford Garden Club invited us to participate in their summer event “Quilts in my Garden”.  Master Gardeners were assigned spots at the gardens on the tour to answer questions. 
  • To increase our visibility at our Annual Fall Plant Sale, we adopted brightly flowered, extremely unflattering sun visors.  Rain or shine, flattering or not, we were visible! 
  • The subscription to “The Gardener” magazine was renewed at local libraries. 
  • Gardening seminars are popular!  This year we tried a spring event “Bugged, Bothered & Bewildered” at Owen Sound Legion.  Speakers were Dr. Rebecca Hallet, University of Guelph, Verna Beckenhauer, Master Gardener and Denis Flanagan, Certified Landscape Designer. 

2011

  • We worked with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHC) on their community gardens in Owen Sound, an involvement that has continued as an annual project. 
  • In addition to our regular advice clinics, Verna Beckenhauer and Jackie Campbell were guests on Bluewater Radio about Got problems in your garden? Ask a master gardener! 
  • Derby Public School was the winner of the Grown in Grey ‘green project’.  They wanted a Butterfly Garden and the cash prize purchased 2 butterfly bushes plus donated plants and our help on planting day. 
  • Our first year participating at the Bruce Grey Forest Festival, a 3-day event in Allan Park Conservation Area.  We were at the Forest Feast Station, which was a good fit for us and is now an annual event. 
  • Education this year included learning how to make a Power Point Presentations. Thanks to Adult Learning Staff at the Owen Sound Library for giving us a hands-on tutorial. 
  • Gardening Seminar is officially an annual fall event.  The Owen Sound Legion was filled beyond capacity this year for "From the Forest to the Garden:  Identify, Diagnose, Grow".  Speakers were Peter Middleton, Owen Sound Field Naturalists, Dr. Greg Boland, University of Guelph and Martin Galloway, Chalk Lake Greenhouses. 

2012

  • Invitations to set up advice clinics continue to increase with new ones at the Community Volunteer Fair, Owen Sound Library, Thornbury Home & Garden Show, and the District 8 Ontario Horticultural Association Spring Meeting, Hanover. 
  • Master Gardeners Sue Connelly and Diana Lenk participated in the first local Seedy Saturday, Ginger Press, Owen Sound. 
  • Grey County and Toronto Master Gardeners partnered with the Ontario Mental Health Association (OMHA) and gave a webinar on the process and benefits of community gardens for Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) clients. 
  • We helped South East Grey Community Health Centre (SEGCHC) establish community gardens in Markdale. 
  • Our Education Day included a visit to Fiddlehead Nursery, Forest Gardening (edible perennials). 
  • We organized our first group-funded Legacy Project, which was to design and plant a Heritage Orchard at Grey Roots Museum. 
  • Our Annual Fall Gardening Seminar "A Morning in the Garden" filled the Owen Sound Legion again.  Topics and Speakers were "Square Foot Gardening" by Karen Neerhof, "The Smell of Fear" by Master Gardener Sue Connelly, and "Another Hot Dry Summer:  Best Practices/Best Plants" by Master Gardener Pat Draves. 

2013

  • We set up an advice/information booth at the first ever Backyard Glam Garden Tour, Thornbury. 
  • We helped SEGCHC to establish a community garden program in Dundalk. 
  • Grey County and Toronto Master Gardeners received a Master Gardeners of Ontario Inc. (MGOI) Award of Excellence for the CMHA community gardeners webinar. 
  • We selected and planted more fruit trees to complete the Heritage Orchard at Grey Roots Museum. 
  • We moved our Fall Gardening Seminar to the Harmony Centre, Owen Sound, which has a larger room and more amenities.  This year’s event was "From the Ground Up!"  Topics and speakers were "Soils:  Love That Dirt!  Secrets of Great Soil" by Simcoe County Master Gardener Carol Dunk, "Thyme for You, Heirloom Vegetables:  Our Past and Our Future" by Marnie Mclntosh, Wiarton, and "Chalk Talk:  Plants for Alkaline Soil" by Carlo Balisstrieri, Head Horticulturalist, Royal Botanical Gardens. 

2014

  • Our Spring events included displays and workshops at Bruce County Library's Seedy Saturday. 
  • We sponsored the Elmwood Homecoming Beautification Contest and our category was Pollinator-Friendly Gardens “If we each do a little, we’ll all do a lot” . 
  • We have been participating in the Forest Festival at Allen Park for several years, and this year we received a certificate recognizing our volunteer time, and Grey County Master Gardeners was added to the list of volunteers on their tee-shirt. 
  • Fall Seminars continue to be popular and "About the Birds and the Bees and the Flowers and the Trees" was held at Harmony Centre, Owen Sound.  Topics and speakers were "Twiners, Stickers, Clingers, Hookers, Espaliers" by Brenda Sutherland, Earth Bound, "The Secret Life of Plants" by Shannon Wood, Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority, and "Pollinator-Friendly Gardening" by Master Gardener Ursula Karalus. 

2015

  • Many kilometers were clocked this year, as we drove throughout Grey and Bruce counties, delivering 33 presentations on a wide variety of gardening topics – the most to date!
  • We launched our own website.  Now you can contact us and we can describe Who We Are and What We Do. 
  • Keppel-Sarawak School won the Grown in Grey ‘green project’ and they chose spring flowering shrubs.  The cash prize purchased a native service berry shrub, and our members donated lilac and forsythia shrubs and helped on planting day. 
  • Education Day included a visit to Crickhollow Biodynamic Farm, Neustadt. 
  • The Fall Gardening Seminars honoured 2015 International Year Of Soils, St. George’s United Church, Owen Sound.  Thanks to the Community Foundation Grey Bruce for the grant that made it possible to have celebrity gardener Ed Lawrence as guest speaker.  Ed presented “Tips, Tricks, and Techniques to Garden Without Pesticides” and our second speaker, MG Ursula Karalus, spoke on “Life Underfoot”. 


2016

  • Our 20th anniversary! 
  • Members assembled a binder chock-full of photos, articles and other memorabilia to chronical our 20 years of community events, education and giving. 
  • The gardening season began with a visit to Hope Haven Therapeutic and Family Centre, Markdale, to design an accessible garden of raised beds and pathways for their clients. 
  • Thanks to sponsorship from the Inglis Falls Arboretum Alliance (IFAA) which allowed Master Gardener Roberta Brignell to attend the Horticulture as Therapy Program, Owen Sound.  Plans are underway to offer gardening projects for seniors. 
  • Our sponsorship for “The Gardener” magazine subscriptions to horticultural programs and libraries in Grey Bruce schools has increased to 9 libraries and 2 high schools. 
  • Another new advice clinic!  This time at Gingko Footprints Garden, Annan, a fund-raising event for local and international projects. 
  • Our website is getting lots of views.  For the winter months, we added Armchair Gardening with articles written by members.  In the Fall we added 1996-2016 highlighting our community involvements over the past 20 years. 


Share by: