Speakers
We have some great speakers and interesting topics coming up!
Guests are now welcome again ($10 each)
Any In-person meetings are currently restricted to “doubly vaccinated attendees” and masks may be required due to a number of our members are high risk for Covid. We hope you understand.
Doors open at 7 pm. Speaker presentations commence at 7:30 pm so please arrive at least 15 minutes early to sign in. After the presentation there will be a short meeting/announcements followed by some socializing over refreshments. This is a good time to check out the show and share table, raffle prizes and learn about upcoming outings.
2022 Speaker Line-up
Playful Gardening with Young Children
June 21, 2022: Megan Zeni
Change of Agenda for Tuesday, June 21 General Meeting
Due to illness on the part of our Speaker Megan Zeni, we will reschedule her presentation for the spring. Stay tuned to this page.
For the in-person meeting on Tuesday, June 21 the topic instead will be “Your Favourite Gardening Tool”
Think about your favourite gardening tool and why it’s your favourite. We’ll have time for five to six attendees to speak for a few minutes each and we’ll meet in person at the Church. When we invited members to talk on this topic in past, people went home with lots of tips and it was a fun evening.
The Club recognizes how important it is for meeting attendees to be able to socialize and with this in mind we’ll move to the Fellowship Hall after the business meeting portion and socialize over refreshments while we view the Show ‘n Share and magazine tables, and hold the raffle. There will also be a door prize for one lucky winner.
As usual, doors open at 7:00 p.m. Meeting starts at 7:30 and we wrap up around 9:00 p.m.
Do remember to bring garden flowers or veggies for the Show ‘n Share table, even if you need help identifying them. And bring along your own coffee/tea. Baked treats will be available.
Members, please wear your Club nametag and everyone should wear their mask except when speaking at the podium or eating/drinking. We ask that attendees be fully vaccinated. If you are feeling unwell or have been exposed to someone with COVID, please skip this meeting.
Meeting location: Ladner Christian Reformed Church, 4594 54A Street, Ladner – entrance and parking around back.
Guests: Free entry this month. Everyone welcome!
See you Tuesday evening.
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Come learn how we might prepare our garden spaces so they feel welcoming and inviting for young children to enjoy. This session will explore simple design features which encourage playful exploration of private gardens. We will also review child friendly veggies that can be strategically planted to engage children in the joys and wonders of growing and harvesting.
Megan Zeni is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia. Her research interests include pedagogies of place and play in elementary schools. Megan has 25 years of teaching experience in public schools, and currently teaches entirely outdoors in a K-7 outdoor and garden classroom. Megan is a master gardener and consults broadly on how to start up, maintain and teach across the curriculum in school gardens. To learn more about her work, visit: www.meganzeni.com
Plant Propagation by Division
September 20, 2022: Maria Valana
Free plants are all around you, ready for the taking. All you have to do is divide them! In this presentation you will learn propagation by division of a variety of plants, the correct timing and step-by-step procedure.
Maria Valana is a Horticulture Instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU). She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science Degree from Olds College, Provincial Instructor Diploma from Vancouver Community College and a Red Seal Certification in both Landscape and Production Horticulture. Maria has also worked for the City of Kamloops for six years and owned her own landscape business since 2015. Her education along with her lifelong experience in horticulture provide a solid foundation for training students in the Horticulture and Apprenticeship Program on a variety of topics. Maria enjoys sharing her passion by providing horticulture education to like-minded individuals. Plant propagation is one of Maria’s favorite subjects.
Recent Past Speakers
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden
January 18, 2022: Robert (Bob) Wilmott and Hayne Wai
This Ming Dynasty style classical Chinese garden opened in Vancouver’s Chinatown in 1986 and is the first full Chinese garden ever built outside of China. Bob and Hayne’s presentation centres around the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden and the four main elements of a 16th century Ming style garden: architecture, water, plants and rocks. Bob and Hayne also bring in the history of the Garden, its inception, construction and location within Vancouver’s Chinatown. They will showcase the essential elements of a classical Chinese Garden and walk us through the halls, courtyards and corridors with particular reference to the appropriate maintenance of plants, shrubs and trees to reflect a classical Ming Dynasty elegance. This is a ZOOM Powerpoint™ presentation with live commentary.
Both Bob and Hayne are past board members and current docents at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden. Bob is a veteran Master Gardener, retired garden designer and chaired the Garden’s Facilities Committee which was responsible for the overall management of the structures, plants, rocks and water in the Garden. Hayne is also a Master Gardener, a founding board member, past-president of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of B.C. and has researched and published on Vancouver’s Chinatown. During the last few years Bob and Hayne have presented to many garden clubs in metro Vancouver and Victoria as part of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden outreach program.
New Westminster’s Hanging Baskets – The Story
February 15, 2022: Claude LeDoux
How to create a stunning basket for your home, office or city. The complete history and dirty soil version of just how to make these beautiful baskets.
Claude LeDoux has been a passionate Horticulturalist throughout his adult life. He retired in 2018, as the Parks Department Horticulture Manager for the City of New Westminster. Here, over a period of 18 years he was responsible for the City Greenhouse operations, and three divisions – Arboricultural, Horticultural and Irrigation. He also created and approved City and Park landscape designs, organized contractors and consultants and was a member of the Design Review Panel for the City.
Prior to plying his considerable expertise at the City of New West, Claude was engaged at the Bota and Fantasy Gardens as Assistant Manager for Horticultural Operations where he oversaw design, layout and implementation of garden displays, purchased the plants, and provided guided tours.
Claude graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1979, with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, majoring in Horticulture and throughout his career he has been a landscape consultant for commercial and private projects.
Claude lectures on annuals and perennials at Van Dusen Botanical Gardens and has been a speaker to Van Dusen Master Gardeners and to UBC Landscape Architecture students. He speaks regularly to BC garden clubs and other groups and he is a member of Great Plant Picks of the Pacific Northwest and several other horticultural societies. Claude is also the co-coordinator for the “Plant a Row – Grow a Row” for the City of New West, a program started by Brian Minter to encourage gardening.
Claude’s deep knowledge of Horticulture means that he is frequently sought out as a judge and has presided over many awards and garden shows including the National Awards of Landscape Excellence, the BC Landscape Awards of Excellence, Van Dusen Flower & Garden Show and New Westminster’s Festival of Trees, its Royal City Builders Awards and many others.
Creating Climate Change Gardens and the Special Role of Irises
March 16, 2022: Dr. Richard Hebda
British Columbia’s climate is changing rapidly with warming winter temperatures, summer droughts and a longer growing season. Learn strategies and techniques to adapt your future garden and keep it beautiful. Discover the roles that remarkably diverse irises can play; it’s time to start transforming our gardens.
Dr. Richard Hebda is Curator Emeritus at the Royal British Columbia Museum (RBCM) where he has curated the museum’s Climate Change permanent exhibit and travelling fossil displays. Richard was also senior editor on RBCM’s volume on the human remains frozen in a northwest BC glacier and received the Queen’s Jubilee medal for his work in paleontology. He also received the national Bruce Naylor award for natural history curatorship.
Dr. Hebda is also an adjunct faculty member at the University of Victoria (UVIC) and was the first faculty coordinator of the Restoration of Natural Systems Program at the university. His research interests are varied. He studies vegetation and climate history of BC, climate change impacts, alpine ecosystems and heritage potatoes. Richard is the (co)author of more than 135 scientific papers, 250 popular articles on native plants and climate change, and (co)author and editor of several books and reports on grasses and ethnobotany.
Outside of his curatorial and scholarly life, Richard loves irises and is president of the BC Iris Society.
Dragon Master below, a strong and reliable Intermediate Bearded Iris. Photo credit: Richard Hebda, Royal BC Museum
Flying Circus below, an Intermediate Bearded iris. Photo credit: Ted Baker
When to Sow and How to Grow
April 19, 2022: Matt Johnson
From patio gardens to full sized farms, this presentation will give you the information you need to get the most out of your vegetable garden! Learn when to plant your favorite vegetables, how to care for them when the going gets rough, and how to maximize your harvest. And while this presentation is directed to vegetable gardeners, it also contains many useful tips for gardeners of all kinds and experience levels.
Matt Johnson is the Agricultural Program Coordinator at Earthwise Society, the non-profit organization in South Delta. Matt manages a 1.5 acre certified organic vegetable farm, a quarter-acre demonstration farm, and three satellite vegetable gardens throughout South Delta.
“My passion for gardening started when my grandmother would take me out to the garden to look into the compost bin, where I would see all the creepy crawlies doing their important work.”
Fast forward a bit and Matt has been growing food for over 10 years in small amounts; throughout the last two years he has expanded to larger scale vegetable farming. The majority of his experience has been focused on no-till, organic food production and he is a firm believer that the key to sustainable agriculture is local production done in healthy soil and with appropriate water usage.
Says Matt, “It is my goal to get more people involved with food production and to build a greater appreciation for the land we live on. I am always excited to talk about gardening and am looking forward to sharing my agricultural knowledge with the community!”
Out of the Ordinary Annuals & Perennials
May 17, 2022: Janis Matson
Janis will highlight some plants that she thinks are out of the ordinary – plants that could add a unique punch or diversify your garden. She will look at plant choices that are possibly new to you and spotlight some forgotten classics. She’ll discuss diverse possibilities with the emphasis on exposure, colour, texture, form and structure. Janis’ presentation will help you design a forgotten corner or fill a spot where you wanted something just a little different!
Janis graduated with a Diploma in Landscape Design and Horticulture, and later became an Arborist Risk Assessor. She furthered her education when she obtained her Floral Design Certificate, Arborist Certificate, Red Seal Journeyman ticket, Level 1 Irrigation Certificate, and the ICPI - Paver installation Certificate. Janis also earned the Provincial Instructors Diploma and has put it to good use over the years as a Faculty Instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Langley with the Horticultural Diploma and Apprenticeship programs. She is also a Contract Faculty Instructor at Burnaby Community Education with the Horticultural Hardscape, Plant ID Certificate and Apprenticeship programs. In some of her spare time, Janis teaches in the Adult Education program at Van Dusen Botanical Garden and is a popular Guest Speaker at various garden clubs throughout the Lower Mainland.
Janis has made her career in the Horticultural industry for over 30 years beginning in 1988, when she worked for Murray Nurseries in southlands where she stayed for six years. She then put her enthusiasm, plant and design knowledge to work developing her own company, Shoreline Landscape Design Ltd and has been its Owner/Operator for over 25 years, enjoying the challenge of making garden spaces look and feel good.
Born in Burnaby, BC, Janis is known to be creative, enthusiastic and fun and enjoys to work with people. Beyond appreciating nature and plants, Janis makes time for photography and sports.
