When: September 18th at 7:00 pm

Where: Omemee Legion

“The Land Between is synonymous with Cottage Country- but there is more to this landscape than one would guess! It is the last wilderness landscape in southern Ontario and a refuge for 59 Species at Risk. It is a meeting place for Raven and Crow, River Otter and Woodchuck, Jack Pine and White Oak…and for mosquito and black fly! It is a meeting place of hunter and vegan, of city and country, of Liberal and Conservative. The Land Between is also rich in cultural diversity and provides resilience to a changing climate and changing times. The Land Between is also the name of the charity that works to save this special place.”

Sarah Reed was raised on a small farm in rural Kawartha Lakes, & after years of working in environmental conservation & living across Canada, has returned to this precious part of the Land Between. Some of her current passions include rotational grazing, native plant landscaping, soil health & production. As well as working for the charity, Sarah is a gardener, shepherd & spinner. 

Included is a photo from the nesting season!

Some of the programs The Land Between charity is working on are Blue Lakes Health for the Future, Bird Buddies-Inspiring Caretakers, Rewilding Native Gardens, and Phrag Fighters-Managing Invasive Species.

Omemee Blooms Garden Club has been kindly invited to view the amazing meadows of owners Joe & Hazel Cook of Blossom Hill Nursery on Monday, August 21st, at 6:30 pm. Their address is 681 Fife’s Bay Road.

Their 12-acre field was planted with native tall grass & native wildflowers in the Autumn of 2019. Native trees & shrubs are planted along the sides. 

Please enter in the field south of their laneway & their neighbour’s laneway on the same side of the road. A sign reading MEADOW will be at the entrance.      

Some suggestions for items to bring or wear; walking shoes, hat, sunglasses, bug spray and a camera.

The Cook’s will arrange to have some of their AWARD-WINNING HONEY available for sale on-site.  It won top prize in the honey-tasting contest at the COBA (Central Ontario Beekeepers Association) summer meeting. Prices are $9 for a 500ml jar and $15 for a kilogram jar. Please bring Cash. 

Anyone wishing to purchase any of Hazel & Joe’s other perennials as shown on their website is asked to contact them ahead of time at (705) 742-9923.

Carpooling from the Omemee Firehall will be available. Please be prepared to leave the Hall at 6 pm SHARP. 

If you have any questions, please contact Joan Harding at 705-799-5378 or djharding2014[at]outlook.com or Donna Hunter at 705-799-6656.

Anyone wishing to tour the Omemee Gardens at a later date can let us know & we will arrange for someone to take you on a tour. We also have self-guided tour outlines that we can send you.  

www.blossomhillnursery.com

info@blossomhillnursery.com

Blossom Hill Nursery is celebrating 29 years in business

Note: the trip for this meeting has been changed to Blossom Hill Nursery (see new post)

Continuing the summer theme of “Visiting Beautiful Gardens, our August  21st meeting is taking a unique twist.  Every summer we have community members as well as tourists, holidaying in our area, who stop to view our village gardens.  We receive many compliments as well as thanks for volunteering.  These gardens add beauty to our village but are also set up to teach by example. The gardens highlight examples of shrubs, perennials and annuals that thrive in a variety of growing conditions. We have gardens in sun and shade. Some are close to a water supply and others have to survive in hot dry conditions.

This meeting is a unique opportunity for a guided tour of these gardens. Join us, to learn each garden’s history, while possibly picking up tips on choosing plants for varied growing conditions. We will end up in the park so bring a lawn chair, your insect repellent and a travel mug beverage for a time of fellowship. In order to increase the available daylight hours we will meet at the Curling Club at 6:30. From there we will drive to the Marina garden and then to the Fire Hall for the walking portion. Hope to see you there.

Please Join the Omemee Blooms Garden Club on , Monday, July 24th. at 6:30 PM as we tour the lovely gardens of Chris and Linda Cardona. 

They are located at 421 Albertus Avenue in Peterborough which is at the corner of Weller and Albertus. Please park on Albertus Ave. 

Linda Cardona describes their gardens… 

From early spring to the end of fall, our garden is a paradise of ever-changing beauty. The flowers look different in the morning, mid-day, & evening as the light changes from early morning glow to harsh overhead light to the warm tones of the calm golden hour before sunset. The flowers provide a series of contrasts. We have delicate & bold, intricate & simple, repetitive & unique, vivid & pastel. There are a vast array of patterns, designs & shapes. We conservatively have over 100 different flowers in our garden.  As a photographer, gardens provide inspiration, opportunity, challenge & always, a learning experience.

Linda & Chris’s gardens have been on a number of garden tours. Chris is a certified Horticulturist. 

Linda, who is a professional photographer, will have her lovely floral photo cards for sale at $4. each. Please bring along cash.

Here are a few photos as a ‘sneak peek’ preview.  

Kim Magee, of Curly Girl Gardening, has been an avid gardener all her life. She is a professional photographer and with all the time off during Covid, she expanded her gardens to cover her yard.  She now sells cut flower bouquets throughout the season, from her small urban garden in Lindsay.  She has a special love for dahlias which dominate her bouquets. She also sells tubers & potted dahlias in spring. 

Join Kim and the Omemee Blooms Garden Club on May 15th @ the Omemee Legion!! Let’s plan your garden to bring you a summer of bouquets!

Kim will be selling some plants and her beautiful photo cards. Please come early. The meeting starts promptly at 7:30 pm. Please bring Cash if purchasing anything.  

Doors open @ 630pm at the Legion. Everyone welcome! 

Please join us for our third Omemee Blooms Horticultural Society Meeting for 2023!

Doors open at the Omemee Legion at 7 pm on April 17^th. for our half-hour Social Time.  

Our General Meeting starts at 7:30 pm. We are delighted to have Anne Barbour and Dale Leadbeater, authors of Flora of the Kawartha Lakes, who recently won the Non-Fiction category in the 2023 Kawartha Lakes Readers’ Choice awards. Sean James, a well-known gardener, is suggesting that all gardeners should have a copy. We will be selling tickets towards some lucky person winning this well-researched book with many beautiful photos.     

The framed photo behind Anne & Dale is an award they received in 2014 from Ontario Nature for the project’s contribution to science, made by the Kawartha Field Naturalists.

Please Join Us Monday, March 20th. at 7 pm at the Omemee Legion as we celebrate our 84th. Anniversary Celebration with cake and coffee.

Our General Meeting will start at 7:30 pm.

We are delighted to have Jerry Jerrard who is frequently referred to as ‘The Bee Guy” and owner/operator of Kawartha Lakes Honey join us. 

Jerry has been a beekeeper in the Bobcaygeon area for more than 25 years.  He started out as a hobbyist with 5 hives and now manages 1,000 hives located in more than 30 locations throughout the Kawartha Lakes area. He is very passionate about nature, sustainability and the pollinators he nurtures. He devotes his time to producing pure honey, nucleus colonies, queen bees and pure beeswax products (candles, lip balms, wood finish, etc.).   

KAWARTHA LAKES HONEY 

465 Colony Rd., Bobcaygeon, ON, K0M 1A0
P: 705-738-5374
E: info@kawarthalakeshoney.ca

Different floral sources produce distinct colours and flavours of honey – from the mild, delicately flavoured basswood honey to the dark, strong-flavoured buckwheat honey. Jerry has these and several other varieties available.  He makes every effort to keep the different honeys separate as many customers have come to appreciate the various types.  Our honey is 100% pure and unpasteurized. Extracting practices are kept as pure and simple as possible (no high heat or micro filters).  This ensures high-quality honey with amazing flavour and nutrients. 

Jerry is a member of the Central Ontario Beekeepers’ Association (and past president).  His beekeeping operation is frequently featured on local television programs and in print publications.  As well, Jerry acts as a mentor to new beekeepers.   

Please join us for our first. Omemee Blooms Horticultural Society Meeting for 2023!

Doors will be open at the Omemee Legion at 7 pm on February 20 for our half-hour Social Time. As it’s our first Meeting of the year, the Omemee Swans will be serving some snacks during Social Time.

Masks are optional, chairs will be spread apart, and sanitizer will be available. 

Our General Meeting starts at 7:30 pm.

We are delighted to have Linda Cardona, photographer extraordinaire, present Tips for Taking Photos in the Garden. Linda will discuss how you can get the best possible floral pictures without fancy equipment. She will be sharing many of her flower photographs; some of which are taken in her garden.  Bring your camera along for any questions you might have. 

We will also visit Linda and her husband’s beautiful gardens in July. These gardens have been on Garden Tours in Peterborough. 

Linda Cardona is a Peterborough photographer who captures nature’s beauty in all four seasons.  

Linda has loved photography for as long as she can remember and was inspired at a young age by her grandmother who was passionate about photography. She inherited her grandmother’s camera and so learned photography on a manual film camera. It was a great initial exposure to understanding the technical side of photography.   

She has taken courses in both photography and Photoshop at Fleming College.  Photo Shop allows her to take her photography to the next artistic level.  

Developing a “photographer’s eye” is an ongoing experience and Linda is always looking for the best angle to get that shot. She is constantly analyzing light, colours, shapes and shadows and reflections  

Peterborough provides Linda with countless opportunities to photograph nature’s beauty, especially flowers. Landscapes, portraits and architecture are also favourite topics. She feels equally comfortable working in colour or black and white. Linda is pleased to share her work through both group and solo exhibits.  

Linda has created a multitude of effects with her photography, from the pure traditional look to the extreme avant-garde. She has learned to observe the light as it completely changes the colours, textures, shadows and details of the images. Linda says “It becomes essential to take the time to study and capture all possible angles in order to get interesting and unique perspectives. It is often surprising to see which shots are the best”.   

Email: lindacardona@bell.net                      

Instagram: LindaCardonaPhotography     

 Facebook: LindaCardonaPhotography