White Rock & District Garden Club Education & Workshops
Share What You Know - Show What You Grow!
As part of our mantra "Share What You Know - Show What You Grow" our mission is to continue to learn and grow and share our knowledge. We are continually learning by bringing in Guest Speakers who are knowledgeable in their fields, taking Field Trips to see exceptional gardens and beautiful destinations and holding Workshops on different techniques and topics of interest.
White Rock Garden Club Educational Events include:
- Field Trips
- Workshops
- Guest Speakers
- Surrey Seed Library
- Gardening Tips
- Local Gardening Resources
- Educational Videos
Field Trips
We have at least one or two subsidized field trips a year for members (and guests if space permits). These are generally organized bus trips but occasionally involve carpooling to a site. Recent trips have included a visit to a gerbera growing operation, a regional composting facility, a local winery, Butchart Gardens and UBC Botanical Gardens as well as Garden Tours of sister gardening clubs. Field Trips for 2022 include tours to The Glades Woodland Garden and Darts Hill Garden Park (both parks donated to Surrey and operated by the city). We are always looking for new ideas and your feedback is welcome.
Bus trip to Nitobe Memorial Garden & UBC Botanical Gardens June 2019
Our excellent tour of these gardens was enhanced by the knowledgeable guides. Members learned the history of the Nitobe and its special place in the Vancouver landscape and developed an appreciation for the dedicated horticulturists endeavouring to preserve native species at UBC.
Floral Arranging Workshops
As special events, the Club sponsors workshops on topics of interest to the members. In the recent past, we have had workshops on building wreaths, creating large floral arrangements for Christmas, and spring floral arrangements..
In future, we are looking at container gardening, growing your own herbs, incorporating vegetables in your flower garden aesthetically, garden crafts and small space gardening.
Guest Speakers
At four meetings a year, invited speakers come to provide information about various garden related topics. Recent topics have included growing orchids, attracting wild birds, bee keeping, succulents, and photographing your garden. We also offer workshops occasionally so that members can learn how to do some things hands on, such as a recent workshop on how to make a Christmas arrangement with greenery from your garden.
Surrey Seed Library
The group was formed in 2015 by a small group of experienced gardeners and has been growing steadily every year since. The Surrey Seed Library have over 300 members to date.
This is a volunteer run, non-profit venture that gives viable, healthy seeds to local gardeners with the expectation that they will return some of their healthy plant seeds to us in the fall.
All seeds are FREE. They offer vegetable, flower and herb seeds that grow well in our area. The Seed Library is open from February to November at Alexandra Neighbourhood House in Crescent Beach for year 2021. Days and times to be determined. For more information, email surreyseedlibrary@gmail.com .
Gardening Tips
In this section you will find helpful tips, hints and recommendations from local gardening experts and our experienced members.
Local Gardening Resources
Here you will find links to some relevant sites that may be helpful for all gardeners out there. Check back often as we will be adding to these as we find them.
With thanks to the sponsoring organizations Linda Gilkeson has made her Year Round Harvest gardening course slides free to the public. On her website: www.lindagilkeson.ca go to ‘Course Login’ on the menu.
- Use password: honeycrisp to see monthly presentations from the 10-month Year Round Harvest course (a new module will be put up each month until October)
- Use password: mgbasic to see a 2-part set of slides for a vegetable growing workshop prepared for BC Master Gardeners.
Also, from her home page you can print a planting chart that shows when to sow seeds for crops that are harvested all winter. Put the chart on your fridge to remind you when to sow various crops over the summer.
Remember, New Members are Always Welcome at the White Rock Garden Club! Become a Member Today!
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