Colleen Zacharias is a Master Gardener and Certified Prairie Horticulturalist. She is Co-chair of The Prairie Garden, Manitoba Master Gardener Association, and Gardening Saturday Tradeshow and is the gardening columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press.
This evening Colleen will be discussing the many Phlox varieties available for Prairie Gardens, new perennials for summer bloom and annuals that make great additions to containers or fillers in flower beds.
Terry Galloway has worked as veterinary and wildlife entomologist in the Department of Entomology at the University of Manitoba since 1973. He has studied different groups of biting arthropods including mosquitoes, black flies, no-see-ums, horseflies and deer flies, stable flies, louse flies swallow bugs , bed bugs, fleas, lice, ticks and mites. He has a wealth of first-hand experience with how they affect people. Terry will help us understand about the life of these annoying creatures, enough, hopefully, for you to appreciate their true beauty when you next encounter them in your garden.
Judy Schwartz Lives in East Fort Garry, a second Winnipeg location for her. In both home sites the lawn gave way to random planting of fruit trees and small fruits, perennials, annuals, vegetables and tropicals. Judy starts seeds indoors yearly and outdoors when weather permits.
Judy was born in Oxford County Ontario and began assisting her mother and grandmother in weeding, picking and canning the produce of their garden. She has learned many things about seed starting which she will share this evening.
Judy is the acting Vice-President and the bookkeeper for Friends of Gardens Manitoba.
John Rempel retired from a long career in telecommunications. He has lived and gardened in Charleswood for 45 years. He is a life member of the Charleswood Garden Club and past president of the Manitoba Regional Lily society.
Rempel has grown lilies for the last 20 years and has been hybridizing them for the last 12 years. His aim is to increase the gene pool of trumpet and orientpet lilies hardy to Zone 3. He is fascinated with the variations one can make from a select group of lilies. This talk will be interesting to those who would like to know the fundamentals of plant breeding.
Andy Tekauz
The Fungi are Ready to Attack – Yes, in Your Garden!
Andy Tekauz is a Plant Pathologist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Cereal Research Centre in Winnipeg MB, where his work focuses on managing diseases of cereal crops on the prairies. For his talk, he will introduce you to the world of fungi, some of which are beneficial, but others are a menace both in agriculture and to the plants in your garden.
Jennifer Bishop
Hosta the Wonder Plant
Jennifer Bishop gardens in North Kildonan where she reigns over a garden packed with perennials. Jennifer is a member of the American Hosta Society, the American Hemerocallis Society, the CanWest Iris Society, and the Manitoba Regional Lily Society. She grows Lilies – especially Martegons, Hosta, Thalictrum, and Verbascum - and loves them all. Which is her favourite? The one she is looking at. She’s a passionate gardener!
Jennifer will show pictures of the most exciting hostas and talk about growing this great plant.
Bonnie Tulloch
Inspiring Children to Garden
Bonnie began with Assiniboine Park in 2003 and moved into the education department in 2006. While pursuing an Honours degree in Fine Arts from the University of Manitoba, Bonnie enjoyed fulfilling a variety of passions including interior design, art history and women’s studies. Bonnie’s extensive horticultural experience comes from many years of gardening, as a manager at Shelmerdine Nurseries and as associate editor of the Prairie Garden annual book. She furthered her horticultural education through the University Of Guelph and Assiniboine Community College.
Getty Stewart
Picking, Preparing and Enjoying Prairie Fruit
Professional Home Economist, author and gardener, Getty Stewart loves growing, picking, preserving and, especially, eating local fruits and veggies. In 2010, after witnessing surplus fruit in Winnipeg backyards wasting away, she started Fruit Share – a volunteer organization that harvests and shares surplus fruit. In Spring 2012, she launched Prairie Fruit Cookbook: The Essential Guide for Picking, Preserving and Preparing Fruit to further help educate people on how to harvest, store, preserve, use and share prairie fruit. Getty and her kids grow veggies on a community plot along the banks of the Red River and are slowly converting their small front yard into a mini-orchard.
Ed Czarnecki
Small bulbs for
Fall Planting
Ed Czarnecki, (BSA, MSc) retired as a cereal breeder from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Some of his interests include perennial hybridizing, gardening, travelling, photography and study of native flora.
Fran Wershler & Sandy Venton
A Visit to Foggy Bottom &
Hidcote Gardens, England
In 2011 Sandy Venton and Fran Wershler circled England visiting famous gardens. Join them to see a presentation of highlights from that trip.
Fran Wershler is a former Editor of The Prairie Garden. Her gardening interests have included roses, hostas and lilies. She is involved with horticultural groups such as the St. James Horticultural Society, the Manitoba Regional and the North American Lily Societies. Touring gardens away from home is one of her fascinations.
Sandy Venton has been gardening for many years and Martagon lilies are her passion. She is Canadian Vice President of the North American Lily Society and Secretary for the Manitoba Regional Lily Society, a lily judge and 2012 show chair for the North American Lily Society show and convention held in Winnipeg. She lives to garden.
2011 Gardening Talks
African Violets
This was the ninth and last for 2011 installment in McNally Robinson Booksellers and the Prairie Garden Committee’s series of Gardening Information Talks, taking place the last Wednesday of each month.
Bonnie Batchelor has been President of the Winnipeg African Violet Society for the last 10 years. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the St. James Horticultural Society. Bonnie has had an interest in anything flower related since she was a small child helping her grandmother plant gladioli and dahlias. Even as she travelled from place to place as a military wife she always managed have houseplants and small flower beds. Now that her family is permanently landed in Winnipeg Bonnie has planted flower beds to her heart’s content and filled her house with African violets.
Bonnie will be speaking about ways to grow and care for African violets, giving easy methods for the propagation and nurture of small plants and describing the fascination many people have for this intriguing and familiar plant.
Indoor Plants
Susanne Olver, holds an Ontario Diploma of Horticulture from the University of Guelph, and is a member of the Order of St. John Ambulance. Trained as a horticulturist in Frankfurt, Germany, Susanne worked for 30 years at the University of Manitoba as a supervisor of the Department of Botany greenhouses. She has lectured across Manitoba, for Continuing Education at the University of Manitoba and was a frequent guest of CBC Information Radio. Her garden is also home to her prize winning German Shepherd dogs. She has run her own home plant care business since retiring from the university. Susanne has been an active member of The Prairie Garden since 1976.
"Think About Lilies"
Sandy Venton has been gardening for over 50 years. Martagon lilies are her passion. She is the vice president of the North American Lily Society and secretary of the Manitoba Regional Lily Society, a show organizer and a lily judge. Sandy presides over a garden in St. James that is crammed full of martegon lilies. She lives to garden.
As fall is the time to buy and plant lilies of all kinds Sandy will discuss where to get bulbs and how to plant and grow them.
Choosing Perennials and Fall Containers
Bonnie Tulloch comes to the Assiniboine Park Conservatory (APC) Park Programming department from the Conservatory, where she spent four years as an education coordinator. What Bonnie loves most about her job is “watching the children’s faces light up with enthusiasm as they touch red wiggler worms, make edible dirt, or learn for the first time about the fascinating diversity of plant life all around us”. While pursuing an Honours degree in Fine Arts from the University of Manitoba, Bonnie enjoyed fulfilling a variety of passions including Interior Design, Art History and Women’s Studies. Bonnie’s extensive horticultural knowledge comes from years of gardening and working in the horticultural industry as department manager and buyer. She furthered her horticultural education through distance education courses from the University Of Guelph and Assiniboine Community College. Bonnie strives to stay current in the field of horticulture and is an associate editor of the Prairie Garden Committee.
Master Gardener Program for Winnipeg & Manitoba
Colleen Zacharias is a Master Gardener and will complete the Prairie Horticulture Certificate Program, U of M, in 2011. She is President of the Friends of the Assiniboine Park Conservatory, Chair of Gardening Saturday, and Co-Chair of The Prairie Garden, Western Canada's only gardening annual since 1937. Colleen also solicits and edits articles from local gardening experts for a weekly gardening column that appears in the Free Press Homes section. Colleen has been actively involved in successfully advocating for a locally delivered Master Gardener program and is currently working toward the creation of a Manitoba Master Gardener Association.
Gardening with Arthritis
Darlene McPherson is an avid butterfly gardener in St. James who has gardened over 20 years with rheumatoid arthritis. She is a volunteer Arthritis Self Management Leader for the Arthritis Society. The evening’s presentation focused on tips, strategies and getting the most from your gardening tools while promoting more gain and less pain in the garden.
Growing Roses
Fran Wershler was the Editor of The Prairie Garden for 13 years, before “retiring” to Associate Editor status in 2002. Her winning smile and confident manner speak to the joy she brings to the topic of gardening. Within the wide-ranging hobby of gardening, Fran concentrates on roses and lilies. A graduate of the Home Economics Faculty of the University of Manitoba, she worked for many years as a home economist for the Manitoba Department of Agriculture.
Her variety of skills have made Fran a sought after judge of horticulture, food and clothing at summer fairs. She is involved with horticultural groups and activities in the St. James area of Winnipeg, Manitoba, where she gardens with her husband Darcy. She is a regular contributor to The Prairie Garden and an avid gardener.
New Plants for 2011
Carla Hrycyna was Guest editor for the Annuals & Biennials 2010 Prairie Garden. Her expertise on this topic provided down to earth help to new and the experienced gardeners. This issue featured new and improved plants for prairie gardens in informative articles and 32 pages of colour. Carla is president and co-owner of St. Mary’s Nursery & Garden Centre Ltd. in Winnipeg. Her seventeen years of retail greenhouse management blends nicely with her natural flair for landscape design. Carla is the primary grower for St. Mary’s Nursery. She has been with the Prairie Garden Committee since 2008. Carla was nominated for Manitoba Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, 2010 award.
General Gardening Tips
Roger Brown has recently left the Prairie Garden Committee, but still attends some meetings. He is one of its pioneers having been with it since the 1970’s. Born in Britain, Roger comes from a heritage of garden experts. He is a knowledgeable plantsman and landscape designer. While being modest, he cheerfully admits to his 30 year tenure as Superintendent of Government Grounds for the Province of Manitoba. Yes, he supervised the care and development of Manitoba’s beautiful and extensive Legislative grounds in downtown Winnipeg. During his career, he was simultaneously involved in various leadership roles with both The Prairie Garden publication and the Manitoba Horticultural Association. He is involved with these two organizations to this day. Roger has also been involved in leading garden tours, is a personable speaker, and is knowledgeable about existing horticultural organizations and groups on the Prairies.
Susan Le Blanc
Professor Terry Galloway 
udy Schwartz
John Rempel
Sandra Eggertson