Manitoba Horticultural Association celebrating 120 years

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Published on Saturday, January 20, 2018

By Miranda Leybourne

Neepawa Banner & Press

The Manitoba Horticultural Association (MHA) is celebrating 120 years of gardening history with its annual general meeting from Jan. 25-27 in Neepawa at the Christian Education Centre of the Neepawa United Church.

The event promises to be bursting with information for gardeners of all skill levels, said Brent Hunter, a member of the MHA’s board of directors.

“Everything that we’re going to be learning about is hardy for our area, so it’s not going to be a lot of work to get things to winter over,” he explained. “There’s just so much plant material out there nowadays, that there’s something there for everybody.”

There’s a long list of speakers lined up for the meeting, too, including Duayne Friesen, who will be speaking about vegetable gardening, Shea Doherty, whose area of expertise is succulents, Tom Nagy, who will share tips and tricks for gardening with mushrooms, Colleen Zacharias, who specializes in growing hydrangeas and more. Hunter said he’s excited to hear from keynote speaker Bob Bors, who will be talking about small fruit gardening and more.

“Bob Bors from the University of Saskatoon has been working on coleus, which we’ve all been growing for year and years -- our grandparent grew them,” he noted. “There’s different leaf patterns coming out all the time.”

Jefferies Nurseries will be holding a talk on trees and shrubs for northern landscapes, and Hugh Skinner will be discussing propagating perennials. There’ll be a discussion on house plants and a question and answer session with a group of gardening experts. 

With so many different speakers discussing such a range of different topics, Hunter suspects that there’ll be something for every type of gardener out there.

“I think everybody will be coming for a different reason,” he explained. “A lot of people are going more back to native plants, so I think that will be a drawing card for some people. I’ve heard others say that they’re interested in the small fruits, because they don’t have large yards.”

In addition to the speakers, there will also be a flower showcase featuring hardy pincushion cacti, a sweet pea auction, a “Great Gardeners” auction, and a seed table. 

Hunter said he wants to encourage both seasoned gardeners and those just starting out to come and check the event out.

“It’ll be a fun time,” he enthused. “It always is. And you always come away with having learned something.”

For more information on the AGM, visit www.icangarden.com/clubs/mha