​Kincardine Horticultural Society holds fall flower show

The Kincardine Horticultural Society had no meetings in July and August, but the members were busy. One chilly day in May, they held a very successful plant sale. Members donated many plants and the volunteers persevered through the cold and did a great job raising money that the society will spend on new plants for the town gardens.

In June, the “Through the Garden Gate” tour took place, showcasing a variety of unique gardens. Our members do a wonderful job of finding these gardens because we have had more than 25 years of tours.

Monday, Sept. 8, was the fall meeting, and a flower show began the evening. There were many categories, and each had displays and entries that caught our eye as well as some winning prizes for first, second and third. Congratulations to all the participants.



Entries at the Kincardine Horticultural Society's fall flower show; photos courtesy of Shirley Thomas

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Following the flower show, Martin Quinn (right) was the speaker for the evening. A long-time resident of Kincardine, he now resides in Goderich. He spoke about the tornado that hit Goderich in 2011 with the damage being $130-million.

Quinn worked for the parks department, and is an arborist and horticulturalist. He was an integral part of the new plan for The Square in Goderich. The first thing they determined was that over the years, the snow being pushed into the park area left salt that had to be removed five feet down. Donations of $700,000 came to Goderich for the revival of The Square.

The plan was to replace the trees and create an arboretum. Quinn helped select a variety of trees for The Square and they began planting in 2012-13. All the holes for the trees were hand dug with cranes lifting the trees into their spots. The biggest tree was a Metasequoia at 35 tons.

An irrigation system was installed along with wide walkways, flower beds, and seating for folks to enjoy. All in all, a total of 166 trees was planted. Many are flourishing and not very many have been lost after the replanting. As with any garden, though, a lot of maintenance is required and perhaps more needs to be done.

Our next meeting is Monday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m., at the Davidson Centre in Kincardine, with Ben Caesar as guest speaker.