Blake
(Presentations will occur in the community room of the Bowness Community Association and are free.
Space is limited to 25 attendees.
This Years Presentations:
10:30-11:15- Troubleshooting for Seedling Success with Sheryl Normandeau
Sometimes,despite your best efforts, things go wrong! Learn some practical preventative and restorative measures to deal with threats to your seedlings and transplants. Topics covered include damping off, mould, transplant shock, cutworms, and many more!
Sheryl Normandeau is the co-author (with Janet Melrose) of the ten books in The Guides for the Prairie Gardener book series, as well as the author of the children's book Save Our Seeds: Protecting Plants for the Future and the cookbook The Little Prairie Book of Berries. She has three new books forthcoming this year: Staying Alive: The Go-To Guide for Houseplants and The Houseplanter: Your Go-To Gardening Journal (both with Janet Melrose), and Not Just Dirt: How Soil Supports Our Planet, another book for children. She has written hundreds of articles for various international publications, and she is an administrator and content creator for several plant-related social media sites. Sheryl volunteers for many different gardening organizations, including the Calgary Horticultural Society, and is the director of a community garden in southwest Calgary. She is a small-space gardener and especially passionate about growing food.
11:30-12:15 - Vegetables and flowers from seed, why not trees? with Ken Wright
A discussion about growing trees and shrubs (woody plants) from seed. The how , the when and the why – or more why not?
We can discuss when to collect seed, what to do with the seed (storage) and how to make a tree from those seeds – pretreatment to overcome dormancy and initiate germination. I will share some of my knowledge gained from over 30 years of growing woody plants from seed. I will give a short slide show about some specific seed and how we manage that seed. I will answer specific questions about specific woody plants as the interest dictates. Lets have a discussion.
Ken Wright is the owner of Wright Nursery Ltd, a nursery started in 2015 as a supplier of native seed sourced plugs and seedlings. After Pam and Ken Wright sold Bow Point Nursery (1988) they decided to start a new enterprise - a nursery dedicated to plant selection, seed collection and propagation of plants important to the markets of southern and central Alberta.
12:30-1:15 - Discover the Alberta Native Plant Rescue & Friends of Fish Creek’s "Grow with Us" Program with Blake McNeill (Alberta Native Plant Rescue) & Emma Stroud (Friends of Fish Creek Park)
By partnering with private land developers, the Alberta Native Plant Rescue gains access to sites slated for clearing, allowing volunteers to rescue native plants and seeds before they’re lost. These rescued plants and seeds are given a second chance to thrive elsewhere.
The Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society has been a proud beneficiary of this initiative. Through their "Grow with Us Native Seed and Plant Exchange" program, they’re not only restoring Fish Creek Provincial Park but also sharing these rescued plants and seeds with the community.
This program creates a sustainable source of native vegetation, supporting restoration efforts in Fish Creek and beyond. Together, we’re preserving Alberta’s natural heritage—one plant at a time.
Join us to learn more about how you can get involved and help grow a greener future!
Blake McNeill is the founder of the Alberta Native Plant Rescue Program, which works with Landowners and Developers to salvage native plants prior to development starting to use in restoration projects from rewilding yards to restoration of major areas and parks like Fish Creek Provincial Park.
Emma Stroud is a registered professional biologist who has been working with the Friends of Fish Creek since 2020. She manages the grassland restoration and invasive species programs, and provides ecological oversight on the aquatic monitoring, riparian restoration and beaver coexistence programs. Emma is passionate about grassland protection and community engagement, and finds the challenges of working in an urban park very rewarding.
1:30-2:15 - Edible Flowers with Kath Smyth
Do you feel conflicted about choosing between flowers and edibles in your garden? Are you impatient for those squash to produce fruit? Never munched on a radish flower? Then this talk is for you!
Find out which flowers are edible and make for a great snack, whether grown in the kitchen or the garden.
Kath Smyth is a horticulturist with extensive experience in the horticultural industry. She brings a wealth of knowledge and her unique humour to radio and television appearances, public presentations and client consultations. She is passionate about helping gardeners achieve gardening success and is currently working as a Horticulturist for The Calgary Horticultural Society.