By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
A long-standing tradition returns Aug. 8, when the Cobourg Garden Club hosts its annual Summer Flower Show and Tea from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Cobourg Public Library.
This popular and well-attended celebration of all things garden-related features classes for annuals, perennials, fruits and vegetables, house plants, design and photography.
Last summer’s show had some 150 entries, with about 70 visitors turning up to enjoy the displays and the afternoon tea (with cold drinks and baked goodies provided by by club members).
This year’s Design section has the theme Eco-gardening, with classes titled Imagination – A design using a Recycled Container, Water Saving and Bee Friendly. The Photography classes are similarly themed Water Saving and Pollinating Insects. Club members are always creative in their interpretations.
This year’s long snowy winter and late spring did delay some plants. At the club’s annual plant sale (on the Victoria Day weekend in May), it was clear that many perennials (such as hostas) were barely breaking ground.
The Cobourg Garden Club was founded in February 1859 by a group of men who called it the Cobourg Horticultural Society. Early activities and events were regularly recorded in the local newspapers, and the annual flower show and exhibition was always a highlight of the summer.
The first one was held in July 1859, drawing 5,000 visitors (a huge number, given Cobourg’s population at the time) to view three categories – Flowers, Fruits and Vegetables.
Nowadays, the Cobourg Garden Club holds flower shows in May, August and December, along with its other activities – a popular annual plant sale on the May long weekend, speakers at monthly meetings (at the Salvation Army citadel on Ballantine Street), and an annual scholarship to a Cobourg high-school graduate pursuing post-secondary studies in horticulture or related studies.
Also this spring, the club co-sponsored tours of the Town of Cobourg greenhouses, a wonderful opportunity for local residents to see where the millions of plants for the town’s flower beds and hanging baskets are grown each year.
Over the years, the club has also undertaken such projects as the Edwin Haynes Memorial Rose Garden in Victoria Park, as well as plantings at the Golden Plough Lodge and Northumberland Hills Hospital. The club continues to maintain its Millennium project – the Five Corners Garden – with a small free library of horticultural books.
Looking forward to the Aug. 8 show and tea, the library is located at 200 Ontario St.
Everyone is welcome, and admission is free.
For more information, visit www.cobourggardenclub.ca
