Horticultural group celebrates 50th anniversary
Saturday event includes warning about invasive jumping worms
Gardeners have to be good at multi-tasking. Sometimes they have to water, weed, and plant, all at the same time.
So maybe it’s not it’s not too surprising that the Campbellford & District Horticultural Society is not just celebrating its 50th birthday next Saturday, June 28 with an event in front of the Clock Tower on Front Street from 10 a.m. till 1 p.m.
In addition to highlighting their continued success, the group will be warning about the dangers posed by jumping worms, an invasive species that has been spreading north from the U.S. and has been found in Hamilton and Ottawa, but not here yet, luckily.
Theresa Miller, acting president of the club, says there will be display about jumping worms that tells gardeners how to identify the species and how to prevent their spread.
But really, the focus will be on celebrating the group’s success over the past 50 years. It currently has 48 members from Trent Hills and the surrounding area who get together once a month, usually, to hear speakers on gardening topics and share latest information.
In addition, during the summer the group meets each Wednesday morning to weed one of the four flower beds in Campbellford that it tends to. The beds are at the Clock Tower, on Picnic Island across from Kennedy Park, at the Lions Gateway to town, and at Campbell Park, on Queen Street, just north of the bridge.
Society Director Carol Ferguson says there are seven lifetime members of the club, who received that distinction because they worked diligently for more than 25 years. The longest serving members are Lois and Glenn Bennett, members for 43 years. Other lifetime members are Marg Dooher, Helen Evegroen, Muriel Godden, Gayle Fox, and Mary Wellandt.
Back to the jumping worms. The website Invasive Species Centre, describes the problem this way: “These invasive worms outcompete other earthworms and their castings degrade soil quality, leaving it inhospitable to many native plant species and susceptible to increased erosion.
“As they are voracious eaters, jumping worms quickly consume the top layer of organic material, making it difficult for plants to remain rooted and allowing nutrients to be washed away by rain.”
When disturbed, the worms thrash wildly back and forth, in a motion reminiscent of a snake, and can break off tail segments to escape, earning them their nicknames ‘crazy worms’ and ‘snake worms’.
To avoid introducing jumping worms into your garden you need to be careful about where you get your plants. “I always take all the dirt off the plants and inspect the roots,” Theresa says.
You also need to make sure that any soil or mulch has been treated to ensure it is worm free.
The horticultural group will also be holding its 18th Annual Garden Tour on Saturday, July 19. Details here on Facebook. You can also follow the group on Facebook or its website.
It’s also not surprising, that while I was chatting with Theresa and Carol near the Clock Tower garden, Theresa starting walking around the flower bed and soon had two large handfuls of weeds. A gardener’s work is never done.
By the way, the Clock Tower bed is 95 per cent native plants, Theresa says. The club had to switch the flowers it was growing there a few years ago. It had a traditional shade garden with hostas that flourished under a large tree, until the day the town cut the tree down without warning.
Theresa and Carol decided the revamped flower bed should focus on native plants that could enjoy the sun.
Lions keep the melodies coming
The Lions Club of Campbellford is again providing live music Wednesday evenings at Old Mill Park.
This week Ian Roy will be performing Roy Orbison tunes as part of the Melodies at the Mill series which continues until August 13, each Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. till 8:15 p.m. Bring a chair and some cash for the buckets
On July 2 Off the Couch performs, followed by Stephanie Dauncy and Double Trouble on July 8; White Brothers on July 16; Fade Kings on July 23; John Cigan performs lvis songs on July 30; Danforth 60 on August 6; and Keene Country Road wrapping things up on Aug. 13.
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Thank you, Art, for the very nice article.