Category: Uncategorized (Page 1 of 3)

photo of bag of germination & plug mix for seed germination. — Germination and plug mix for sale. $3.00 for 1.5 lb (dry weight) bag or two bags for $5.00 All Proceeds go to the Crown Point Garden Club. Payment by Interac e-transfer. contact cpgc_admin@crownpointgardenclub.org if you're interested. Delivery can be arranged.

Seeding mix for sale

28 December 2022 / cpgc_admin

The Crown Point Garden Club will be at Hamilton Seedy Saturday on February 4, 2023, with a vendor table and garden-related goodies for sale. We’ll have bags of plug and germination mix, one of our popular items from pre-Covid Seedy Saturday events.

This peat and perlite based soil-less mix is an extra fine, greenhouse-grower quality Pro-mix especially made for seed germination. We are selling it in 1.5 lb (dry weight) bags for $3.00 per bag or two bags for $5.00.

Each bag is enough for four (possibly five) pop-bottle type wintersowing containers.

If you’ve tried germinating tiny seeds and had disappointing results, this seeding mix may be the answer.

Containers available
For people who enjoy winter sowing native plants, the consistency and quality of this mix is perfect for the dust-like seeds of many native species.

If you’d like to try winter sowing, we are offering containers for $1 each. They’re clean and pre-cut to size, with venting and drainage holes already made– ready for you to fill, sow, and label.

'nesting'winter sowing containers made from coke bottles. — ‘Nesting’ containers for winter sowing. Made from 2-litre pop bottles. Vent and drainage holes already cut.

If you’re unable to attend Seedy Saturday and you’d like to purchase mix or containers, please email siteadmin@crownpointgardenclub.org

annotated photo of completed pop-bottle type winter sowing container. — Completed ‘nesting coke bottle’ container for winter sowing.

For detailed information on wintersowing (links open in new tab:

Winter Sowing- Before You Start
Winter Sowing- Step by Step
Winter Sowing- Container Choices

Pipeline Garden receives “Greener Greenspace” recognition

21 December 2021 / cpgc_admin

Pipeline Trail garden June-2020 — Pipeline Trail Pollinator Paradise, June 2020

In the fall of 2021 the Crown Point Garden Club responded to a call for applications from the Society for Organic Urban Landcare (SOUL) for its innaugural “Greener Greenspaces” recognition program.

On December 21, SOUL announced the recipients. The club’s garden on the Pipeline Trail in East Hamilton was among 26 sites that made the grade, and one of six in the Pollinator and Habitat Garden category.

Greener Greenspaces recognizes Canadian sites that are great examples of ecologically focused land care. SOUL will be showcasing these green spaces to inspire gardeners and “further the movement.”

Completing a detailed questionnaire and submitting photos, club member Bev Wagar celebrated the beauty, history, and ecological function of the club’s first public garden project on Hamilton’s Pipeline Trail (between Edgemont and Park Row). The Pipeline Pollinator Paradise (the garden’s formal name) is about 90% native species. “It’s mature now,” says Bev “but we are still adding and editing as the soil improves, shrubs spread, and shade increases.”

She adds, “We are always looking for volunteers to help with weeding and, when absolutely necessary, watering. It’s a great way to learn about native plants up close.”

The club also maintains a large public garden on Kenilworth between Cannon and Britannia which also gratefully welcomes volunteers.

To learn more and get connected with the work of the Crown Point Garden Club, email cpgc_admin(at)crownpointgardenclub.org

Walking Tour of Crown Point Public Gardens

25 April 2018 / Crown Point Garden Club

In celebration of National Garden Days the Crown Point Garden Club will host a walking tour of the public gardens it maintains. Mark your calendars for the evening of Tuesday June 19. The free, 1.5 km tour starts at 6:30 p.m. sharp. Meet at the trailhead of the Pipeline Trail, behind the Dairy Queen at the corner of Main and Ottawa. Route details are below

All are welcome. Feel free to meet the tour at any point on the route.

The route:
– east on the trail to the Pollinator garden and Triangle Garden.
– left/north at Park Row to the Park Row Boulevard pollinator patches
– possible side trip to Cunningham parkette, site of future garden
– east on Cannon to Kenilworth to the DePave Garden at corner of Britannia and Kenilworth
– social gathering to follow. Manacala? Merk?

Questions? Send us an email via the online form on the contact page:

New web site is up and running

8 March 2018 / Crown Point Garden Club / 0 Comments

We’ve moved the club web site off wordpress.com and set up a self-hosted wordpress site/blog on our own domain https://crownpointgardenclub.org (opens in new tab). Please update your bookmarks and subscriptions. In a few weeks we’ll be replacing the content on this site with links to the new site.

We are also moving the mailing list to Sendpress so if you receive our emails you’ll notice some changes, including an opt-in link, so we’re completely compliant with Canada’s anti-spam legislation.

There are several reasons for the move. As site visits increase, WordPress.com is starting to deliver advertising to our site. We don’t want that. As well, the dot com setup limits what we can do with widgets and plugins. For example, we can’t run Sendpress without a self-hosted installation. We can also do nifty things with polls, calendars and photo galleries.

Seed Starting 101

1 February 2018 / Crown Point Garden Club / 0 Comments

click image to view or download handout as pdf in new tab

Here is the two-page handout used at the Indoor Gardening seminar on Jan. 29 at the Hamilton Central Public Library. It will give you enough information to get started and introduce you to the main concepts.

Our logo, banner, and holiday sale

3 November 2017 / Crown Point Garden Club / 0 Comments

At our September meeting we approved a design for a club logo. Here it is:

The logo was used for our club banner, to be unveiled at our vendor table at the “Get Your Shopping Done” craft and vendor fair on Saturday December 2, 9:30 – 2:00 at Delta United Church (Ottawa St. just south of Main). Mark your calendars!

Our table offerings will include:

Acti-sol fertilizer and squirrel deterrent in trial-size bags (~2 lbs)
bags of Premier PGX seed starting (soil-less) mix. This is a super-fine mix that will increase your germination success, especially with tiny seeds
PLANTS! Lots of coleus, plectranthus and other house plants, grown and potted by club members

Pipeline Pollinator Paradise– what we’ve learned

9 August 2017 / Crown Point Garden Club / 0 Comments

Pipeline Pollinator Paradise, August 8, 2017.

The Pipeline Trail native plant garden, now in its third season, is in full “yellow daisy” display. It’s turned into a beautiful, lush, and remarkably garden-like feature on the west end of the trail. Here’s what we’ve learned about planting and maintaining a large garden, with volunteer labour, on public land, on terrible hard-packed clay.

Mulch mulch and more mulch. Plain old woodchips, at least three inches, will turn the clay into something plants can grow in. We are seeing worms, soil-dwelling insects and micro-fauna, and the beginnings of hyphae networks. Life is emerging, starting with the soil
weeding is very important. We stayed on top of the weeds for the first two summers. Now we can be less vigilant–soil disturbance is low so buried seeds don’t germinate.

Heliopsis helianthoides / Smooth Oxeye Daisy with ripening berries from Sambucus canadensis / Elderberry shrub

Deadhead. Yes we want the birds to enjoy the seeds but we also have to consider that allowing volunteer seedlings creates a huge amount of work for us. The Coreopsis tripteris, wild geranium, and asters have been the most pesky. These plants need special attention
Be prepared to treat the space like a “real” garden. Plants will flop over (especially this year with all the rain and rampant growth) so staking and tying is necessary. Move and spread things so the garden looks good from several angles. Make sure species receive the sun they need. Add and rearrange plants so that something is in bloom in every area, all the time.

Monarda, Heliopsis, Pycnanthemum, Rosa virginiana

People are pigs. Yes, they throw pop bottles, cigarette butts, and all manner of garbage into the garden. We found a tray of cat litter. Also, some donations: hostas and morning glories. Be prepared for the work and always bring trash bags to a weeding session.
The wild strawberries (Fragaria virginica) do not play nice. They are easily the most aggressive plant in the garden and they should be given their own space. They completely overran the Carex they were planted with, requiring a rescue mission for the sedge.
Take photos and teach volunteers how to distinguish seedlings from weeds.

Pipeline Pollinator Garden, from west, Aug. 8, 2017

Keep an eye out for species that are struggling. We lost the Pearly Everlastings in the first winter and have not managed to re-establish them. The Liatris cylindracea never got established at all. We lost some native grasses, too.
Note which species are doing better than expected. The Penstemon hirsutus is thriving so we introduced Penstemon digitalis.
Fill in the bare areas or nature will do it for you.

Road Trip to Whistling Gardens

13 July 2017 / Crown Point Garden Club / 0 Comments

Mark your calendars and RSVP for the next garden club road trip. On Saturday July 22 we’ll be travelling to Norfolk County to visit the amazing Whistling Gardens. Car pool departure time is 12 noon from the H.G. Wallace parking lot at 151 Ottawa St. North. We’ve secured a group rate so the entry fee is only $11 per person– best to bring cash. Also there is a retail area for people who want to buy plants.

Time permitting we’ll be dropping by at least one garden center on the way home.

RSVP please to crownpoint.gardens@gmail.com. All neighbourhood gardeners are welcome to join in, even if this is your first garden club experience.

Next up: Shade Plants!

8 April 2017 / Crown Point Garden Club / 0 Comments

“Problem Solver Plants for Heavy Shade” on Missouri Botanical Garden Web site

The best reason to NOT miss the April meeting (on Wednesday the 26th) is the peer coaching topic: “shade plants” presented by Gerry Cragg and his crew from the RBG Auxiliary. Club member and Crown Point resident Jerry was team leader for the dedicated group of volunteers who propagated shade-tolerant plants for the RBG’s annual plant sale. The plant sale no longer happens (it’s morphed into the “Plant Faire” see link below) but Gerry and the shade gang have stayed in contact. They will be joining us to share, via powerpoint and discussion, their knowledge about plants that grow best in low light.

Click to visit the “Plant Faire” page on RBG site

The meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. at 151 Ottawa Street North (the L.G. Wallace Funeral Home building, in the second floor lounge).

Winter Sowing Night

1 January 2016 / Crown Point Garden Club / 0 Comments

With the weather finally cooperating we’re scheduling a winter sowing night for Thursday January 14 at 7 pm. Depending on the response it’ll be held either at my place or at the ARCH. Please RSVP by Sunday, to crownpoint.gardens@gmail.com

Information on winter sowing is a google-search away but here is a good comprehensive article for newbies: http://www.grit.com/farm-and-garden/do-it-yourself/winter-sowing-zm0z16jfztri.aspx

You’ll need to bring your own supplies: containers, seeds, bags, soil or seed starting mix. I may be able to get a bale of mix from Wm. Dam but I’m not sure if their stock is in yet. Best to come prepared.

Hope to see you on the 14th!

– Bev