Horticultural Society Ready to Spring into the New Season

Local residents enjoy a tour of a Paris garden during the Paris Horticultural Society’s Annual Garden Tour held last June. This year’s Tour will take place June 7-8th. 

By Casandra Turnbull

Managing Editor

There may not be another group in Paris more excited about the start of spring than the Paris Horticultural Society (PHS). With the warmer weather and thawed grounds comes the opportunity to roll up their sleeves and really dig into another year of environmental initiatives and beautification projects. The local society, founded in 1986 by Harold Hallet, Dave Collins, Mary Collins, Doug Hanna and Brenda Hunt, continues to grow each year, taking on new projects that build on their expanded knowledge of all things horticultural. This year PHS is closing in on 100 members and that includes all its founding members, except Harold who passed away in 2021. This thriving group brings various levels of expertise to the table from beginner to Master Gardener. They meet once a month to discuss community projects and share expertise which they often solicit from Mater Gardeners in the region to cultivate their desire to learn more. “The best part about the monthly meetings, as well as the Plant Sale and the Garden Tour, is talking to a variety of people about gardening. All levels of gardeners enjoy talking and learning about plants. Guests and new members who are interested in plants of any kind are always welcome,” said Serryn Stephenson, Publicity Director for PHS. Gardens are continuously evolving and now there’s a strong focus on gardens that incorporate native plant material, reducing grassed areas, to incorporate more pollinators into our ecosystem, which also helps pollinate our own locally grown food. With that in mind, there will be tables of native plants, perennials, annuals and vegetables from members’ gardens at this year’s Annual Plant Sale and Auction held on Saturday May 10th from 8 am 10:30 am at Syl Apps Community Centre. PHS hosts this sale every year as a major fundraiser to help fund the many projects they maintain throughout town. Members grow the plants that are up for sale, making it a truly local sale. There will be Master Gardeners present at the sale to help educate people on the secrets to a successful garden as well as answer questions. “This means we can offer advice about planting needs for plants from our own community. This is important,” said Stephenson. Two years ago, PHS created a Native Pollinator Garden on Watts Pond Road that they continue to maintain. Pollinators are important to our ecosystem, and you can do your part to help. About 80% of native bees die from early yard clean up so even if you are eager to get started, wait six weeks and save thousands of pollinators!Another big event for PHS is the Annual Garden Tour, going strong for more than 20 years in the community. This year’s event will take place Saturday, June 7th and Sunday June 8th. It is an opportunity to see how plants grow, what type of plants do well in our community and a chance to talk to many different growers in various locations around Paris. Tickets are $15 and can be bought at John Hall Linens, Sobeys and Walters. The PHS is an integral part of the town’s beauty. They work closely with the County of Brant on public plantings with the next one being April 16th to place the downtown planters. They’re also responsible for the decorative winter planters downtown last November. If you’ve ever wondered who keeps the Garden of Hope, the Cenotaph Garden, the Paris Legion Garden, the Paris Agricultural main gate garden and hillside garden clean, weeded and beautiful, thank a PHS volunteer. Members also donate their time to keep the roads free of litter. They are part of the County’s Adopt-a Road program maintaining Keg Lane from the Fairgrounds to Trussler Road. Members will be out in full force in June and September to maintain this stretch of road.Last year, PHS participated in the Communities of Bloom program, a volunteer and partnership-driven organization that uses a multi-tiered competitive evaluation process to foster community strength, involvement and continuous improvement. It was a great experience, and the group is partaking again this year; the theme is Edible Gardens with a push toward incorporating vegetables into flower, shrub and tree garden beds.“People who are looking at growing their own food, we will have vegetables, herbs and edible annuals at the Plant Sale. Some of the Garden Tour gardens will show how to incorporate vegetables into your backyard garden,” said Stephenson. If you’d like to learn more about the Paris Horticultural Society, drop by a monthly meeting, held the first Wednesday of every month at the Paris Fairgrounds at 7:30 pm (excluding July and August). New members and fresh ideas are always welcome.