Winter 2024 Newsletter
 
As we look towards the end of 2024, we offer a few highlights from the year - another busy and successful season for the Gardens. And to all our friends, members, volunteers, donors, and supporters, our Board of Directors offers a sincere best of the season.
 
A Season for Giving, A Season for Gratitude
 
While this time of year focuses on giving, it’s also a season for giving thanks. And the Friends of the Gardens have many people to thank including:
  • Everyone who contributed to our utility vehicle fundraising. Your generous donations covered the entire cost of the new Gator, and its dependability was of great value to the gardeners during the busy growing season.
  • Our monthly donors, new and old. You contribute so much to FOG’s financial stability.
  • All of the businesses who support the Gardens.
  • Everyone who purchased plants at our plant sales, which are our primary fundraising events.
  • Agriculture and Agri-food Canada for their in-kind support with tractors and other equipment.
  • The District of Summerland for its ongoing recognition of our value to the community.
  • Our two hardworking gardeners.
  • All of our donors, members and volunteers.
We thank you all!
FOG Changes to the Board of Directors
The FOG board of directors has seen some changes with two members stepping down at the end of the season. Daune Johns, who joined the board in 2020, managed FOG’s Facebook page throughout her term, as well as leading the Pathways team for several seasons. Marnie Sutley, a director since 2021, organized the Art and Music events, managed publicity for events, and contributed greatly to developing an accession list of all of the plants in the Gardens. Their work has been deeply appreciated.
 
Their positions have not remained vacant for long. FOG is privileged to have Scott Austin, former Nursery Manager at Gardenworks and Art Knapp, join the board this fall. His expertise in horticulture and communications has already been put to work (see his article below). Joining Scott as a new director is Marcia Lucertini. Marcia works in the Gardens and enriches FOG’s Instagram pages with her beautiful photography. She has also taken on event management. With these two new additions, the board is well set for the coming year.
Highlights of 2024
As we look back on our past year, here are a few highlights or our achievements:
  • Volunteer recruitment event in the spring
  • Purchase of a new utility vehicle for the gardeners
  • Successful spring and fall plant sales
  • Two well-attended and enjoyable Art and Music events
  • Ten popular and educational workshops
  • Publishing four newsletters in the new Canada Helps format
  • Converting two more beds to drip irrigation and upgrading a third
  • Donating 700 lb. of fresh produce to the Sharing Table at the Summerland Food Bank
  • End-of-season volunteer appreciation event at Thornhaven Winery
  • Teenaged volunteer Ashley Tiessen's open house and installation of nsyilxen labels for our native plants
 
The Impact of Volunteering
 
Membership and Volunteer Cordinator Connie Davis reports that volunteers contributed more than 7500 hours of time to the gardens in 2024.  “Our volunteers dig deep and give,” asserts Connie. “They are invaluable to the health and continuing success of the Gardens.”
If you’re a FOG member and are interested in exploring our varied volunteering opportunities, email Connie at volunteers4.summerlandgardens@gmail.com and let her know your interests.
 
Not a member? It’s easy to join. Memberships are still only $25.00 and you’ll receive a tax receipt before the end of the year. Join now.
 
Looking for a stocking stuffer or two? Give your friend or loved one a membership to Friends of the Gardens. You’ll honour their desire to contribute to the community, and help keep the gardens blooming. Simply click the link above, and be sure enter their contact information in the sign-up fields.
Thanksgiving or Christmas Cactus?
Have you been wondering why your Christmas Cactus is blooming in November? Perhaps it’s because it isn’t actually a Christmas cactus. It might be a Thanksgiving or Easter cactus.
As the name suggests, an Easter cactus generally blooms in spring, its flowers look quite different, and it belongs to a different genus, Rhipsalidopsis. Thanksgiving and Christmas cacti are both members of the genus Schlumbergera and look much alike. There are differences, though.
Thanksgiving cacti (S. truncata,--often sold as Zygocactus) are so named because they usually burst into bloom around American Thanksgiving. Their stems tend to be more upright than those of their Christmas cousins, and they have sharp projections on their leaf edges, as seen on the right of the above photo. The stems of Christmas cacti, S. bridgesti, are more pendulous, and their leaf edges are more rounded, as shown. While they are blooming, Thanksgiving cacti produce pink pollen while the pollen of Christmas ones is yellow.
Both species prefer bright indirect light, soil rich in organic matter like the tree crotches where they live in their native South American forests, and average room temperatures. They are not tolerant of over-watering, so at least the first inch of soil should dry out between waterings. They will bloom dependably if they experience the required short days for about six weeks each fall.
 
So if you’re wondering which kind of Schlumbergera you have, check out the leaf edges (actually flattened stem segments, but that’s a topic for another time).
 
Winter Interest With Evergreens, Grasses, and Berries
Scott Austin, long-time nursery manager at Gardenworks (formerly Art Knapp) provides some great ideas for adding interest to our fall and winter gardens:
 
This time of the year can be somewhat, how shall I phrase this, disheartening in the garden. All of the vivid colours of the growing season are gone; the oranges, reds and yellows of autumn have been stripped away by the combination of wind and cold, and we’re left with a mostly brown landscape to ponder until the snow arrives. Thank goodness for evergreens! ...
Read the Article
End the Year With a Win-Win
Not only is giving to charity like Friends of the Gardens a great way to make a difference to your favourite cause, but when you claim your charitable tax credits you can also take advantage of federal and provincial government tax incentives. These can add up, so be sure to donate before the end of the year. Thank you!
Donate Now
 
Thank you for your continued support.
Donate Today
PO Box 1363, 4200 Hwy 97 South
Summerland BC. V0H 1Z0
friends.summerlandgardens@gmail.com