Hapa Zome - Creating a Floral Memory - October 14, 2026
Presented by Beverly Allen
October 14, 2026 at 7 pm
MAKE AND TAKE MEETING also available by Zoom
Members will receive the Zoom link by email. Guest must contact us by NOON on Wednesday to receive a Zoom link.
Hapa Zome is an ancient Japanese art form. “Hapa” means leaf and “zome” means dye. It’s an easy way to transfer the pigments from leaves and flowers onto fabric and paper.
You’ll be pounding flowers and leaves onto paper to prepare a unique floral print. If you have flowers or leaves from your garden that you’d like to include, please bring them but remember you’re only doing a card size paper so no need for large quantities of plants. Flowers and leaves will also be supplied for your use.
Please bring a hammer or rubber mallet and a small wooden cutting board. You need a wooden surface to hammer onto.
Beverly Allen is an experimental printmaker and mixed media artist, currently living and working in Hamilton after more than 3 decades in Toronto. All formats of her work revolve around plants. She has taught ecoprinting, natural ink making, natural dyes and Hapa Zome at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington and through her workshops. Her work is in collections in North America and Europe and she has participated in many solo and group exhibits. She is currently represented in “Paper Bound” at the Art Gallery of Burlington.
PHOTO CONTEST TOPIC: Moss, Lichen, Slime Mold, or Fungi
OCTOBER FLOWER SHOW CATEGORIES
1. A vase of mixed fall flowers, minimum of 3 varieties.
2. A design to celebrate Thanksgiving: may include flowers and foliage, real fruit and/or vegetable.
3. A design to celebrate Octoberfest in a mug or stein.
4. A design in a gourd or pumpkin.
GUESTS & NEW MEMBERS ARE WELCOME! To participate as a guest, email us at info@riverdalehorticultural.ca by 12:00 pm the day of a presentation.
Winter Gardening - November 11, 2026
Presented by Heather Whetstone
November 11, 2026 at 7 pm HYBRID MEETING (In-person and Zoom)
I am a self-taught gardener and had my first community garden plot in 1999 while still in university. I like to grow flowers for cutting to fill the house plus fruit and vegetables to eat for most of the year. I enjoy watching all the UK garden shows but Canadian gardener and author Niki Jabbour is my guru. Her books have inspired me to grow food year-round in the house under lights or outside in the garden. My talk will illustrate some of the easy ways I use regular household items for indoor gardening, plant propagation and winter seed sowing to efficiently generate large amounts of seedlings for the garden.
PHOTO CONTEST TOPIC: Lilies
NOVEMBER FLOWER SHOW CATEGORIES
1. Lest We Forget - a design to honour veterans.
2. A design to honour Indiginous traditions.
3. Grasses/seed pods, which may be fresh or dried, 3 or more varieities in a vase.
4. A container garden with 3 or more compatible plants growing in soil.
GUESTS & NEW MEMBERS ARE WELCOME! To participate as a guest, email us at info@riverdalehorticultural.ca by 12:00 pm the day of a presentation.
Demonstration on How to Grow Your Own Micro Greens- January
Presented by Karen Hughes
Tired of expensive, limp leafy greens? Join a Toronto Master Gardener to learn how to grow fresh, highly nutritious, organic microgreens and sprouts all year-round. It’s easy! You don’t need a lot of room, light or even a green thumb – just a yearning for that first crunchy bite of food you’ve grown yourself.
Karen is a 10-year volunteer of Toronto Master Gardeners as well a member of the Toronto Parkdale Horticultural Society. She graduated from the University of Guelph with diplomas in Landscape Design, Sustainable Urban Agriculture and a Certified Horticulturist. She made this knowledge into practice and is a small business owner creating residential landscape designs and many private gardens.
She has a passion for trees, native plants and organic veg growing and enjoys leading horticultural walking tours for the Toronto Botanical Garden and speaking on variety of topics.
GUESTS & NEW MEMBERS ARE WELCOME! To participate as a guest, email us at info@riverdalehorticultural.ca by 12:00 pm the day of a presentation.
Tips for Top Vegetables - March 10, 2027
Presented by Joanna Blanchard
Joanna Blanchard was introduced to horticulture and gardening almost from birth, - her father was a botany professor and her mother a plant pathologist, so the talk at the dinner table was often about plants; and gardens and garden centres and gardening were part of daily life. Despite her best teenaged efforts to shake off the gardening bug she was unsuccessful, and she now loves to share her passion for all things horticultural.
Joanna is a past Coordinator of the Toronto Master Gardeners and past President of Leaside Garden Societyn, Sustainable Urban Agriculture and a Certified Horticulturist. She made this knowledge into practice and is a small business owner creating residential landscape designs and many private gardens.
She has a passion for trees, native plants and organic veg growing and enjoys leading horticultural walking tours for the Toronto Botanical Garden and speaking on variety of topics.
GUESTS & NEW MEMBERS ARE WELCOME! To participate as a guest, email us at info@riverdalehorticultural.ca by 12:00 pm the day of a presentation.
Balcony and Container Gardening - April 14, 2027
Presented by Ginnie Venslovaitis
Ginnie is a retired logistics professional, with a passion for native plant gardening and restoration of our lands. She volunteers with not only the Toronto Master gardener, but the Toronto Nature Stewards and is actively restoring a ravine. She is restoring a ravine on her property by replacing invasive plants with hundreds of native plants, shrubs and trees. Other volunteer interests include the Etobicoke Humane Society, Global Medic, packing kits for humanitarian aid and knitting newborn hats and IZZY dolls for Health Partners International Canada
She has a passion for trees, native plants and organic veg growing and enjoys leading horticultural walking tours for the Toronto Botanical Garden and speaking on variety of topics.
GUESTS & NEW MEMBERS ARE WELCOME! To participate as a guest, email us at info@riverdalehorticultural.ca by 12:00 pm the day of a presentation.