Master Gardeners Association of Alberta

MGAA - Creating Beauty Through Texture, with Elaine Rude
2021-05-17 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Edmonton)
Creating texture in a garden can be a challenge for gardeners including the most experienced ones. Texture is rather an amorphous quality generating questions of: what is it really; why are some plants considered textural and not others and, how do you put plants together to create interest? While we often think of texture as something tactile, there are a number of surprising ways to manipulate plant qualities to create depth and interest through texture. So let’s take a journey to discover what these qualities are and how to put them to best use.
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Elaine Rude MG, should be a familiar face as a popular local garden speaker and instructor in the MG program. She is a regular contributor to The Gardener (formerly Gardener for the Prairies), Fine Gardening, Calgary Herald, CHS and Canada’s Local Gardener (formerly AB Gardens). Elaine battles wind and wildlife on her beautiful NW acreage garden, and is the owner of Paintbrush Garden Design and Consulting, and a member of the Garden Sages.
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Cypripedium Culture. Lady Slipper Orchids
2021-05-10 18:30 - 20:30 UTC
Join Shawn Hillis on growing Lady Slipper Orchids in Western Canadian gardens.

The distinctive flowers of Cypripedium and other Lady Slipper Orchids are marked by the inflated slipper or shoe-shaped lip. The name Cypripedium is derived from Kypris, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, the Latin word pedis meaning “foot” the Greek word pedilon meaning “slipper”. There are about 58 species worldwide; 13 in North America.

Shawn Hollis is an award winning horticulturalist, author and lecturer. Shawn’s nursery Gardens Slippers is the most awarded temperate orchid nursery in North America.

Register for this event using Eventbrite.

Planet & People Friendly Backyards
2021-05-05 18:30 - 19:30 UTC
Planet & People Friendly Backyards – Caring for our planet and people starts right in our own backyards learn how with Claudia Bolli

Caring for our planet and people starts right in our own backyards. With carefully selected edible, medicinal and native plants, we can create a garden sanctuary that heals and feeds us while providing habitat for other species. This presentation will mention eco-scaping and permaculture principles, and includes some practical tools and strategies for working with hardy plants, pollinators, soil dwellers and on-site water sources.

Claudia Bolli is a nature lover, gardener and teacher. Her desire to contribute to society and protect our planet has led her to permaculture, a design system for human habitat that is inspired by relationships found in nature. She shares her passion for growing food through permaculture design, yard consultations and occasional workshops. Her education includes a B.Ed., and a Diploma in Biological Sciences. She has completed a Permaculture Design Certificate, Master Naturalist training, is a Gaia College accredited Organic Master Gardener for the OMG Stony Plain program, and has taken numerous gardening courses from The Urban Farmer and other inspiring teachers. Claudia is the owner of Wild Green Garden Consulting, www.wildgreen.ca, in Edmonton. She also coordinates Little Green Thumbs, an indoor school gardening program, on behalf of Sustainable Food Edmonton.
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Gardening with Irene Parlby, A Heritage Garden
2021-04-27 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Edmonton)
Alix Wagon Wheel Museum Presents a Zoom:

Take a journey with Irene Parlby as she talks about her 1935 garden experiences on the drought locked prairies pre-garden centres.
Irene is remembered as a member of the Famous 5/Persons Case. She was also a gardener!
Presented by Verne Williams of VMW Gardener and “Garden Sages”.
Tuesday, April 27, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
For more information, or to request the meeting code, please contact alixmuseum@gmail.com.

Sustainable Edible Gardening in Alberta, A Growing Movement
2021-04-26 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Edmonton)
The Edmonton Horticultural Society Speaker Series present this Zoom Event.
Growing edibles sustainably regardless of whether you are growing in a large farm, home garden, community garden plot or a few containers on the patio or balcony have many common requirements of the grower. It’s not about just growing to feed yourselves now; but it is about gardening in ways that makes it sustainable over the years for humans and the entire planet.Understanding the growing requirements of plants, especially on the Prairies, along with the intricate and fascinating synergy between soil, soil life, plants, insects and even those organisms we call ‘pests’ is the basis for success. Planting what thrives where you grow comes next. Then developing knowledge and skills such as: building soil; water conservation; saving open-source seeds; attracting wildlife through providing habitat; pest management plus harvest and preserving the bounty.Fostering the knowledge, skills and passion for growing our food locally and sustainability is a community effort embraced by individual gardeners, community gardeners, SPIN Farmers, Community Shared Agriculture and other organizations. The benefits to our health and wellness are astonishing, what we grow just plain tastes great.
Janet Melrose is ‘Calgary’s Cottage Gardener’, specializing in Garden Education, Horticultural Therapy and advocating for a Sustainable Local Food System: successfully synthesising Community-Based Horticultural Therapy programs located in Community Gardens and other organizations; and working with gardeners of all stripes to develop their skills and experience of gardening for enjoyment, health and sustenance. Janet is passionate about sharing her knowledge and contributing to the community through workshops and various media outlets, including being a regular contributor to the ‘The Gardener’ and ‘Calgary Gardening’ and now co-author with Sheryl Normandeau for the ‘Prairie Gardener’s Go-To’ series of books.

Register for this Zoom event using this link.

CHS Garden Show
2021-04-25 09:00 - 17:00, 2021-04-24 09:00 - 17:00 UTC
The Calgary Horticultural Society is excited to announce that we are having a 2021 Garden Show! It is a virtual event, the weekend of April 24 and 25, and will be offered using an online conference platform. The conference format will allow us to bring you speakers live and host an exhibit hall. It will be very similar to visiting our in-person Show, but you can attend from the comfort of your home or office.
In the tradition of past Garden Shows, it will be a ticketed event. While still focussing on the challenges of growing in the Calgary area, we can bring popular, audience-drawing keynote speakers from other regions to our event, as unlike with in-person events, travel and distance are not a concern. Like internationally hosted live opera and ballet at the local cinema, we can bring the uplifting and inspiring art of growing and gardening to our stage.
And, like past Garden Shows, we are pleased to announce that our corporate member, Society friend, and long-time supporter, greengate Garden Centres Ltd. has joined the event as the presenting sponsor.
Watch this e-news, our website GardenShow

MGAA Board Meeting
2021-04-22 19:00 - 21:00 UTC | via Go To Meeting

Cultivating Culinary Mushrooms
2021-04-18 13:00 - 16:00 UTC
Growing Culinary Mushrooms – Easier than you think!

Join Tara Stephen for an afternoon of mushroom growing. Three different methods will be examined: Pearl Oysters on stacks, Wine Caps on garden on beds and Shaggy Manes on compost heaps. If you love dining on mushrooms don’t miss how easy it is to grow your own.
Tara Stephens is conservation biologist by day and runs Fungi Akuafo with Meghan Vesey by night (and on week-ends). In addition to sharing her fascination for fungi and love of growing mushrooms with others, Tara has a keen interest in permaculture, local food systems and community building. www.fungiakuafo.com
Please register with Eventbrite.

Why flowers do what they do, better, with soot, ash & s**t.
2021-04-14 19:00 - 21:00 UTC
A story of the Waterton post-fire blooms, Serengeti fertility, and Amazonian green.

Join award Winning Conservationist, Educator, Naturalist and WildLife Expert Brian Keating for a story of the Waterton post-fire blooms, Serengeti fertility, and Amazonian green.

Brian Keating is one of Canada’s most in demand keynote speakers. He previously held the position “Head of Conservation Outreach” at the Zoo, which enabled him to raise money and then spend it on environmental projects around the world. He has been leading groups on nature based travel for three decades, exploring some of the best wildlife areas on the Planet. Because of his experiences, insights and his expertise, Brian Keating is a weekly guest on both Calgary and Edmonton’s CBC Radio. For many years, he was a regular on the Discovery Channel, using his own wilderness adventure and wildlife filming. Media outlets such as CBC, CTV, Huffington Post, and Radio Canada International often call on Brian to learn his past and present stories of adventure, travel, nature and discovery.

This Event is $10 for members of MGAA and $20 for non-members of MGAA.
Register using Eventbrite.

This Event is appreciatively sponsored by Edward Jones.

Alberta Native Bees
2021-04-06 18:30 - 20:00 UTC
Alberta’s Native Bees – Join us to learn about the diversity of native bees in Alberta, their life cycles and habitat requirements. We’ll cover best practices for bee hotels and bumble bee boxes, the difference between native and managed bees and whether you should purchase bee cocoons for your garden.

Megan Evans – Megan is a Professional Biologist with a degree Environmental Science and a Master’s in Ecology from the U of C. She worked as a summer student on a pollinator research study with Agriculture Canada, which started her interest in native bees. Megan spent 6 years working with the provincial government in a number of roles including as an Ecologist with Alberta Parks. She currently works as the Executive Director for the Alberta Invasive Species Council. Megan has sat on the board for the Alberta Invasive Species Council; the Entomological Society of Alberta; and she co-founded the Alberta Native Bee Council in 2017.

Pleaser register via Eventbrite.

Backyard Birds of Alberta
2021-03-31 18:30 - 19:30 UTC
MGAA – Backyard Birds of Alberta with Brian Stephens

Join us in this 3 part presentation about Alberta birds.

Alberta has over 300 species of birds. The talk will focus on a selection of birds usually found in our urban and nearby areas with the goal of giving you a core group of birds and the group (family) they are in. This will help you identify something that is different from the usual. We will also cover some of the resources that are available to help. For the core group we will also look at their habitat preferences, how they forage for food, and what they prefer to feed on.
Stephens Brian has been birding throughout Alberta for over 30 years. He has birded all over Alberta including a big year, and in Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Newfoundland, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Arizona and California. He is currently President of the Edmonton Nature Club.
This Event is free for MGAA members and $10 for non-MGAA members.
Register using Eventbrite.

Gardening for a Better World
2021-03-29 19:00 - 20:30 UTC
Growing Resilience During the Pandemic with Ron Berezan.

The events of the past year have reinforced the importance of home gardens for food security and family self-sufficiency. How can we “up our game” to ensure that our gardens can thrive and support us through difficult times? This presentation will explore concrete strategies for getting more from you garden and ensuring that it will feed you and your family for years to come!

Ron Berezan has been growing food in urban yards and small rural settings for all of his adult life. Born and raised in Edmonton, most of his gardening experience is rooted in the prairies. Fifteen years ago, Ron started The Urban Farmer, a business focused on helping others create sustainable, edible, organic landscapes using insights from permaculture and agro-ecology. Ron has taught and consulted throughout North America and has taken 27 groups of Canadians to see organic farms and permaculture projects in Cuba where he has had close ties for the past 12 years. Ron is a Master Gardener, certified permaculture instructor, a biochar maker and currently lives in Powell River on the west coast where he has developed and manages Blueberry Commons – an organic cooperative farm growing fruits and vegetable for market.

Register here.

Spring Back 2021
2021-03-28 13:00 - 17:00, 2021-03-27 13:00 - 17:00 UTC
This year, the Vancouver (BC, Canada) Master Gardeners are going digita
l! Spring Back 2021 will be held via Zoom on Saturday March 27 an
d Sunday March 28, 9 am-1 pm PST, each day. Tickets are $50 Because
their event is online this year, they are able to cast a wider net, and as
a result they can bring renowned gardening experts from the UK and the Paci
fic Northwest, including: Dr. Noel Kingsbury, Fergus Garrett, Jonathon Jone
s, Egan Davis, Dr. Linda-Chalker Scott, Andrea Bellamy, and Lorene Edwards
Forkner. This year’s theme is “resilience” and their speak
ers will offer advice on growing food in small spaces, the latest trends in
natural floral landscapes, plants that triumph over extreme conditions, an
d plant-protecting tactics in a climate changing world. For more info
go to:: http://mgabc.org/node/2867
