Richmond Hill Garden & Horticultural Society upcoming events

Behind-the-Scenes Tour of Richters Herbs (May 04, 2026)

Mon, 04 May 2026 14:00:00 GMT

Richters Herbs is offering interested members of our society the opportunity for a private, behind-the-scenes tour of their operations, as well as an overview of the many herbs cultivated in Goodwood for purposes including culinary and medicinal.

Please check the most recent Outings of Interest to Gardeners email or the March-April edition of The Garden Post for more information, including how to register.

Note that this is the second of two visits to Richters Herbs this spring, and a great opportunity to purchase rare and unusual plants for our gardens.

May General Meeting: Guest Speaker Sally Hossain, "Attracting Pollinators to Your Garden" (May 05, 2026)

Tue, 05 May 2026 23:30:00 GMT

Pollinators face threats from climate change, habitat loss, misuse of pesticides, and also invasive species that impact their ability to thrive and survive. This presentation will highlight ways gardeners can help through actions such as selecting pollinator friendly plants and providing habitat essential to pollinator survival.

Master Gardener and Richmond Hill Garden & Horticultural Society Director Sally Hossain has been gardening for more than 40 years, and her education includes a BSc in Biology and additional horticultural studies at the University of Guelph. Sally has prepared and presented compelling educational materials on topics such as pollinators, native plants and vegetable gardening for organizations including the University of Guelph, the City of Richmond Hill, libraries, our local hospital staff, and horticultural societies. She is a dynamic individual with years of experience leading teams to define our horticultural society’s Speaker Program, Greenhouse production, Plant Sales, and Hill House Hospice Garden Maintenance.

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Tonight's guest speaker is a resident of Richmond Hill and will be participating in-person.

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Members: Instructions for participation in this virtual and in-person event will be emailed to members twice - once on the Friday prior to the meeting, and again on Monday. Instructions are also available by logging into our site and checking the "members-only" version of this event.

Visitors: Guests are welcome to participate in this virtual and in-person event at a nominal fee of $5.00. Instructions for participation will be emailed to non-society members who complete the registration process prior to the event start time.

About In-Person Attendance at the McConaghy Centre:

Doors to the auditorium open at 7:00 pm
The meeting begins promptly at 7:30 pm
To help us reduce waste and save money, please bring a mug or cup if you would like hot coffee or tea
Click here for more information about our General Meetings, including directions to the McConaghy Centre

PLANT SALE (May 09, 2026)

Sat, 09 May 2026 13:00:00 GMT

For more information about this fundraiser,
please visit our Plant Sale page.

Richmond Hill Blooms Kickoff Workshop and Plant Sale (May 13, 2026)

Wed, 13 May 2026 23:00:00 GMT

As a part of the Richmond Hill Blooms activities for 2026 our Horticultural Society is participating in an in-person kick-off event on the evening of May 13.

This free workshop will feature a presentation by Master Gardener Sally Hossain on the topic, "An Appetite for Gardening: Incorporating Edibles into a Traditional Landscape." Sally will provide some practical advice on how to grow vegetables and native plants in our front yards. The presentation will include tips for selecting the right vegetables for specific conditions, and explain the importance of including native plants, with examples for growing vegetables and native plants together.

Representatives of our society will also be hosting a plant sale this evening.

Click the below link for more information and to register for this event, hosted by the City of Richmond Hill.

Richmond Hill Blooms

Should the City's website be missing info about the workshop, here's a direct link to Registration (free) in Eventbrite.

Workshop Registration

Richmond Hill Spring Fair (May 23, 2026)

Sat, 23 May 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Look for our booth at this event celebrating Richmond Hill, and hosted by Deputy Mayor Godwin Chan.

More info.

June General Meeting: Guest Speaker Ingrid Janssen, "Passionate About Peonies" (June 02, 2026)

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 23:30:00 GMT

Peonies are beloved for their gorgeous blooms and captivating fragrance. They are adaptable, easy to grow plants that fit into any garden style. Tonight’s speaker will reveal the different types of peonies that can be grown in our gardens, and highlight variances in flower forms and colours. She will also share how we can achieve 6 weeks of peony blooms in our gardens, and tips for dealing with the few pests and diseases that can plague peonies.

Ingrid Janssen is a horticulturist, speaker, blogger and master gardener. She has been gardening for most of her life and is a passionate, some would say, “Crazy” gardener. Ingrid is an inspirational speaker who has appeared on TV and has spoken at Canada Blooms several times. She has both ornamental and food production gardens on her country property and has been a dedicated native plant enthusiast for more than 30 years. Ingrid earned a Horticulturist Diploma from the University of Guelph and is an active member of several horticultural and plant societies, as well as the Durham Master Gardeners.

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Tonight's guest speaker is planning to participate in-person.

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About In-Person Attendance at the McConaghy Centre:

Doors to the auditorium open at 7:00 pm
The meeting begins promptly at 7:30 pm
To help us reduce waste and save money, please bring a mug or cup if you would like hot coffee or tea
Click here for more information about our General Meetings, including directions to the McConaghy Centre

July General Meeting: Guest Speaker Maureen Hulbert, "Fascinating Canadian Flora" (July 07, 2026)

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 23:30:00 GMT

Master Gardener Maureen Hulbert invites us to celebrate our Canadian uniqueness this evening. Together, we will tour Canada, from coast to coast to coast, and celebrate our gardening diversity. Along the way, we will learn about unusual plants native to our many varied growing regions.

A Toronto Master Gardener since 2008, Maureen enjoys speaking to community groups to share her love of the always-fascinating world of plants. As proprietor of Down to Earth Gardens & Design in Toronto for twelve years, she installed unique plant-focused designs for clients. Her own garden on Taylor Creek ravine in East Toronto helped foster interests in trees and pruning, plant identification and native plants. Speaking of which, she currently enjoys teaching plant identification as a component of George Brown College’s Garden Design Program.

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Tonight's guest speaker is planning to participate in-person.

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First Flower Show of 2026

In-person meeting attendees are invited to enjoy the Summer and Rose Flower Show following tonight's guest speaker presentation.
Please consider exhibiting specimens from your own garden (More info.). Entries need to arrive by 6:15 pm and new participants should contact our Flower Show Director for support and an exhibitor number.

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About In-Person Attendance at the McConaghy Centre:

Doors to the auditorium open at 7:00 pm
The meeting begins promptly at 7:30 pm
To help us reduce waste and save money, please bring a mug or cup if you would like hot coffee or tea
Click here for more information about our General Meetings, including directions to the McConaghy Centre

August General Meeting: Guest Speaker Debbie Coleman, "Garden Maintenance" (August 04, 2026)

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 23:30:00 GMT

Tonight's speaker will share practical tips and tricks to help keep our gardens looking their best all season long. We will explore how to handle common challenges like pests and disease, how to properly prune flowers and vegetables, how to choose the right fertilizer, and even how to manually pollinate our plants when the bees need a little backup.

Debbie Coleman is a Master Gardener and Richmond Hill Garden & Horticultural Society Director who believes that the more time we spend up close with our plants the more likely we are to notice problems before they get out of hand.

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Tonight's guest speaker is a resident of Richmond Hill and will be participating in-person.

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About In-Person Attendance at the McConaghy Centre:

Doors to the auditorium open at 7:00 pm
The meeting begins promptly at 7:30 pm
To help us reduce waste and save money, please bring a mug or cup if you would like hot coffee or tea
Click here for more information about our General Meetings, including directions to the McConaghy Centre

September General Meeting: Guest Speaker Sean James, "Fall Clean-up The Green Way" (September 01, 2026)

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 23:30:00 GMT

Tonight, gardening guru Sean James will address the many misconceptions about what gardeners should do and not do in the Fall, covering the latest learnings about biodiversity and general horticulture. As well, he will share labour-saving winter-prep techniques.

Master Gardener Sean James, owner of Sean James Consulting & Design (www.seanjames-consulting.ca) is a graduate of Niagara Parks School of Horticulture with more than forty years of experience in the horticultural industry, including as an author and teacher. Named by Landscape Ontario in 2020 and 2021 as “Garden Communicator of the Year,” Sean’s passion for eco-friendly gardening techniques is evident in his landscape designs as well as in speaking engagements and projects such as Landscape Ontario’s Grow-Me-Instead and Tree Planting guides, and his chairing of the Environmental Stewardship Committee.

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Tonight's guest speaker is planning to participate in-person.

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About In-Person Attendance at the McConaghy Centre:

Doors to the auditorium open at 7:00 pm
The meeting begins promptly at 7:30 pm
To help us reduce waste and save money, please bring a mug or cup if you would like hot coffee or tea
Click here for more information about our General Meetings, including directions to the McConaghy Centre

October General Meeting: Guest Speaker Joyce Hostyn, "Designing Living Fences or Hedgerows" (October 06, 2026)

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 23:30:00 GMT

Master Gardener Joyce Hostyn asks, “Why put up a fence when you can create multi-season beauty and provide wildlife habitat by designing a hedgerow?” She will then share examples of how hedges can be leveraged to create garden rooms, provide privacy and screening, grow edible fruits, nuts and berries while also offering shelter to birds and other wildlife.

Joyce Hostyn is co-founder of Little Forests Kingston (www.littleforests.org), a member of the 1000 Islands Master Gardeners, a permaculture designer, and an Adjunct Professor at Queen’s University’s Master of Earth and Energy Resources Leadership program. She dreams of living in a city alive with the sounds of birds singing, bees buzzing, leaves whispering and children laughing. She believes each of us is a node in a mycelial network of transformation, re-wilding one garden, one neighborhood, one little forest at a time. She tells people that any day she gets her hands dirty, either in the land or in the kitchen, is a magical day.

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Tonight's guest speaker is planning to attend the meeting via Zoom. A live video broadcast of her remote participation will be projected onto a large screen in the auditorium.

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Final Flower Show of 2026

In-person meeting attendees are invited to enjoy the Autumn and Harvest Flower Show following tonight's guest speaker presentation.
Please consider exhibiting specimens from your own garden (More info.). Entries need to arrive by 6:15 pm and new participants should contact our Flower Show Director for support and an exhibitor number.



About In-Person Attendance at the McConaghy Centre:

Doors to the auditorium open at 7:00 pm
The meeting begins promptly at 7:30 pm
To help us reduce waste and save money, please bring a mug or cup if you would like hot coffee or tea
Click here for more information about our General Meetings, including directions to the McConaghy Centre

November General Meeting: Guest Speakers Claudette Sims and Isabella Marchese, "Managing Garden Pests in an Eco Friendly Way" (November 03, 2026)

Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:30:00 GMT

As the gardening season winds down, Ontario gardeners often reflect on the animal and insect challenges they faced throughout the year—and wonder what to do differently next time. Tonight's guest speakers will explore cultural practices and solutions to address these challenges while fostering a harmonious relationship with nature.

Claudette Sims joined the Master Gardeners of Ontario in 2004 and served as President for six years. She was a regular panelist and lead on the weekly CBC radio online garden chat for many years and also subbed in for Ed Lawrence on the radio, which she says was a thrilling but scary experience. Claudette is currently Administrator for the very successful Master Gardeners of Ontario Facebook Group which is nearing 58,000 members, featuring a great team of Master Gardeners who provide gardening advice for the public. Along with Cathy Kavassalis, Claudette is working to further the work of the Canadian Coalition for Invasive Plant Regulation (CCIPR) to stop the sale of high-risk invasive plants that harm biodiversity. Claudette's most recent passion continues to be adding larval host plants for butterflies and specific native plants for specialist bees.

Isabella Marchese is a Master Gardener in Training with the Halton Master Gardeners group and is committed to understanding the needs of plants, supporting pollinators and using organic processes. She is also a member of the Halton Naturalist Club and works in public gardens that host native plants., and volunteers at the Royal Botanical Gardens weeding native plant gardens.

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Tonight's guest speakers are planning to attend the meeting via Zoom. A live video broadcast of their remote participation will be projected onto a large screen in the auditorium.



About In-Person Attendance at the McConaghy Centre:

Doors to the auditorium open at 7:00 pm
The meeting begins promptly at 7:30 pm
To help us reduce waste and save money, please bring a mug or cup if you would like hot coffee or tea
Click here for more information about our General Meetings, including directions to the McConaghy Centre