Ottawa Horticultural Society

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A Retrospect of Some Society Activities Including Garden Competitions

The Ottawa Horticultural Society was organized in the Year 1892 by a group of Government Civil Servants, aided by local businessmen and some professional gardeners. The first President was the then Deputy Postmaster-General, Col. William Whyte; the Secretary, Mr. G.F. Keyes was at the time Secretary of the Federal Dept. of the Interior. The Society of Amateur Gardeners has functioned continuously, despite major distractions, depressions, wars and many changes in life styles, through to this date.

The first competitive flower shows were held in 1894-95, staged in the Hall of St. Johns Anglican Church, in the heart of the city, between Sussex Drive and MacKenzie Avenue, near Rideau St. just south of the site now occupied by the Connaught Building.

The Society was encouraged by the patronage of Lady Minto (1894-95) and Countess Grey (1904-11), who initiated Garden competitions, which were also strongly supported by the Devonshires (1916-21); all of whom were much interested in horticultural affairs. Many Vice-Regal names were perpetuated by Society trophies, most of which have been won outright though the Devonshire and Willington trophies are still in competition annually.

Lady Grey and later the Duchess of Devonshire presented medals to Garden Competition winners and Society members were invited to garden parties at Rideau Hall; Mrs. Hetty Bowman, Hon. Life Member, now resident in Toronto, remembers being present with her parents at more than one of these occasions. Lady Anne Cavendish, daughter of the Duchess of Devonshire was a working Hon. President of the Society. The city limits were more compact then and competitions were restricted to members only. During the Depression Thirties and also during World War 2 the Society was allowed to develop vacant plots of land all over the city for the use of people who had no garden space and they were encouraged to grow vegetables; competitions were initiated with cups and prizes for the best gardens; classes for vegetables were open to non-members in some of the annual flower shows.

After the World War, the Netherlands Government began the donation of thousands of Tulips to the N.C.C. in recognition of hospitality shown to members of the Netherlands Royal Family, who had come to Ottawa for the duration.

Soon after the O.H.S. garden competition was superseded by a Spring Tulip competition, sponsored by the Ottawa Board of Trade, supported by the Ottawa Citizen; Society officers supplied the rules and did the judging. Prizes were supplied by the Dutch Bulb-Growers, through their representative Mr. Malak Karsh of Ottawa.

In the 1960s, the Society decided to acknowledge that there were many non-members who improved their communities by creating attractive gardens.

Covering the ever increasing network of city streets had become too difficult, so it was agreed to restrict the garden competition to a postal zone, or two adjacent zones, and cover every street in that area for gardens of merit; alternating each year with zones east, west, north or south.

The Garden Competition committee agreed that three visits during the growing season were necessary to establish a record of continuity; the fist visit in May when the spring bulbs and early alpine plants decorate the basic landscape. Every street in the chosen zones were covered and only the view that passers-by could enjoy were considered. Points were alloted using the Ontario Horticultural Judging Standards scorecard.

The recorded gardens were visited a second time in July when annual and perennial plants and flowering shrubs were on display. A deterioration would be noted, and some gardens might be added if they were attractive enough that they might get enough points in two visits to catch up on gardens accepted in the first round. A third visit in September would ensure that the best maintained gardens throughout the year would receive highest number of points and the three best gardens would qualify for recognition. While this contest is for home gardens only, if the judges note a good commercial or institutional garden they can recommend a special Certificate be awarded.

The same judges perform the three inspections, spending the greater part of a day on each one, covering 25-30 kilometers in an effort to find gardens of merit; garden owners involved are unaware that they are in a competition and the judges only identify the gardens by street and number. This form of competition, begun as an experiment, continues without much regulation, adjusting as situations indicate.

For a number of years three septuagenarians have cruised up and down many streets; this has led to a possible suspicion by alert citizens that we might be break-in professionals "casing the joints", especially when one of the judges jumps out of the car, runs round the corner to get a different perspective and rushes back to the car to report. In October the Committee Chairman gets the names of the winners by reference to a City Directory and ascertains their telephone numbers. The winners are visited by one or more of the committee and while most are extremely gratified by the awards, on occasion some were suspicious that we were promoting some kind of a scam!

The Awards consist of "Trillium Certificates" of a design approved by the society and the "Best Garden" also received the "George Myles Trophy" to hold for a year, with the garden owners name engraved thereon. These are presented at an "Awards Night" held in December or January by a Director of the Ontario Horticultural Association or some other officer and the Winners names are also published in the next issue of the Society's Year Book.

The Ottawa Society does not infringe across the boundaries of the cities of Gloucester or Nepean who hold their own Competitions, and the City of Vanier has in recent years also found the garden competition to be a good exercise in the creation of local pride.

There has been some concern that local interest in gardens has deteriorated as new generations follow other easier recreational pursuits. However perhaps most such activities are cyclical and we must persevere. Changes in garden competitions are probably again in order; perhaps incorporating window-boxes, hanging baskets and high-rise balcony gardens.

Wm. M. Cavaye

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