President's Message - 2000

Why do we garden?

Gardening is both a creative and a nurturing activity which appeals to a lot of our instincts, involves our five senses, and consequently is very satisfying. In our gardens, we work in harmony with nature and feel we have some control over what we do and how we do it. This may explain why gardening is the fastest growing recreational activity among all ages, and why, according to Statistics Canada, eighty percent of adult Canadians garden to some extent.

While gardening is to many of us an individual activity, we also enjoy being part of the wider community of gardeners after all we love to share our gardens, to talk about our successes and failures and our latest discoveries in plants. We gardeners have so much to learn from one another!

The Ottawa Horticultural Society creates this community of gardeners. And, like any other organisation its greatest resource is its members - the greater the membership, and the more active the members, the more enriching the community will be.

We are working to attract more members by offering an exciting program of speakers and activities. We must dispel the myth that we are a group of experts who use only the Latin names of plants. Our very name may intimidate people and give the wrong impression. Yes, there is, collectively considerable expertise in many areas, but as individual members we are, quite simply, people who love plants.

We all have a role to play to make our Society the best possible community for gardeners.

I look forward to another year working with you all to help make this happen.

With best wishes for health, happiness and abundant gardens.

Please contact the OHS or the author if you wish to republish these articles. © Ottawa Horticultural Society

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