135 years of the best blooms at the Miami Horticulture Show – DiscoverWestman.com

The Miami Community Centre Hall became a showcase for the best of Manitoba’s gardens on August 21st during the Miami Horticulture Club’s 135th Show. A longstanding event in the club, this year’s show featured guest speakers, displays of the club’s junior division, and an excellent show of intergenerational passion for horticulture. 

Club President Lynn Sprott shared that over her 35 years involved with the club, the faces of horticulture might have changed, but the passion remains. “We’ve put in things that are more relevant to today’s day and age. Right now, young people like to make things with dried flowers…so, we’re aiming some of our classes at flowers that they can dry, they can do something with.” Taking new interests into account is something that the club welcomes, shared Sprott. “Sometimes your membership rules to be more of an older group, but then you bring in the junior gardeners, and you’ve brought in their young parents.” Sprott added: “Now we’re going back to the young people again, which is wonderful.” 

The club also runs a Junior Garden Club, which has existed in its current iteration for its second year.  This year, the 17-member club focused on pollinators, including a special visit from an entomologist. Seven-year-olds Ellie Murray and Sophie Oakes were members of the club this year, and particularly enjoyed the creation of fairy gardens for the Horticulture Show. Both girls have got into horticulture through their families, and it has been a learning experience. “I’ve been learning to be focused.” shared Murray. When it comes to working out the tiny details of a fairy garden, Oakes shared that patience is a skill she has come to learn. 

Kelvin Hildebrandt of local orchard Windhover Orchard & Woodcraft was a guest speaker for the evening, discussing the development and other factors of orchards in the area. Hildebrandt’s passion for fruit orchards brought him to the Miami area, an area where he could scout the ideal location for an orchard of his own. As for advice for folks interested in developing their own orchards, Hildebrandt shares “there’s all sorts of good resources… lots of good books.” Specifically, Bob Osborne’s books on the subject feature apple varieties that are “bred and born in the Morden area… at the research station there. There’s lots of good varieties that we can grow here.” 

The Miami Horticulture Club is always seeking new members year round, and the Junior Garden Club begins in May and has around four meetings a season. To get involved in either club, check out the Horticulture Club’s page on the RM of Thompson’s website, or call Lynn Sprott at 204-435-2050.