​Welcome to the  Georgian Bay Garden Club
in Owen Sound

Our Club, founded in 1990, is the most northerly in the Garden Clubs of Ontario, to which we have belonged since 1991. We share in the GCO’s purposes, to encourage a knowledge and love of horticulture and floral design, to aid in the protection of native trees, plants, birds and the soil, and to encourage civic planting and the beautification of the countryside. We also maintain an organizational membership with the Royal Botanical Gardens

Key to our Club’s activities are the opportunities for learning, and the sharing of experience and friendship with fellow gardeners.  We meet monthly throughout the year for informative presentations across our areas of interest, with refreshments and socializing. A summer picnic and a Christmas lunch are also on the schedule.

The ongoing development of members’ skills and talents through education is an important focus.  The sharing of information so we can learn from others in the Club is ongoing, and we plan periodically for flower shows, and floral design courses for our members.

Since its inception, the Club has engaged actively in enhancing the beauty of Owen Sound: we were instrumental in achieving Communities in Bloom recognition for the city in 2005 and we give financial support annually for the “flowers on the bridges”.  In 2000 we created, and we continue to maintain on behalf of the city, the very extensive Garden on the Bay beside the Bayshore Community Centre, a source of enjoyment for residents and visitors alike. And every summer, members create the planters at the entrances of the Library and the adjacent Tom Thomson Art Gallery on the west shore of the Sydenham River.  We assist the Canadian Mental Health Association with the purchase of seeds for their community garden, and provide financial and volunteer support for the Owen Sound Fall Fair in the floral design and horticulture sections.

The Club annually provides an award for the best student in the Horticulture program at the Owen Sound District Secondary School, and a substantial bursary to a student pursuing post-secondary education in Landscape Design, Horticulture, Environmental Studies or Floral Design.

To support all these activities, we undertake a variety of fundraising projects. These may vary from year to year, but currently, a sale of Christmas urns inserts in November and a plant and bake sale in May are our major initiatives.

You can contact us by email at gbgcowensound@outlook.com   Our website is www.georgianbaygardenclubowensound.com  : follow us on Facebook at Georgian-Bay-Garden-Club.

Heritage Plaque in the Garden on the Bay

NEWS - February 2025

The Georgian Bay area is experiencing a much colder and snowier winter this year!  On the bright side, our gardens will be better protected from the dreaded freeze-thaw cycles that are so destructive.
2024 was one of our best years ever financially, with record results from our major fundraiser, our November sale of Christmas urns and swags. Earlier in the year our hardworking members had also run a successful plant and bake sale, a garage sale, and an excursion to the Royal Botanical Gardens, our first such excursion since Covid.  These activities funded 2 bursaries for post-graduate study; a high school award for Horticulture; prizes at the Fall Fair, and a grant to the city of Owen Sound for downtown flowers.
New members are adding to the Club’s reservoir of expertise and enthusiasm, and to our active social life.  Last summer the Maher family farm was the destination for our annual club picnic, and excursions to see lady slipper orchids and ferns. We closed the year with our traditional Christmas lunch, collecting more than $400 in donations for the Grey-Bruce Women’s Centre.
We have ambitious plans for 2025. The Garden on the Bay, planted and maintained by the Club for the city, is now in its 25th season and some overmature plots will be dug out and replanted this year.  An adjacent pollinator garden is also planned.
Spring can’t come soon enough!​

Garden on the Bay

Garden on the Bay

Picnic at the Weir-Maher Family Farm

The Urn Sale Crew November 2024

Urns and Swag Workshop Nov. 2024

The Urns Sale - natural materials!

The President's Pin

President’s Pin goes to Barb Suddick

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GEORGIAN BAY GARDEN CLUB PROGRAM
January – June, 2025

January 13
Club Bursary Recipients 2024
Eric Lougheed & Emily Miller
Garden on the Bay – Future Plans           John Church

February 10 
 “Let’s Talk Trees” 
 Nan Brown

March 10
“The Delicate Side of Bonsai”
John Church

April 14 
 “WAFA – Oman” 
 (World Association of Floral Artists)
Ellen Clarke

May 12
“Pollinator-friendly Gardens: 
 Attract Pollinators, Aid the Ecosystem”
 Vicky Thompson

June 9 
 “Hydrangeas: Types – How to Grow Prune & Maintain”
Susan Cox
  **  Pot Luck Lunch  ** 11:30am

All meetings take place at:
the New Life Centre, 199 4th Ave. West, Owen Sound,
starting at 1:00 p.m.
except for the June Pot Luck Lunch starting at 11:30 a.m.

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For more information:  
​gbgcowensound@outlook.com

Note 1.  Unless otherwise noted,
all in-person meetings take place at:
New Life Centre,
​199 4th Avenue West, Owen Sound, ON.

Note 2.   
All meetings start at 1:00p.m. except 
Pot Luck Lunch and
Christmas Lunch
which start at 11:30 a.m.,
and
Summer Picnic which starts at 12:00 noon

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For more information, please visit our website here

For more information on events and shows please contact the club:
Georgian Bay Garden Club 
Grey Sauble Conservation Authority
237897 Inglis Falls Rd., R.R. # 4,
Owen Sound, ON., N4K 5N6
Website:
georgianbaygardenclubowensound.com