Call for Volunteers

Welcome to the Kingston Gardening Expo 2010

Canadian Tire Cataraqui is pleased to present the first Kingston Gardening Expo which is being held Friday, March 5th, Saturday, March 6th and Sunday March 7th, 2010 at the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour.

This wonderful event is a gathering of the best gardening – related businesses and horticultural experts in the area.

Proceeds derived from the Kingston Gardening Expo will be directed to charity, specifically towards University Hospitals Kingston Foundation, Limestone Learning Foundation and Canadian Tire Jumpstart.

To make the Kingston Gardening Expo a success we are turning to the community for volunteers.

Kingston Gardening Expo relies heavily on volunteer participation to staff the ticket and raffle areas, welcome visitors and over see the displays and exhibits. Many businesses generously support Kingston Gardening Expo with financial support, time, marketing and services. We thank them for their support. The Kingston Gardening Expo marketplace presents a wide variety of exceptional garden-related products that are sure to please the most discerning attendee.

We ask you to please volunteer any amount of time.

Hope you enjoy the 2010 Kingston Gardening Expo as much as we enjoy bringing it to you.

Sincerely yours,

Dale Baker

613-329-1112

Press Release Aug 12, 2009

Communities In Bloom Celebrates 5-Bloom Winners

The best blooming gardeners in Kingston are being celebrated today at the annual Kingston Blooms 5-Bloom Awards Victorian Tea at the Royal Military College.

The Communities in Bloom civic beautification program's local gardening competition received 80 entries this year. Each entrant received a score out of a possible 100 points and a corresponding "Bloom" rating. The judges looked at the gardens between July 2 and 9 and evaluated them according to new criteria, including: Design, Use of Plant Material, Condition and Maintenance, Environmental Awareness, Special Features and the all-important "WOW" factor.

Also new this year, are the District Awards and the Mayor's Choice Award.

While all the 5-Bloom recipients know who they are, the winners of these Awards and Winner's Circle Residential, Public Gardens and School Garden categories are to be announced at today's ceremony.

Award recipients' gardens are featured in our Photo Gallery and can be directly accessed by clicking here.

Here are your 2009 Kingston Blooms Winners:

MAYOR'S CHOICE AWARD

Energy House - St. Lawrence College

DISTRICT AWARD WINNERS

Public Garden Category:
Portsmouth District - Energy House - St. Lawrence College

Residential Garden Category:
Sydenham District - Jeanie Sawyer
Lakeside District - Mary Ellen Mulder
Countryside District - Sylvia Moreau
Loyalist Cataraqui District - Barbara and Bob Guerin
Trillium District - Ann Kramer

Forgotten Corner Category:
Sydenham District - Mary Zureik - Traffic Triangle College/Johnson/Churchill

Community Gardens Category:
Sydenham District - Marine Museum of the Great Lakes

WINNER'S CIRCLE RESIDENTIAL

City-wide winner - Elizabeth Read and Adrian Cooper

WINNER'S CIRCLE PUBLIC GARDENS

City-wide winner - Glen Lawrence Golf Club

WINNER'S CIRCLE SCHOOL GARDEN

City-wide winner - Elginburg and District Public School

WINNER'S CIRCLE PROFESSIONAL GARDEN

City-wide winner - Best Western Fireside Inn

RESIDENTIAL CATEGORY - 5-BLOOM RECIPIENTS

Karen Gagnon
Jeanie Sawyer
Mary Ellen Mulder
Sylvia Moreau
Sharon Spencer
Barbara and Bob Guerin
Anne Kramer

PUBLIC GARDENS - 5-BLOOM RECIPIENTS

Energy House - St. Lawrence College
Joseph Dominik Sensory Garden - Ongwanada

FORGOTTEN CORNER - 5-BLOOM RECIPIENTS

Traffic Triangle (Mary Zureik)

COMMUNITY GARDEN - 5-BLOOM RECIPIENTS

Marine Museum of the Great Lakes

WINNERS CIRCLE - RESIDENTIAL

Martha Bartels
Secret Garden
Elizabeth Read and Adrian Cooper
Fairmount Home
Diane Curtis
Ray and Nancy Popkey
Dan Malette
Manuel De Sousa
Inge Wells

WINNERS CIRCLE - PUBLIC GARDENS

Colonnade Golf and Country Club
Glen Lawrence Golf Club
Cataraqui Cemetery

WINNERS CIRCLE - PROFESSIONAL GARDEN

Best Western Fireside Inn

WINNERS CIRCLE - SCHOOL GARDEN

R.G. Sinclair Public School
Elginburg and District Public School

NOTICE

VIA Rail Garden Route

Garden enthusiasts and admirers alike can explore Canada and marvel at its splendid scenery while travelling by train along the VIA Rail Garden Route. Use a number of VIA services to visit any of the 15 spectacular gardens stretching from Vancouver Island to Halifax.

More information is available by clicking here.

Press Release:

Kingston Blooms to Focus on Natural Gardening

This year, Kingston Blooms – the City’s arm of the Communities in Bloom beautification and civic pride program – is awarding a greater number of points for environmental awareness/sustainability in its gardening competition.

We want people to be environmentally responsible – composting, and using mulch and rain barrels. Kingstonians are such good gardeners; we’ve had to make it more difficult to score points.

The expert local judges will score gardens on: the “WOW” factor (5 points); design (30 points); use of plant material (20 points); condition and maintenance (15 points); environmental awareness/sustainability (25 points); and special features (5 points).

The deadline for entries in a variety of categories is June 15. Information and registration forms can be found by clicking here or visiting the registration page on this website.

Questions can also be directed to Sue Hitchcock at sueh@cityofkingston.ca or 613-546-4291 x 1716.

Kingston is a 5-Bloom city with the national Communities in Bloom program. The City is participating in the Circle of Excellence, non-evaluated category in 2009. We are expected to continue local initiatives to maintain our bloom rating.

NOTICE: March 21, 2008

Pitch-In Kingston!
The Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce and Tim Horton’s invite you to help us clean up our community!

Friday, April 24, 2009
Pitch in with your family, your neighbours, your co-workers, school or club to clean up Kingston neighbourhoods, streets and parks.

Complete the registration form online at www.kingstonchamber.on.ca

Need Supplies for Pitch-In Day?
On April 24th, DROP BY ANY KINGSTON TIM HORTONS and they’ll supply you with garbage bags from 7 am – 9 am (while supplies last)

NOTICE: January 15, 2008

SOLD OUT

“Eco-Friendly Gardening – How to Comply with Ontario’s New Cosmetic Pesticide Ban”

Guest Speaker: Ed Lawrence

Portsmouth Olympic Harbour – 53 Yonge St. – Press Lounge

Thursday, March 12, 2009 – Lecture begins at 7:30 pm

Doors open at 6:00 pm

Displays by the City of Kingston, Fafard Natural Fertilizers, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Safer’s Products, Scott’s EcoSense and Scott Wentworth Landscaping Group

Cost:

$5.00 General Public

$3.00 Members of Horticultural Societies/Garden Clubs

Seating is limited. Please call 613-384-7790 to reserve your seat.

NOTICE: January 15, 2008

Oak Street Community Garden

Registration for the 2009 season is February 3, 2009 at 7:30 pm

First Christian Reformed Church – 310 Kingscourt Ave.

10’ x 10’ beds cost $20.00.

Participation in the donation food bed is free!

For more information visit our website: http://oakstreetgarden.wordpress.com/

Contact: oakstreetgarden@riseup.net or call 613-547-4812

NOTICE: January 7, 2008

Introducing two exciting opportunities for Kingston area gardeners interested in saving their own seeds!

#1  For those who have not yet saved seed for next year’s herbs, flowers and vegetables, but would like to find out how to avoid buying seeds year after year, a series of free workshops are offered by the Sisters of Providence Heirloom Seed Sanctuary staff, in partnership with the Kingston Heirloom Seed Savers.

Join us Sunday, January 18th at 2 pm for

Planning the Garden for Saving Seed

www.providence.ca/seeds

At the Heirloom Seed Sanctuary barn behind the Sisters of Providence Motherhouse, 1200 Princess St.
Please bring measurements of your garden. Graph paper will be supplied.

AND

#2  For those who have been saving seed, and who are interested in sharing seed-saving techniques and seeds will fellow Kingston area gardeners.

Join us Sunday, January 18th at 3:30 pm for an introductory meeting of the

Kingston Heirloom Seed Savers

www.khss.ca

Also at the Heirloom Seed Sanctuary.

For more information call Cate Henderson at 613-544-4525 x 124

NOTICE: October 23, 2008

View the 2008 5 Blooms Gardens

Click here to view the 2008 5 Blooms Gardens gallery

PRESS RELEASE: KINGSTON, ON - October 14, 2008

Five-bloom winner wins national recognition for Garden

Joan Le Feuvre’s gorgeous Cranbrook St. “Flower Jungle” was recently awarded five blooms in Communities in Bloom’s residential category -- now pictures of the garden will appear in 2009 Miracle-Gro promotional materials because it won in the Large Category of Miracle-Gro Residential Garden Contest.

Photos of Le Feuvre’s garden can be seen on the Communities in Bloom National website at:

http://www.communitiesinbloom.ca/Articles/?aid=255

Photos will also be published in the Communities in Bloom National Magazine.

“As my garden formed, so did the interest of the community,” Le Feuvre wrote in her submission. “All ages, from babies reaching out to touch the flowers, testing their newly found sounds, to school children who made a point of stopping, appreciating, making comments, and asking questions.

There were five national finalists in the Large Category (population base of 55,001-150,000) from Oshawa, Mississauga, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Kingston. Le Feuvre’s “Flower Jungle” – so-named by a kindergarten class from a nearby school took top honours.

This year, Kingston maintained its five-bloom rating in the non-competitive Friendship category of the National Communities In Bloom program. Maintaining the five bloom rating over the next couple of years will allow Kingston to qualify to enter the International Challenge in 2010.

This year the National Judges gave the City kudos, noting that: “Sustainable Development is certainly at the core of the City’s focus and action plans, and the judges took good note of the City’s determination to become Canada’s ‘Most Sustainable Community’. With the wide scope of quality programs, initiatives and investment in the matter of sustainability, environmental and other, this goal is certainly in reach.”

Media contact: For more information contact Sue Hitchcock, Department of Community Services, at 613-546-4291, ext. 1716. Or call the City of Kingston’s media hotline at 613-546-4291, ext 2300.

August 13, 2008

The Judging Results Are In!

Judging for the Kingston Blooms front garden program took place during the 1st two weeks of July. This year we received a total of 139 entries. A special thank you to all entrants. Keep up the great work. Your efforts help make Kingston Bloom.

5 Bloom Winners will receive an invitation to the Mayor’s Garden Party and 5 Bloom Awards.

Following are the judging results:

Organization Category	Blooms
Barriefield Rock Garden	3
Cartwright Point East Community Garden	4
Cataraqui Cemetery	5
Elginburg and District Public School	5
Elmwood Community Garden	4
Heirloom Seed Sanctuary	5
Kingston Library (Main Branch)	3
Lancaster Drive Public School	5
Lord Strathcona Public School	4
Navy Memorial Park	3
Ongwanada (Portsmouth Ave.)	4
R.G. Sinclair Public School	5
Rideaucrest Home	4
Rideaucrest Home Secret Garden	3
Senior's Association	3
St. Joseph/St. Mary Catholic School	2
St. Lawrence College Energy House	4
St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School	3
St. Mary's Cathedral	3
St. Paul Catholic School	4
Storrington Public School	5
Residential Complex Category	Blooms
898 Oakview	3
Edith Cox - 30 Wright Cres.	5
Fairmount Home	5
FCC#10	4
FCC#28	5
FCC#45	3
Skweeks House	4
Rural Residential	Blooms
Barb Robinson	3
Green Woods Inn	4
Marie Geris	3
Sandra Carr	4
Tymparon Inn	3
Commercial	Blooms
Ambassador Hotel	5
Assurant Solutions	3
Aunt Lucy's Dinner House	5
Best Western Fireside Inn	5
Blaney's Florists	3
Colonnade Golf and Country Club	5
Earthworx Landscape Products	3
Extendicare Kingston	4
Glen Lawrence Golf Club	5
Hochelaga Inn	5
Kentucky Fried Chicken (Montreal)	5
Kentucky Fried Chicken (Princess)	2
Kingston West Family Chiropractic	3
Minaker's Flower Centre	4
Novelis Kingston	4
Rosemount Inn and Spa	5
Secret Garden Bed and Breakfast Inn	5
Downtown Floral Beautification	Blooms
Empire Life	4
FCC#10	3
Marine Museum - Patio Dry Dock	3
Residential	Blooms
Andi Vandervoort	4
Anne and Michael Levison	4
Arleigh Hill	4
Barbara Robinson	3
Blanche Battersby	4
Bryndis Swan and Sean Molloy	3
Candace Hartley	4
Carol Widdis	4
Christyne Flynn	4
Curt Bolton	4
Dan Mallette	5
D'arcy Wolfe	4
Debbie McMillian	3
Dianne Curtis	4
Donna Weaver	3
Dorothy Evans	1
Dorothy Hector	3
Douglas and Jane Knapp	4
Douglas Snyder	5
Elaine Savor	3
Elizabeth Read and Adrian Cooper	5
Erik Lund	5
Eunice Francis	5
Fern Abram	3
Francine Lefebvre	4
Grant Gilliland	3
Harvey and Shirley Eves	5
Heidi Garbutt	4
Idalina Fragoso	4
Inge Wells	5
Jack McIntyre	3
James and Susan Pritchard	3
Janice Saunders and Gary Graves	3
Jean Bell	4
Jennifer Cox	4
Jessica Foley	2
Jim and Barbara Leith	2
Joan Le Feuvre	5
John Proctor	4
Julie and Jerry Shea	4
Julio and Abella Cinsorcia	4
Karen Gagnon	4
Karen Phillips	4
Leila Arpin	4
Leslie and Steve Vollick	5
Linda Dubbleton	5
Lynda Dennie	3
Manuel De Sousa	5
Margaret Gibson/Sarah Gibson-Bray	3
Marie Warner	3
Mary Zureik	4
Maureen Pearce	5
Mislee Cooper	4
Nadine Box	2
Pam Benson	4
Pamela Williams	4
Panageotopoulos Konstantinos	3
Paul and Laura Chaves	2
Pierre Sinard	3
Ray and Nancy Popkey	5
Reena Kumar	3
Regina Hartson	4
Rene O'Farrell	5
Russ Brown	3
Sarah Gibosn-Bray	3
Skolnick Family	5
Stephen Crafts	5
Steve and Dawn Brule	4
Sue Mulvena	4
Susan Hetherington	4
Terry Millar	5
Valerie Angus	3
Vicky Huehn	3
Wendy Bryant	5
William Nute	3
William Wuerch	3
Zelia Amorim	4
Kingston Frontenac Housing Corporation	Blooms
111 Van Order Drive	5
Bill Napier	5
Dianne Knight	5
Larry and Lori Moore	5
Laura Lee Burke	5
Lori Ketchen	5
Margaret Smith	5
Norma Saylor	5

PRESS RELEASE: KINGSTON, ON - June 3, 2008, 2:00 p.m.

CN Tower Garden Highlights World Heritage Status Communities In Bloom Garden Will Show Off Kingston Attractions

The City of Kingston will plant a garden at the base of the CN Tower featuring Kingston's UNESCO designation as a World Heritage site as home of the Kingston Fortifications and the entryway to the Rideau Canal. The garden space at one of Canada's biggest tourist draws, was offered to Kingston in honor of its national Communities in Bloom win in 2007.

As another bonus for our city winning last year's Communities in Bloom competition, citizens of Kingston visiting the CN Tower this summer will be eligible to receive a discount when they provide proof of Kingston residency.

Kingston's CN Tower garden, designed by Anne Maxwell and set to be planted starting at 9 a.m. on June 5, will contain a miniature tall-ship created by metal artist Randal Doner and a sign that will invite the CN Tower's two million visitors a year to consider Kingston as their next vacation destination.

The boat represents Kingston's rich naval and sailing history and celebrates its role as the gate keepers of the beautiful 1000 Islands.

The top two sails celebrate our unique distinction of being home to Fort Henry national Historic Site and the Kingston Fortifications which, along with the Rideau Canal, are a UNESCO World Heritage site. Other sails feature City Hall, Market Square, Fort Henry, Murney Tower and sail boats to tell the story of Kingston's rich heritage. The garden incorporates grasses to simulate the movement of water and white alyssum to simulate waves so that the boat will appear to be anchored just off the shores of Kingston.

In addition to Maxwell and Doner, the planting team supported by the Kingston Accommodation Partners, will include: Mark Fluhrer, Director of Culture and Recreation, Sue Hitchcock, Kingston's Communities in Bloom Coordinator, Volunteer Sandra McNeil and Mark Stevens, President of Junk Out who will haul the boat and supplies.

Kingston is the reigning Communities in Bloom National Champion in the 100,001 to 300,000 population category of the program which is designed to promote municipal beautification through environmental stewardship and community involvement.

The deadline for nominations for Kingston Blooms' Bill Robb Visionary Award is June 13. That award recognizes citizens of Kingston for their contributions to municipal beautification and civic pride. Schools in Bloom deadline is June 2. Schools will be judged before the end of the school year.

This year the city will be participating in the Friends category of the national program. In this category, municipalities are registered but are not evaluated. Instead, they are expected to continue local Communities in Bloom initiatives - like Kingston Blooms - in order to maintain their bloom ratings. The national Communities in Bloom judges, Matt Rosen and Berta Briggs, will visit Kingston July 17 and 18.

Kingston must maintain its five bloom rating and work on programs and projects to enhance the program as it prepares to take on the world in 2010. Then Kingston enters the International Challenge, which pits us against cities in Canada, Ireland, England, Scotland and the United States.

Media contact: For more information contact Sue Hitchcock, Department of Community Services, at 613-546-4291, ext. 1716. Or call the City of Kingston’s media hotline at 613-546-4291, ext 2300.

PRESS RELEASE: KINGSTON, ON - May 5, 2008

Can You Dig It? Plant-off to launch Communities in Bloom
Kingstonians invited to aim for another five-bloom rating

Celebrate the start of the gardening season at the plant-off marking the beginning of this year’s Communities in Bloom Kingston program. It’s at 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Saturday, May 10, at the Canadian Tire Cataraqui Garden Centre.

Celebrity gardener Ed Lawrence, CBC Radio gardening expert and author of “Gardening Grief and Glory” will be on hand to sign books, and 21 local celebrities – including Mayor Harvey Rosen, city councilors and local journalists – will go trowel-to-trowel, attempting to design the most charming rain barrel in the Can You Dig It? Plant-off event. The resulting barrels will again be placed in Market Square.

The theme for this, the sixth year of Kingston’s participation in the program, is “People, Plants and Pride…Growing Together!”

Kingston is the reigning Communities in Bloom National Champion in the 100,001 to 300,000 population category of the program which is designed to promote municipal beautification through environmental stewardship and community involvement.

Last year, in the local Kingston Blooms program, there were 50 Five Bloom winners. This year’s participants can enter in the following categories: Commercial, Organization, Residential Complex, Residential, and Rural Residential. Mail carriers will again deliver postcards encouraging those at addresses with lovely gardens to enter.

Judging of local gardens for Kingston Blooms takes place during the first two weeks of July and winners are announced in August.

The deadline for nominations for Kingston Blooms’ Bill Robb Visionary Award is June 13. That award recognizes citizens of Kingston for their contributions to municipal beautification and civic pride. Schools in Bloom deadline is June 2. Schools will be judged before the end of the school year.

This year the city will be participating in the Friends category of the national program. In this category, municipalities are registered but are not evaluated. Instead, they are expected to continue local Communities in Bloom initiatives – like Kingston Blooms – in order to maintain their bloom ratings. The national Communities in Bloom judges, Matt Rosen and Berta Briggs, will visit Kingston July 17 and 18.

The City of Kingston has been invited to plant a garden at the base of the CN Tower in honor of its national win in 2007. The garden will contain a 10” x 4” tall-ship created by metal artist Randal Doner and a sign that will invite the CN Tower’s two million visitors a year to consider Kingston as their next vacation destination.

Kingston must maintain its five bloom rating and work on programs and projects to enhance the program as it prepares to take on the world in 2010. Then Kingston enters the International Challenge, which pits us against cities in Canada, Ireland, England, Scotland and the United States.

Media contact: For more information contact Sue Hitchcock, Department of Community Services, at 613-546-4291, ext. 1716. Or call the City of Kingston’s media hotline at 613-546-4291, ext 2300.

ANNOUNCEMENT: KINGSTON, ON - March 26, 2008

Communities in Bloom Launches its 14th Edition

Communities in Bloom (CIB) Canada’s program for the improvement of the quality of life through beautification, community involvement, environmental awareness and heritage conservation, is proud to present its 14th edition. This national program assists Canadian communities of all sizes to improve their quality of life while encouraging community involvement and civic pride.

In 2008, hundreds of Canadian communities are participating in Provincial Editions and National Edition and the International Challenge with municipalities from the United States, Scotland and Ireland.

In July, qualified CIB volunteer judges, Matt Rosen and Berta Briggs will visit Kingston and evaluate our overall performance in the following areas: tidiness, environmental awareness, community involvement, heritage conservation, urban forestry, landscaped areas, floral displays, and turf and groundcovers. The evaluation is based on the achievements of citizens, businesses, organizations, institutions and the municipal government working together.

The City of Kingston will be taking part in the FRIENDS (non-competitive) category of the National Edition of Communities in Bloom this year. By taking part in the FRIENDS program the city will remain in the program and work on projects which will prepare us for our entry in the International Challenge in 2010.

The results, including annual bloom ratings, criteria award recognitions and winners, will be announced at the National Awards Ceremonies, hosted this year by the City of Lethbridge, Alberta on September 19& 20th, 2008.