YORKTON - You’re invited! The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be holding their annual Fruit, Flower and Vegetable Show on Wednesday, August 6, from 11:00 AM till 3:00 PM at the Parkland Mall in Yorkton. Every garden is a challenge, and every garden year has its challenges,
But there is always beauty in the garden, and it is a pleasure for us to bring these treasures from the garden for our guests to see. We always do our best to make it an interesting show!
Picture it: Yorkton, 1907. Pioneer women from the area gathered to have their first flower show in the community. To me, this is a testament to the resilience and determination of those early gardeners to take time off and gather together for the social aspect of a flower show. They knew that it would build gardening spirit and build community to gather and enjoy seeing the beauty that their gardens brought forth.
I wonder what they displayed? Wouldn’t it be interesting to know! Every gardening year is different, and while some years are conducive to great tomatoes or beautiful apples or amazing geraniums, the following year might be the perfect conditions for totally new plants to shine. So the displays and exhibits at each flower show are as new to us, the gardeners, as they are to our garden guests!
I remember one year, a long, long time ago, Mom was nurturing along some of her favorite tomato plants, a particular favorite of hers. Three or four plants were yielding such beautiful, uniform tomatoes, and Mom was looking forward to bringing these to the show in just a few days time. One warm evening, she had guests touring the garden, and while she was talking to them by the flowerbeds, the guests’ children had scampered to the pea patch, and then to the tomatoes. When they returned to their parents, their little hands each held several beautiful, uniform tomatoes, not including the ones they were munching and enjoying.
You guessed it. These were the chosen tomatoes, and rather than make it to the show, they were chosen by the kids as a snack! By then it was too late, and Mom didn’t say anything about it to the parents…but I remember her standing in the garden later on, looking very saddened as she looked at the tomato plants.
It’s a funny story now…but was very disappointing at the time!
However, the experience carries a lesson. When touring a garden, never pick anything, whether a fruit, flower, veg, or slip, without asking the host gardener first. I probably told you about a garden guest who absently deadheaded some of our plants while we were talking…not realizing that we were waiting for these seeds to dry so that we could save them. Pinch, pinch, and they were gone! So it’s a good lesson to remember—ask first rather than apologize later!
The exhibits take a lot of heart and hard work to reach the ‘display’ stage at the show, so that is why the hort society is so happy to chat with our guests at the show! It makes us happy that you can share the fun and satisfaction of all that effort and energy gathered together in one place.
It was a big day back in 1907, and so it continues today, 118 years later! Please join us, you’ll see a variety of displays, and maybe these displays will give you some ideas of plants or flowers to try next year. The show is always a chance to showcase an educational aspect as well as a social time for gardeners.
Thank you to our friends at YTW for their fine work. Visit the hort society at www.yorktonhort.ca and see you at the show! Have a great week!
