Take a break from winter to spend the day with fellow gardeners and learn some new skills for the 2023 growing season

The day includes guest presentations, a mini-trade show featuring local horticulture businesses, a delicious lunch, and door prizes. Register and have 3 chances to win a copy of the Sangudo Horticultural Club Cookbook. Free garden seed packages from A’Bunadh Seeds for the first 75 people registered. Hosted by Sangudo & District Horticultural Club in partnership with Lac Ste. Anne County. Cherhill is 10 minutes east of Sangudo, about 1 hour west of Edmonton, in Alberta. Join our members to celebrate the Hort Club's 40th anniversary!

Date: Saturday, January 28, 2023
Time: 9:00AM (doors open)-3:00PM
Location: Cherhill Community Hall, in Lac Ste. Anne County
Cost: $35.00, includes coffee break and catered lunch 
Register by: e-transfer to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Registration deadline: January 19, 2023

Cherhill Hall is at 56102 Range Road 53, turn south off Highway 43 at Range Road 53- watch for the signs. 

Feature Presentations

The Modern Peony: Cultivating Beauty and Unlocking Landscape Utility. Nick Maycher (in person)

Nick will share so many good reasons to grow peonies and discuss their basic growing requirements, setting up attendees for success in peony gardening. A brief summary of the five different peony groups will show how this deeper understanding of peonies gives us agency over our growing experience and allows us to tackle peony challenges and misconceptions. Part of this presentation is dedicated to suggested cultivars for a wide application of settings: building a staggered bloom sequence, short cultivars for rock gardens and the front of borders, and best landscapers — peonies that stand up and stand out. Finally, we will discuss an exciting topic that will be uncharted waters for many gardeners — the joy of growing peonies from seed. This is an extremely worthwhile activity that is seldom explored, as common knowledge dictates that we deadhead peonies after bloom. 

The Amazing World of Succulents Elaine Rude (presentation via Zoom)  

Succulents are an amazing group of plants that grow on every continent except Antarctica.  Adapted to growing in some of the driest and most inhospitable parts of the world they are well suited to drought tolerant landscapes.  Hardy species thrive in challenging areas of our gardens with minimal care while tender species make great outdoor container arrangements and transition well to spending the winter indoors.  With their amazing array of colours, shapes, and textures every garden should include some of these gems. 

Our Presenters

Nick Maycher, Prairie Peonies, Edmonton. Nick planted his first peony in his early twenties and has been growing them with an all-consuming passion ever since. His images and words have been featured in several national and international peony publications and vendor catalogues, and his volunteer activities include serving on the board of directors of the Canadian and American Peony Societies and providing educational programing to the Edmonton Horticultural Society, University of Alberta Botanic Garden, and local garden clubs and centres.  

Nick’s passion project is the Prairie Peonies Display Garden, a garden with 150 carefully curated peony cultivars all grown on a very accessible city plot in west Edmonton. Nick’s collection celebrates the rich and diverse history of peonies and contains historic heirlooms, fragrant wonders, award winners, Canadian hybrids, best landscapers, and cutting-edge new introductions, many of which cannot be found in other gardens in Canada. A new feature in Nick’s garden is a seedling bed, which contains seedlings produced by his own hand-pollinated crosses. Nick would like to extend a warm invitation to all who attend the workshop to visit the garden when it is in bloom. 

Elaine Rude, Paintbrush Garden Design and Consulting. Elaine wears many hats: she is a master gardener, garden designer/consultant, volunteer, educator, and a writer.  But most of all, she is passionate about plants.  She enjoys sharing her experiences and knowledge with other gardeners through classes and workshops.  Along with her husband and two sons she lives on four acres NW of Calgary growing vegetables, fruit, numerous perennials, shrubs, and trees.   With limited water resources Elaine has leaned more towards drought tolerant plantings.  As a result she has eagerly dived down the succulent rabbit hole.  She currently has an extensive collection of hardy and tender species and is always on the lookout for more.    

More Information

• www.ABHortA.ca for updates, presentation details, & speaker bios                    
• find us on Facebook 
• This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
• call Carolyn (780) 674-4913 or Heather (780) 674-1575