Gardening For Butterflies, Caterpillars and Their Host Plants Diane Lucas, Botanical Artist and Illustrator This presentation discusses 18 butterflies common to Nova Scotia, their larval host plants, their adult diet, and how we can create their needed habitat in our gardens and parks. Each species of butterfly is illustrated with its caterpillars and their host...Read more >

Annual Captain Dick Steele Lecture Native Trials of Hardy Perennials at Mt. Cuba Sam Hoadley, Mt. Cuba Center, Delaware Mt. Cuba research team evaluates native plants and related cultivars for horticultural and ecological value, highlighting the ecosystem services native plants provide. Sam Hoadley will present on the latest trails and the extensive information available through...Read more >

Some New Plants and Fresh Ideas Bob Howard, former ARHS Director of Programs and Landscape Gardener This talk will highlight three ideas for fresh plantings: blue flowers and foliage, some plants for late summer and fall, and the importance of patience in giving plants time to develop their character. Long-time member Bob Howard, a retired...Read more >

Winter Social & Annual Members Photos, Gardens, and Garden Tours Choose the six best photos from this year’s blossoms, your garden or gardens you have visited.  We must limit the number of photos from each person to allow for all to contribute.  The meeting will be followed by our winter social.  Please bring nibblies to...Read more >

Roslyn Duffus,   “Interesting Plants” Come  and join us for a presentation by Roslyn Duffus of photos of her most rare and unusual plants.  Roslyn Duffus, President  of the Nova Scotia Rock Garden Club,  is a long  time ARHS member. Join us at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History or by Zoom.  The Zoom link...Read more >

Native Azaleas, Tara Spears, Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens Tara Spears is the Curatorial Assistant at Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens and works closely with their Nationally Accredited Rhododendron Collections. She is also a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania where she studies Environmental Science, and is conducting research with Rhododendron smokianum, a newly described species of Rhododendron...Read more >

Namaqualand Superbloom A few times each century the  wild flowers of Namaqualand South Africa, experience a “SuperBloom.”  Our ARHS rhodo gardener and landscape photographer Freeman Patterson received a phone call in June 2023 that it had been a wet winter in Namaqualand and a SuperBloom was immanent.  A few weeks later he was on a...Read more >

Chair Jim Sharpe, Panel Members  Anita Jackson and Nina Newington Interested in native  plants, pollinator gardens and meadow gardens? This panel will present  the experience  of ARHS horticulturalists  with  naturalization strategies  for transforming  gardens to include native plants,  pollinating insects  and self-sustaining meadows.  Anita Jackson  and  Nina  Newington  are ARHS members  and garden designers who have...Read more >

Tuesday, September  3    7:30  - 9:00  pm   A rhododendron is a plant for all seasons. It is one of the few broad leaf evergreens adapted to our winter climate and soils. The combination of showy spring flowers and evergreen leaves makes it an asset in garden design. Ruth Jackson was president of the ARHS for...Read more >

2024  Captain Steele Lecture Climate Change and  the Future of Gardening: Richard  Zurawski and Sarah  Rutherford Sunday,  October  6,   2:00  -   4:30 pm  Join us for a  discussion  on the  science of  climate change and the future of gardening.   Richard  Zurawski, meteorologist and  science writer, will  review  the science and  impact of climate change on...Read more >

The Arts and Crafts Garden with Dr. Sarah Rutherford Monday, October   7,  7:30 -9:00  pm The Arts and Crafts movement of the late nineteenth and early  twentieth century had significant impact on garden design, both in England and around the world.  Sarah has published a book on Arts and Crafts Gardens with the Shire Library...Read more >

Emerging Trends for Rhododendrons” ARS Convention in Wolfville, NS Tuesday, November 5,  7:30 -  9:00 pm   The ARHS  is organizing the American Rhododendron Society (ARS) Annual Spring Convention  in Wolfville, Nova Scotia  from Thursday June 5  to Sunday June 8, 2025.  Come and hear about the convention program, the keynote speakers and rhododendron experts who...Read more >

Annual Garden Slides and Seasonal Reception Tuesday, December 3,  7:30 – 9:00 pm Join us to share images from your garden, a garden that you have visited recently or rare and unusual plants or Rhodos which  you have grown.  We  ask  that each member limit their presentation to seven images, so that all who wish...Read more >

  By Zoom only Since 2005 internationally renowned landscape photographer Freeman Patterson has planted over 2100 Rhododendrons and Azaleas at his home on Shamper’s Bluff, Kingston, New Brunswick. Fifty members from ARHS were able to visit last year on June 10, during the peak bloom period. Freeman will describe his unique woodland garden and his...Read more >

This talk will explore: the biology of the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica), factors underpinning its recent success within Atlantic Canada, and review evidence for non-chemical control options. Paul Manning is an Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University. His research explores the importance of insect biodiversity to the health of ecosystems. Presentation is by Zoom only.  The...Read more >

Tuesday, March 4, 7:30 – 9:00 pm Sharon Bryson lives  at Willow Garden, Maryvale Road, Antigonish County, where she  has an extensive collection of Rhododendrons and Azaleas that she and her  late husband, Bill Wilgenhof,   grew from seed. (see https://www.willowgarden.net/).  Sharon  will share  her experience of growing Rhodos  in one of the coldest parts of...Read more >

For March 2025, the Atlantic Association  of Landscape Designers has organized a tour of the gardens of South West England.  The presentation will feature pictures of some of the gardens and plants  from this tour which includes  eight of the “Great Gardens of Cornwall” and Lionel de Rothschild’s  Exbury Garden. Nova Scotia Museum of Natural...Read more >

ARHS MEMBER TO MEMBER SALE 2025 The ARHS Member to Member Sale will take place at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 at  7:30 pm. We will be joined by ARHS members: Insigne Gardens, Arnold Cameron, Christopher Hopgood and Beatrice Milner who will be selling a variety of plants,...Read more >

Wolfville, Nova Scotia Join us in Nova Scotia, Canada for the American Rhododendron  Society Convention, “Emerging  Trends for Rhododendrons” in Wolfville, a town known for its beauty, food and gardens. Take advantage of this exciting opportunity to learn about growing, breeding and gardening with rhododendrons.  The 2025 American Rhododendron Society Spring Convention will be offering presentations, plant sale, garden tours,...Read more >

In June 2025, the ARHS hosted the  American Rhododendron Society  Convention, the first spring  ARS Convention  in  eastern  Canada. To commemorate this event the  Public Gardens planted a carpet bed based on the ARS  2025 logo in the south east part of the  gardens near the rhododendron collection.  On Tuesday, September 2nd come  and view  the...Read more >