Perhaps it is raindrops creating a waterfall effect on a native plant such as prairie smoke (Geum triforem). Or observing a hummingbird darting about your garden. Or, if you are lucky, watching a monarch butterfly landing on a patch of milkweed. Maybe it is enjoying that first tomato sandwich freshly picked from your garden. Or picking basil to make some pesto. Or watching fireflies at night and a solo bat swooping down to eat mosquitoes.

Our OHS programs provide a variety of garden topics. We know that society members have different garden interests. We hope that the presentations this year will be interesting, fun, and informative. Our goal is stimulate you to recognize and seize those opportunities to create more special moments in your garden.

We hope this year’s programs help you discover even more meaningful moments in your own garden.

Online Presentation

Presenter: Cathy Kavassalis
Master Gardener (Halton Region); conservationist; doctoral work at M.I.T.; master’s in environmental education from the University of Toronto; member of the Board of Directors for the Royal Botanical Gardens; co‑founder of the Canadian Coalition for Invasive Plant Regulation.

Speaker Profile
Cathy Kavassalis is a Master Gardener, environmental educator, and co-founder of the Canadian Coalition for Invasive Plant Regulation. She is passionate about helping gardeners understand how their plant choices shape the health of local ecosystems. Through her work with Master Gardeners, public gardens, municipalities, and environmental organizations, Cathy promotes science-based gardening practices that support biodiversity, ecological resilience, and sustainable communities. In her presentations, she combines practical horticultural knowledge with a deep appreciation for the interconnected relationships between plants, insects, wildlife, and people, inspiring gardeners to create landscapes that are both beautiful and beneficial.

Beyond Pretty: Gardens That Matter
Beautiful gardens lift our spirits, but they can do so much more. Every garden, no matter its size, can provide food, support pollinators and birds, build healthy soil, and strengthen the living systems we all depend on.

In this inspiring and practical talk, you’ll discover how small design choices can turn your space into a vibrant, productive landscape that gives back. Learn how fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers can work together to feed your household while also nourishing beneficial insects, improving soil life, and creating habitat. You’ll see how thoughtful plant choices help gardens become more resilient to drought, heat, and heavy rain, while remaining beautiful and enjoyable.

You don’t need more space, more time, or more work. You just need a shift in perspective. Whether you grow food on a balcony, in raised beds, or in a backyard, you’ll leave with simple, achievable ideas to make your garden more abundant, more resilient, and more connected to the natural world.

Because a truly great garden doesn’t just look good — it does good.

Online Presentation

Presenter: Stephen Biggs

Speaker Profile: 
Recognized by Garden Making magazine as one of the “green gang” of Canadians making a difference in horticulture, Steven’s passion is helping people grow food. His own garden experiments include driveway straw-bale gardens, rooftop kitchen gardens, wicking beds, and an edible-themed front yard. In his work as a horticulturist, horticulture instructor, broadcaster, and author, he helps people take a creative approach to gardening so that it suits their setup and needs. Steven produces and hosts The Food Garden Life Podcast and runs the foodgardenlife.com gardening website.

Gardening with Edible Crops in Home Gardens
Get ideas to create an edible garden that looks great, is productive, and suits your space. You can grow fruit, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers in small spaces including containers, patios, driveways and small yards. Find out top crops, top tips and practical methods for home growing.

Online Presentation

Presenter:  Mary Reid
Owner, Green Thumb Garden Centre / Certified Landscape Horticulturalist Manager / Master Gardener of Ottawa-Carleton

Speaker Profile:
From teacher to banker to garden centre owner, Mary Shearman Reid for the past almost thirty years finds herself at Green Thumb Garden Centre (SE of Merivale and Hunt Club off Bongard).  Mary grew up in a family of gardeners, worked as a gardener during her summers at university, and tries to find time to garden at home.  She uses those practical skills and knowledge as well as her business and retail skills at Green Thumb.  Mary is a member of Landscape Ontario, a CLHM (Certified Landscape Horticulturist Manager) and volunteers as a Master Gardener.  Mary enjoys teaching for the local school boards, and speaking to garden clubs, horticultural societies and filling in on the Ontario Today gardening show.

Fruits and Berries for Urban Gardeners
While it’s not quite your orchard, but your garden could be a pick-your-own berry farm.  True enough, urban gardeners typically don’t have a lot of land, but they shouldn’t rule out trying to grow some fruit trees and berry bushes.  This talk will explore different kinds of fruit trees and berry bushes that we can safely grow in Ottawa. You will learn some tips on planting and ways to increase your harvest. Included too will be details on varieties of fruits and berries that each have their benefits for our zone.

In-Person Presentation

Presenter: Lynne Patenaude
Habitat Gardener & Community Scientist

Speaker Profile
Lynne Patenaude has been gardening for decades, and after retiring in 2020 began to learn more about the amazing diversity of wildlife that visit gardens that include native plants. She studied mechanical engineering and worked as an environmental engineer for 30 years for the federal government on air pollutants, greenhouse gases and chemicals. Since retirement she has become a keen amateur naturalist, making observations of plants, insects and other wildlife while walking, cycling and paddling around the region.

Lynne enjoys the wonderful communities who she volunteers with at Ottawa South Eco-Action Network, Friends of Riverview Park Green Spaces, and Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library. She is a certified Tree Seed Collector with Forest Gene Conservation Association, and a Pollinator Steward with Pollinator Partnership Canada. Lynne participates in the several Community Science programs such as Butterflies in my Backyard through the David Suzuki Foundation. With other volunteers at Ottawa South Eco-Action Network, she has grown thousands of native seedlings for Pollinator Patch kits as a Butterflyway Ranger in the last four years helping to build pollinator corridors through Ottawa South and at community gardens across the city.

Using iNaturalist to learn about biodiversity and contribute to conservation

Community science programs like iNaturalist help ordinary people discover more about the natural world, contribute to scientific knowledge and help to conserve species, all while building community.

Over a million species are threatened with extinction this century.  Two things we need to address this challenge are (1) more people who care about, advocate for, and take action for nature and (2) more information about where species are to help guide conservation. Community science projects encourage us to better understand the wildlife that visit our gardens, parks and green spaces. There are many ways to participate: taking photos in your neighbourhood, joining a local naturalist group on a butterfly count, documenting species in local green spaces, learning about and helping others to identify species from a home computer.

This talk will: help you learn how to use the iNaturalist app and website, provide tips on taking the best photos so species can be identified, and ways to protect privacy. Discover how community science data are being used to help track where species live, when they are active and what their preferred food sources are.  Hear about some Canadian projects like David Suzuki Foundation’s Butterflies in my Backyard, Canadian Wildlife Federation Bioblitzes and tracking of invasive species.

In-Person Presentation

Presenter: First Name, Cindy Cluett
Owner, Beyond the House Nursery and Gift Shop

Garden Centre Ottawa | Beyond the House

Speaker Profile
Cindy has worked in the horticulture industry for over 30 years.  She earned a degree in Business, worked in IT for 10 years, but then found her true passion while studying horticulture at Algonquin College in her early thirties.  While her 3 children were young, she ran a local Home Hardware Garden Centre.  From there, Beyond the House Garden Centre was created as she developed a loyal clientele and business doing landscape design, garden installations and maintenance.  The combination of design and installation, as well as being able to source her own products through the garden centre, provided her with a unique ability to truly understand the growth habits of many plants.  Beyond the House Garden Centre has grown to be a destination garden centre for many in the Ottawa area.

In-Person Presentation

Presenter: Nicole Nolan
ISA Certified Arborist and Wildlife Ecologist

Speaker Profile
With a decade of experience as an environmental consultant and urban forester across Eastern Ontario, she holds a diploma in Fish and Wildlife Technology from Fleming College and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in the Davy Lab at Carleton University, where her research focuses on bat distribution and phenology to inform effective mitigation and habitat management. Nicole is passionate about exploring the urban forest as habitat and is an avid native plant gardener and seed collector.

Nocturnal Neighbours: Gardening for Bats
Wildlife gardens are often designed to support birds, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. But what about the wildlife that comes out after dark?

In-Person Presentation

Presenter: Catherine Disley
Graduate of Algonquin College Horticulture and Landscaping Program

Speaker Profile
Over the past forty years, she has worked in a variety of horticultural industries including many years with some of Ottawa’s premier florists. Drawing on her floral design background, she creates live container arrangements combining interesting flowers and foliage. She grows and gathers species for decorating her home.

Catherine has been a member of Master Gardeners of Ottawa Carleton (MGOC) for over 18 years and enjoys providing gardening advice and floral demonstrations. She promotes the use of native plants and sustainable gardening practices.

Fabulous Fall Florals
In this demonstration, you will learn easy ways to make your front porch inviting and enhance your home's curb appeal. From porch planters and door décor, we’ll move inside and create festive table arrangements that give grapevine a new twist and see how vintage china can be used in new ways.

In-Person Presentation

Presenter: Barbara Brown
Photo-based visual artist, eco-artist, certified horticultural therapist, and labyrinth facilitator.

Barbara Brown Gallery

Speaker Profile:
Barbara Brown trained in visual arts at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University and completed her graduate work at Manchester Metropolitan University, in England and the School of Photographic Arts Ottawa. She has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally, most recently in Faith Fyles: In Full Bloom at the Ottawa Art Gallery, Terroir: belonging to place at the Ottawa School of Art and LifeCycle Conversations, a collaboration with sculptor Cynthia O’Brien at Karsh-Masson Gallery, Ottawa and Minden, Ontario. She undertook month long residencies at Kingsbrae in St. Andrew’s, New Brunswick, and Mauser EcoHouse in Costa Rica. She participated in the International Artistic Residency Kala Chaupal in India where she collaborated with fellow artists to create Matka: A Portrait of Traditional Water Carriers.

Brown’s current work is photo-based and explores the intersection of place and identity through plant materials and human activity as a visual meditation in and about the landscape. Her current project, Sowing the Future: When Food Becomes Connection, explores the relationship between people, land and food by centering women and equity deserving farmers working in regenerative and sustainable farming practices in the Ottawa area. Most recently she has engaged in a collaboration with a field and a handful of heritage Maize seeds in a hyper local project that re-imagines the ancient connection between plants and humans through the act of cultivation.

Sowing the Future: When Food Becomes Connection
At its heart, Sowing the Future: When Food Becomes Connection asks a simple question: How might reconnecting with the land help us reconnect with our food? Through shared stories, creative practice, and hands in the soil, together we are discovering that agriculture is not only about growing food—it is also about cultivating culture, community, and hope.

The project began in 2022 as a collaboration with painter and organic farmer Jess Weatherhead, poet Diane Perazzo, and photo-based artist Barbara Brown. Together, they created portraits and stories of women farmers in the Ottawa–Outaouais region. Together, they wanted to challenge the familiar image of who farms by celebrating the diversity of people cultivating the land through sustainable and regenerative practices.

Working alongside farmers, planting heritage maize, and learning from a traditional seed guardian has transformed the project into one rooted in participation, reciprocity, and care.

2026 marked an exciting new chapter for this project.  With the support of Tess and Maggie of Good Care Farm, Barbara intended a traditional polyculture of maize, beans, and squash, and invited artists and community members into the field through workshops, creative activities, and shared learning. The field became a place where growing food and making art happen side by side.