The HCP's 2015 AGM was held on Sunday, May 3rd. It was very well attended this year, in part due to the 'Then and Now' display of the HCP's history prepared by Bob Clarke. Ron Cox, Board Chair, provided an overview of the challenges and achievements of 2014, including the obtaining of international botanic garden status, implementation of two plant research partnerships, the installation of a new greenhouse to house the cactus and succulent collection, and the recruitment of Anne Kadwell as College Director and General Manager.

HCP Treasurer, Gordon Gunn, explained the reasons for the financial loss in 2014 and the actions the Board has taken to move to a surplus in 2015.

Three retiring board members, Simon Wade, Brian Russell and Laurie hardy were thanked for their hard work and contribution to the HCP. Seven new board members were elected: Steve Kleinschmidt, Noah Violini, Stephanie Holmes, Ian Duncan, Rob DeGros, Lynn Bastien and Rick Senkler.

Finally, two long-time members and volunteers, Laurie Hardy and Robin Allen, were awarded Life Memberships for their outstanding contributions to the HCP.

We are now into the second week of May and, with the days getting warmer and sunnier, irrigation becomes more and more important. The students have completed an excellent project: installing a complete new irrigation system in the grass garden. This will allow us to make progress renovating the whole area beneath the orchard.

We have had many international visitors to the Garden this last week, having come initially to tour the rhododendrons, but also making many admiring comments about the HCP gardens in general. 

New spring seedlings in the polyhouses have mostly been potted up now and, in the next few weeks, we will be planting out annuals in the garden beds. 

What flowers are looking striking right now? Well, there are oriental poppies, giant blue alliums, and many varieties of columbine. The Solomon's Seals are just finishing, while the Kniphofias are starting and, of course, Camus are everywhere.

There was great excitement at The Gardens on Tuesday, April 28, when a group of Master Gardeners and garden curators placed plant labels in the Hardy Borders. This project, a partnership between the Victoria Master Gardener Association and HCP, began in 2014 when botanical garden status was announced for HCP. 

At that time a dedicated group of MG's and MG's-in-training took on the job of producing plant labels for The Gardens, starting with the Hardy Borders.  Many questions were raised by the group about formatting and placement of plant labels, and time was spent creating a working procedure to facilitate the long- term nature of this project. A good list of plants in the perennial beds was supplied by Diane Pierce and her team of gardeners.

All plants on the list (over 250) were verified for spelling and correct botanical nomenclature. Only then did work begin in earnest, and the last sunny Tuesday of April saw them go into the garden beds.The MG Team is looking forward to beginning work on the Takata Japanese Garden next - and looking forward to another celebration when that is completed!