VHS has earned right to be extremely proud of its 100-year history

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On Oct. 5, the Victoria Horticultural Society (VHS) celebrated its 100th anniversary, which in the world of gardening, is a major accomplishment.

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It’s, by far, the oldest continuously operating gardening group on Vancouver Island, and it has played a significant role in the advancement of horticulture and gardening in Canada’s most-moderate growing climate.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Mike McHugh, president of VHS, about the many highlights of this remarkable association.

Well before VHS’s inception, there was a garden group affiliated with the Royal Horticulture Society (RHS) in Britain. Victoria’s British Colonist newspaper, founded in 1858 by Amor De Cosmos, not only reported on the Cariboo Gold Rush — big news at the time — and advocated for B.C. to join the Canadian confederation, but it was also a strong supporter of this gardening community and its many activities. This early group of gardeners disbanded in 1914 as the First World War began.

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By 1921, a number of gardening folks came together to form the Victoria Cottage Gardeners Mutual Improvement Association. This somewhat awkward name was changed the next year to the Victoria and District Gardeners Association, and finally, in 1927, it became the Victoria Horticultural Society. In 1928, it resumed its affiliation with the RHS. By 1930, the membership numbered about 500 and the dues were $1 per year.

For the times, I think their constitutional objectives were visionary:

• To collect and diffuse information on all topics relating to horticulture;

• To stimulate the knowledge and love of horticulture; and

• To co-operate and/or affiliate with other horticultural organizations.

Reflecting their motto — Show what you grow. Share what you know — the VHS strongly influenced the growth of gardening on the Island and well beyond. The first 20 years were focused on community teaching and garden involvement. They provided qualified judges for numerous shows and events, and introduced many new plants to B.C.’s gardening communities.

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McHugh mentioned that one of the early innovative ideas was their monthly newsletter. Well-known nurseryman Horace Whiteoak was an excellent first editor who wrote under the pseudonym Quercus Alba, which is the botanical name for a white oak tree. Initially, the newsletter was called Garden Hints; later the name was changed to Garden Notes and today, it’s called Gardenry. The newsletter is sent to all VHS members to provide great information on what should be done in the garden each month. It covers everything from planting and pruning to dividing perennials and harvesting crops.

Whiteoak died in 1938, leaving quite a void in the society, but in his memory the Horace Whiteoak Trophy is presented annually to the person who did the most to improve the standard of gardening in the Victoria region.

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Back in the early days, some VHS members had substantial home gardens, and these gardens were used very effectively to raise funds. Organized visits to private gardens was very leading-edge at the time. They were even promoted as a tourism draw for Victoria. These events were the forerunners of today’s extremely popular garden tours.

Beginning in 1924 and continuing well into the 1990s, the signature VHS events were its flower and vegetable shows. For many years, there were up to five shows annually, featuring a range of plants from early spring flowers and shrubs to spectacular displays of chrysanthemums in late fall. These well-attended shows became part of the fabric of early tourism events in Victoria.

By 1931, the VHS had established Victoria’s bragging rights for having the most moderate climate in the country. To enhance Victoria’s reputation as the City of Flowers, the VHS called upon its members to count all the plants blooming in their January gardens. They reported that 56 different bulbs, trees and perennials were blooming. I’m sure that result both amazed and annoyed the rest of the country, as it still does today.

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Although not widely known, the VHS started a number of study groups — the judges’ group, the fruit and vegetable group, the hardy plant group, the native plant group, the new gardener group, the organic gardener group and the rose group — to better reflect the changing needs of both their members and the public. To the credit of VHS, many of these groups have become associations of their own.

A number of gardens and organizations were also initiated or funded by the VHS. The Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, the Abkhazi Gardens and the rehabilitation of the gardens at Government House have benefited from VHS’s support. VHS has also provided many grants to community gardens and school gardening projects, such as Reynolds High School for the development of an educational pollinator program.

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In B.C., women have played an important role in horticulture, and in 1934, for the first time, the VHS elected two women to hold executive positions. In 1962, Ena McCabe became its first female president, later followed by well-known garden media star Doris Page. Her TV program, Island Country Garden, ran for over 18 years, during which time Page invited numerous VHS members on the show for their expertise. At age 29, Christine Cheveldave of Van Dusen Garden fame served as the youngest VHS president.

The VHS has earned the right to be extremely proud of its 100-year history. We congratulate them on their many achievements and wish them every success as they continue to flourish and carry the gardening torch into the future.