South Shore District Winners

Because of a communication error, incorrect information appeared in the last blog on this site. The actual winner of "Best in Show", in the photography contest held at the time of the NSAGC's annual convention, was Brenda Hiltz, an active member of both the Basin Gardeners (a garden club in the neighbouring community of Chester Basin) and the Bridgewater Garden Club. Brenda is also the NSAGC's Director for District 6, which is comprised of nine garden clubs on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. A copy of her photo, a delicate image of a calla lily in the fog, is reproduced below.


Myra Knight, a member of both the Basin Gardeners and the Chester Garden Club over more than 15 years, was honoured as the recipient of the Outstanding Gardener of the Year Award for the South Shore District. Charles Berry, Vice-Chair of the NSAGC board, made the presentation.
In nominating Myra, the Basin Gardeners highlighted her work on the executives of both clubs and her work in the community as the chief organizer of garden tours in the Chester area, a founder of the Basin Floral Arts Show, a volunteer who regularly supplies table arrangements for various local organizations, and a keen competitor in floral arranging and as well as floral photography contests. Her skill at creating floral arrangements/compositions has earned her the award of Best in Show at many garden club competitions in Nova Scotia. She has even competed long distance, earning first-place in a mail-in category for a dried floral picture in a competition at Canada Blooms, in Toronto. As a graduate of the NSAGC Judging School, Myra also judges several shows each year.

Myra's gardening skills have been honed over many years of study and practical experience. She favours an organic approach, feeding the soil in her garden with seaweed, leaf mould and compost. Her garden includes a wide variety of annuals, biennials, and herbaceous perennials. Among those plants are 110 registered Haemerocallis cultivars, more than 25 rose cultivars and many flowering shrubs and unusual trees, some of which have been grown from seed. Myra's knowledge and love of gardening has been a great asset to both experienced and novice gardeners in the Chester area.