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Coming up in 2026

May 20th – The Benefits of Volunteering in Invasive Species Containment with Caitlin Stall-Paquet, a Montreal-based award-winning writer, editor and occasional forest dweller

In a society where landscapes are changing rapidly due to climate change, and biodiversity-related projects are underfunded, citizen participation is a necessity that also carries many benefits for participants. Join us to learn more about invasives on Mount Royal, citizen science, and a day spent volunteering at our famed mountain in the city to help rid it of invasive species.

As always, members attend free of charge and non-members can attend for $5 (payable in cash at the door). For meeting location details, please see our meeting info page.

PAST PRESENTATIONS and EVENTS

April 15th - A Real “Stones” Tour: An Exploration of Some of Montreal’s Historic Rocks and Landscapes with Ingrid Birker

Ms. Birker’s intriguing presentation this evening built on the fascinating assortment of flora, rocks and architectural delights of many of Montreal’s proudest parks and heritage areas, including Sherbrooke Street. Not to be missed if one is a lover of Montreal’s abundant and rich ecological heritage. See her presentation here: WEHS April 15 26 Stories in Stone-Birker.

March 18th - A Few Acres of Snow: A Natural History of New France

With Bruno Paul Stenson, a social historian and professional lecturer since 1984, we learned about the plants, animals, geology and climate of New France. Topics included a fern used to make hair tonic at a time when everyone wore a wig or bonnet, why grapes were not made into wine, and, of course, the beaver... which was a type of fish!

February 18, 2026 – Gardening in a Changing Climate

Dr. Christie Lovat showed us what we can expect from local weather in the near future and how to proactively protect our gardens from the effects of climate change. To see helpful techniques you can easily implement in your garden, in spite of a changing climate - click on the link: Gardening and Climate Change.

September 2025 – Plant-Insect Interactions: How Plants Protect Themselves & How Insects Circumvent Those Defenses
Dr. Jacqueline Bede, Ph. D. from McGill University’s Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences delivered a captivating presentation on how plants protect themselves (particularly chemically) in order to fend off insects and how insects (namely caterpillars) subvert those defences.

June 2025 – Attracting Feathered Friends to Our Gardens & the Important Benefits of Having Birds Make Their Homes Amongst Us with Elise Laferriere
Ms. Laferriere, the Education Coordinator at Le Nichoir Bird Rehabilitation Centre in Hudson (www.lenichoir.org), revealed how birds help our gardens in a myriad of ways and how we can help our feathered friends. Click to learn more about Keystone Native Plants and Plants for Birds.

May 17, 2025 (SATURDAY) – Annual Perennial Sale

April 2025 – Foraging Plants for Food & Medicine at McGill University

Ms. Indrid Birker shared her enthusiasm for foraging plants for food and medicine on the campus of McGill University. You will find a downloadable interactive map here so that you’ll have everything you need to embark on your own foraging excursion.

October 2024: Intriguing Air Plants with Sheena Swirlz
Ms. Swirlz, Coordinator of Urban Homesteading Montreal and the Balcony Garden Project gave a fascinating demonstration on how to include soil-less plants in your indoor garden and shared best practices on growing and maintaining low-maintenance plants. See Sheena's presentation by clicking on the link: Sheena Swirlz-Tillandsia presentation.

May 15th: An Evening of Member Sharing: A Wealth of Horticultural Knowledge facilitated by Member-At-Large, John Warren
All present left much richer in horticultural knowledge and more prepared for the gardening season ahead.

May 18th (SATURDAY): Annual Perennial Sale
in front of Jean Coutu Pharmacy, 6224 Somerled Ave. in N.D.G. Donations of perennials (by members & non-members) were greatly appreciated.

April 2024: Illustrated Herbals & the History of the Osler Library of the History of Medicine, McGill University with Dr. Mary Hague-Yearl

We enjoyed a remarkable presentation of this impressive library’s works on medicinal plants, herbals and more, along with an overview of the history of the Osler Library. Dr Hague-Yearl also brought several non-rare books on illustrated herbals and Canadian medicinal plants.

February 2024: The Wonder of Weeds with Monica Giacomin

A wild patch of goldenrod, mullein or yarrow adds a beautiful splash of colour and texture to your garden as they invite an array of pollinators to enhance your blooms. We learned how to identify, grow, harvest and transform a variety of wild plants, commonly referred to as weeds, into nourishment and herbal medicine. See Monica's presentation by clicking on the link: WEHS Wonder of Weeds Feb 2024

November 2023: Holiday Floral Arrangements: Learn How to Create Your Own

Professional Florist Elvira Louka of Elvira Design. Ms. Louka returned with a whole new slate of holiday floral arrangements and demonstrated how you to recreate them at home.

We also announced the winners of this year's Photography Contest and displayed all the entries.

October 2023: Fossil Plants from the Lower St. Lawrence

Ingrid Birker, Alumna, Redpath Museum Public Education Program (McGill University) gave a fascinating presentation about the palaeobotanical evolution of eastern Canada. She showed us how ancient fossils have been used by ecologists to reconstruct entire plant species, their evolutionary histories and past environments.

You can view or re-view her presentation here Fossil plants wehs oct 18 2023

April 2023: Climbing Plants for Home and Garden

Dr. Christie Lovit, PhD, from McGill's Bieler School of Environment, gave a great overview of the different types of climbers, how they evolved, what each type is best or least suited for, and a sampling of her favorite climbing houseplants, annuals and perennials.

You can view or re-view her presentation here climbing-plants-2023.pdf. We could not include the great video showing how tendril climbers do their thing in the .pdf version, but you can see something similar on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/WDlSq-QnjFo

March 2023: Plant a Pollinator Garden

Reiko Kobayashi, Environment Technician for the Town of Montreal West, gave an enlightening presentation on pollinator-friendly gardening, with a special focus on Monarch butterflies and how we can all help to increase their numbers. For those who would like to take a closer look and those who could not attend, you can view Reiko's presentation here: 2023 03 pollinator garden wehs.

February 2023: Falaise St-Jacques

Lisa Mintz, co-founder of Sauvons La Falaise! and executive director of Urbanature, gave a very interesting presentation on the ecological and political history of the Falaise, the current situation and future plans which would link the Falaise to other greenspaces around the island of Montreal. You can get more information about the Falaise at https://www.sauvonslafalaise.org/

You can follow Lisa Mintz's activities around outdoor and environmental education at /https://www.urbanature.org/.