Brantford Garden Club held its 171st annual summer Flower and Garden Show at the Lions Park auditorium on Saturday, July 18, 2026.
Founded in 1852, the club currently has almost 300 members and is one of the oldest horticultural societies in Ontario.
Garden show convenor and past president Carol Sterkenburg said she was thrilled with this year’s entries, noting the number goes up every year.
“This flower and garden show is the largest one that GardenOntario holds in the province, and it’s here in Brantford,” she said. “We had 575 entries last year, and today we have 670 which is just fantastic. It’s been a hot summer, but we’ve had enough rain so it’s really helped the plants, and everything looks great. The arrangements are just beautiful and the specimens are gorgeous.”
With all entries coming from club members, this year’s show featured a variety of annual and perennial plant specimens across 99 different categories.
From flowers to herbs, fruits, vegetables, cactus’ and vines, outdoor planters and houseplants, special exhibits, design categories, and more, the show featured a wide variety of submissions.
“We’ve got all sorts of entries from the garden, as well as our designs, and the theme this year was ‘nature’s paintbox,’” said Sterkenburg. “It always looks like a rainbow of colour in here, so we’ve got categories like ‘pretty in pink,’ ‘sunset hues,’ ‘rays of sunshine,’ ‘it’s easy to be green,’ ‘colours of the rainbow’ and ‘yesterday’s paintbox.’”
To help award the top submissions, the club brought in three judges from the Ontario Judges Council for GardenOntario.
Towards the end of the event, awards were presented for the following:
- Total points across all categories: Cheryl Hewitson placed first, followed by Max Byerlay in second and Heather Kovacik in third.
- Total highest points in design: Irene Heltner
- Total point in specimens: Cheryl Hewitson
- Total points for first time exhibitor: Amanda Williams
- Judge’s choice for design: Irene Heltner
- Best in show – specimens: John Anderson
- President’s choice: Cheryl Hewitson
- Youth winners: Ivor Elliott placed first, followed by Lachlan Hughes in second, Elizabeth Sterkenburg in third, Odin Elliott in fourth and Olivia George in fourth.
- Honourable mentions went to Logan and Madeline Mabey.
When asked about the turnout, Sterkenburg said she and the members were pleased to see that so many people stopped by.
“It’s been really good,” she said with a smile. “It’s been steady ever since we opened the doors at 2 p.m., people have been coming in and out, so we’re happy.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
