The Chateauguay Valley is a mainly agricultural and touristic region located about an hour southwest of Montreal, Quebec in Canada, and less than an hour from the U.S. border. We are definitely a rural community and rich in history, many farms first having been cleared and farmhouses built early in the nineteenth century, and some earlier. Today we are known for maple products, apple orchards, and fine dairy cattle, as well as corn, forage and cash crops. The land in this peaceful place is flat or gently hilly, the sedimentary soil is (at its best) a rich clay loam, although many fields are peppered and imbedded with glacial moraine, a never-ending challenge to farmers (and gardeners!). The Chateauguay River, originating in New York state, winds gently through our farmlands and past our towns. Summers can be hot, winters can be cold and windy with our exposed flat fields. We usually get good snow cover, our hardiness zone is 4b(-29C). This is where we garden, this is home! The Chateauguay Valley Garden Club celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2011! Currently we have a membership exceeding 100 gardeners from southwest Quebec, covering communities from Hemmingford, along the American border to Dundee, Huntingdon, St-Anicet, and back along the riverside towns and farmlands to Chateauguay, Quebec. Although our geographical area is large, we remain a country garden club, with an emphasis on learning, sharing and having fun. Gardening is a passion with us and we would like to share it with you. Browse through our pages, we hope to inspire you as you work and play in your own personal plant space. Join us in the search for the “perfect garden”, remembering that what is important is not the destination, but rather the journey along the way! You may have noticed that we have a “memorial iris” in the upper left hand corner of the page. We have selected the reblooming iris “Immortality” to be the logo of the CVGC as a salute to the late Sheryl Morningstar Murphy, in recognition of her vision and tenacity in founding the club. Irises were Sheryl’s favorite flowers.