Our History

 

Ten years later, in the 1880s, John Motz, a publisher and sheriff, became the first president of a horticultural society for an adult group of citizens in Berlin. After a rise and fall, the Society was reorganized in 1910. On December 12, 1910 the first meeting of the Berlin (Kitchener) Horticultural Society was formally organized under the provisions of the Horticultural Societies Act. The officers were S.J. Williams, H.L. Janzen, and George DeKleinhans.

An excerpt from the book, “The 1914 Look: Landscapes and Gardens of Waterloo County” by George Bechtel paints an excellent picture of these early years (pages 143 – 146):

 

“To understand the activities of a horticultural society, we can look at some excerpts taken from the Minutes of the Board of the Berlin Horticultural Society in 1911. It should be noted that although the Junior Horticultural Society was formed in 1872 and a Berlin Horticultural Society in 1882, the date given for the formation of the present Kitchener Horticulture Society is 1910, so 1911 was the first year of its operation.

 

…In the spring of 1911 the secretary of the Berlin Horticulture Society was requested to write to all manufacturers, banks, and others in reference to flower window boxes and the beautifying of their premises. The secretary was also to write to  the Grand Trunk Railway about their lawns. The Berlin group conducted a lawn and boulevard competition with separate classes for citizens employing help in the making and keeping of lawns and boulevards, as well as for citizens who cared for their grounds themselves. There was also a competition for flower beds and window boxes. In the fall of 1914, the Berlin Society had a school children’s competition and a list of prize winners contained twenty-five winners. The accounts for the Berlin Society for 1914 showed the following,

 

Prizes at Exhibition: $483

Prize Lawn and Gardens $96

Premiums $151 (Premiums for 1915 increased to $213)

 

Gordon C. Eby’s Dairy sheds some light on the activity of the Berlin Horticultural Society. For September 27, 1913, Gordon Wrote, “Years ago, Dad used to show vegetables etc. but this is the first time we are showing since I can remember.” Two days later, Gordon wrote, “We got sixteen prizes in all ($25.25). Isidore Snyder visited a Horticultural show in Berlin in the late summer of 1883. His only comment in his diary is “very good”. So we see that horticultural shows were held in Berlin in the 1800s and probably were revived with the new Horticultural Society of 1910…

 

Although the Hespeler Horticultural Society is described more fully in another section of this report, it is worth noting here that the Account Journal of the Hespeler Horticultural Society showed that the Berlin Band was paid $26.00 to attend the Hespeler Flower Show in 1889, and that Berlin horticulturalist H.L. Janzen won $29.10 in prizes at the 1890 Hespeler Flower Show…”

 

The “Golden Period” of the Society began in 1924 under the presidency of J. Albert Smith (alderman, mayor and MLA) and the vice-presidency of Charles H. Janzen. The Society adopted the slogan “Community Beauty a Civic Duty” submitted by E. F. Donohoe. According to the book, “A History of the Kitchener Horticultural Society”, in 1925 the organization became, “Kitchener’s largest civic service group and one of the most active, aggressive, and strongest in Canada.”

 

 

KHS Flower Show – 1928

 

At this time, the Society was acclaimed nationally and internationally for its annual flower shows in the Kitchener Auditorium formerly located on Queen Street South. The Society’s float won first prize in the 1929 Flower Day Parade at the Toronto National Exhibition, which invited the Society to exhibit a formal garden in the Horticultural Building.

 

KHS Flower Show – 1930

 

The Society’s major civic beautification program in the late 1920s coincided with the Kitchener Council’s plan to develop the King Street eastern entrance of the city into a commercial strip of billboards along with a service station.

 

King Street East 1929

 

The City leased to the Society a strip of land between King Street East and the Grand River Railway tracks near the transit terminal at the site of the present day Rockway Seniors Recreation Centre, and, soon afterwards, granted additional leases to the Society for the adjoining, the city’s sewage treatment facility which would be relocated along the Grand River at Doon.

 

King Street East 1930

 

On this site was the beginning of a formal garden which became known for some time as the Janzen Horticultural Gardens with two fountains donated by the Janzen family in memory of Henry L. Janzen and his wife, Elizabeth. Henry Janzen was mayor of Berlin in 1890 and a founder of the Berlin (Kitchener) Horticultural Society in 1911.

 

2004 Rockway Janzen Fountains

 

In 1933, the Society contracted W. J. Jarman, a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society of Great Britain and a notable English landscape architect, to design and direct the construction of the Rockery. Stone from the Rockton-Sheffield area was used in the construction of the rock garden. Plant materials including trees, shrubbery and evergreens were obtained locally.

 

Rockway Sign

 

For the construction of the Rockery, local workers were plentiful due to the high rate of unemployment during the Great Depression. Many homeowners worked on the project several hours a week to offset property taxes, and in this way, were spared losing their homes.

 

Rockway Rockery – 2004

 

From the early 1930’s and into the 1960’s the Kitchener Horticultural Society, with the support of local citizens, service groups, and the Public Utilities, was involved in the beautification of public buildings such as schools, the post office, the P.U.C. terminal, and the Waterloo County Courthouse, creating seasonal colour along King Street, and illuminating Kitchener City Hall.

 

Kitchener City Hall 1930

 

Kitchener City Hall 1960

 

Dedicated in 1964, the Schneider Memorial Fountain was donated by family members in honour of the late John Metz Schneider, founder of the J. M. Schneider meat packing plant in Kitchener, and his wife, Helena.

 

Rockway’s Schneider Fountain – circa 1970

 

As a Canadian Centennial project in 1967, the Society erected flagstaffs for six flags which are flown year round.

 

Rockway’s Central Fountain and Flags – 1967

 

In 2005, Rockway Gardens added a pedestrian bridge spanning the central pond enhanced with attractive landscaping. The bridge project received a grant from the Kitchener-Waterloo Community Foundation and a generous donation from the Kitchener Lions Club.

 

Pedestrian Bridge – 2005

 

The citizens of Kitchener can be justly proud of Rockway Gardens, a visual delight for both local residents and visitors for over seven decades.

 

Rockway Gardens – 2004

 

Rockway Lily Pond – 2003

 

Rockway’s Janzen Fountains – 2004

 

Sources of information:

• History of the Kitchener Horticultural Society, by H. W. Brown, Annual Volume, Waterloo Historical Society, 1938.
• Rockway Gardens – First 50 Years 1933-1983, by Orval Ritz. Annual Volume Waterloo Historical Society, 1983.