You can’t beat Mother Nature at Christmas
I know it’s a bit early to be thinking about Christmas but it’s not easy to avoid what with newspapers showing us huge Christmas trees going up in front of city halls across Niagara, the Winter Festival of Lights in full swing in the Falls, and Santas in every nook and cranny.
One of my favourite places to visit during the Christmas season is Vermeer’s Garden Centre and Flower Shop in Welland. I make it a rule to roll in at least once every two months but during this happy season the place will put you in a festive mood whether you’re ready for it or not. And roll in, you can, because there are no steps.
To make it easy for people with disabilities, there is parking very close to the door and even a wheelchair accessible washroom. You can spend as much time as you like and, believe me, you can spend hours.
As the automatic doors slide open, you are greeted by a sparkling red arch made of a variety of Christmas ornaments. Just behind that is a selection of small gifts and then everything you can think of to decorate your home for Christmas including an upside down Christmas tree possibly for people with pets, curious children or as a fun and different conversation piece.
As you wander into the large greenhouses beyond the gift area you’ll find all manner of greenery both real and artificial, and a massive inventory of tropical plants and blooms. Long tables are set up in the rear greenhouse where custom wreaths and centrepieces are put together to beautify front doors, dinner tables and fireplace mantels.
Being curious, I poked my nose into the nursery area out back and was amazed by a vista — and that’s the word for it — vista, of some 20,000 poinsettias being readied to be sent out to various retailers.
In July, 30,000 unrooted cuttings are flown in from Mexico, put into rooting medium and misted regularly until roots develop at which time they are transplanted in various combinations into pots and fostered along for four-and-a-half months.
Red, pink, cream, white, even speckled poinsettias in small, medium, large and tree sizes carpet the greenhouse benches in a spectacular swath of colour ready to be sent out to retailers from now until Christmas.
Just think, that poinsettia you pick up at the grocery store has been cared for in a greenhouse for almost five months. Considering how little they cost, I think they are the Niagara greenhouse industry’s Christmas gift to us all.
This is one place where I am welcome, can easily get around on my scooter, spend a couple of hours and come away feeling as if I’ve been on a mini-vacation. Another is the Niagara Parks Floral Showhouse in the Falls. The display is gorgeous but more formal and there isn’t as much to see, but you can’t beat Mother Nature when it comes to Christmas.
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Two items that you might find interesting.
There are several films either playing or about to be released featuring characters with disabilities that you might like to catch. I always find it intriguing to watch how a person with a disability is portrayed by a person without one. Breathe — likely in theatres now — is about a paralyzed polio survivor in the 1950s. Others include Stronger (featuring Julia Roberts) about a boy with unconventional facial features; Downsizing — miniaturized people/science fiction; Wonderstruck — childhood dreams come together in deafness; Never steady, Never still — about Parkinson’s disease and Don’t Talk to Irene — misfit teen and seniors comedy.
TVOntario ran an excellent series called Employable Me last month featuring six people with serious disabilities including Tourette’s and ADHD. Sometimes these programs make me cringe, but this series is so well done that I found it fascinating. According to Statistics Canada, the percentage of the population employed or seeking employment (2011) was 55 per cent for persons with disabilities, compared with 84 per cent for persons without a disability.
The series can still be watched online. If you don’t have a disability and think you’re having a tough time finding a job, take a look. linda@lindacrabtree.com