TAKE A MOMENT TO APPRECIATE PLANTS
Today, there is a renewed and ever-growing connection between people and plants.
We are once again realizing the value plants add to our lives, from cooling our urban areas and collecting pollution to providing habitats for wildlife and pollinators and improving our health, sense of well-being and happiness.
Even the World Health Organization has documentation on the many health benefits plants bring to our lives.
With our busy schedules, we tend to see the beauty but often overlook the importance of living plants, both indoors and out.
That’s why I’m proud to be a part of the Garden Days initiative.
Garden Days was first organized in 2013 by the Canadian Garden Council and kicked off in 2014 with a collection of events across the country intended to “celebrate the vital role that gardens and gardening play in our communities and our lives."
There were 75 events that first year, and it has expanded annually with close to 400 activities anticipated for 2018.
That’s a lot of garden celebration! From local garden tours to skill-building sessions, there are many fun things going on across B.C.
A couple years ago, as part of a Canada-wide Garden Days initiative, I asked CBC to do a promotion through its Almanac radio program, simply asking listeners for a written response and photo on the topic “what my garden means to me.”
Based on the many letters we received, I don’t think any of us realized the intensity and the diversity of the meaningful connections that folks have with their gardens.
We heard from young people living in small spaces and growing food in pots; gardeners who created year-round colour; people who provided habitats for wildlife; those whose gardens were touching memorials for lost loved ones; and from many who viewed their gardens as a sanctuary where they could escape and recharge from the stresses of life.
Many who responded expressed the sense of artistic creativity they experienced when working with plants, using them as a palette to engage their senses with fragrance, touch and even sound with plants like a quaking aspen, whose leaves rustle in the slightest breeze.
One response in particular, has stayed with me.
It was from a grandmother who was teaching her young grandchild to understand our connectivity with nature and to appreciate wildlife and critters like insects, frogs and birds.
People connect with plants in many different ways.
For some folks it means growing their favourite foods: veggies, berry fruits, a collection of herbs or small fruit trees, including exotics like persimmons, to enjoy fresh organic flavours. Others get great pleasure from filling their patios, large or small, with containers of nature’s bountiful colours and perfumes.
Many enjoy the company of flowering trees and shrubs, like Japanese snowbells, dogwoods and magnolias, that provide both shade and privacy and look beautiful dressed in their spring blooms, as well as in their autumn blaze of colour.
As we become more attuned to the natural world, many of us are revamping our gardens to provide sources of pollen and nectar for bees and butterflies and habitats for other creatures. In zone six or higher, we can orchestrate year-round colour to attract hungry pollinators and other beneficial insects.
All these activities connect us more fully with our gardens and the world of plants.
I encourage you to get out there and experience Garden Days. Some of the activities are listed here, but please visit gardendays.ca for full details including venue locations.
Should you represent a private or public garden, garden club or horticultural association, there is still time to plan an event. Visit the website to add your activity to the roster and share your love of gardening with others in your town.
Whether you celebrate Garden Days 2018 in the beauty of your balcony garden or at a special event designed to bring the gardening community together, look beyond the esthetic and take a moment to appreciate what plants are doing for you and your environment, both now and for the future.
Think of every day as a Garden Day, and we’ll all be better for it.