LONG LINEUPS FOR PLANTS
Rainy weather fails to dampen event
Two hours after the gates swung open and hundreds of eager gardeners trudged along soggy paths gathering up wagons full of plants, Renee Hughes was loading the back of her SUV for the second time.
The Riverside homeowner, attending the city’s annual parks perennial plant sale for the first time, was excited by what she found.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever come here (to the sale),” Hughes said.
“I heard about it so I decided to get my flowers at a better price because I needed a lot.”
Hughes was planning on a third trip through the rows of hydrangeas, weigelas and roses, to look for more material to fill her new home’s now empty gardens.
“I ripped out the old gardens,” she said. “I’m starting from scratch.” Wanda Letourneau, horticulture manager for the City of Windsor, said she sees plenty of return customers to the annual sale held at the Lanspeary Park greenhouses. But she admitted to a few anxious moments in the days leading up to Saturday’s sale because the weather has been so cold and rainy.
“It was complete chaos” as the sale started, Letourneau said. “They were lined up from the gate all the way around the loop here to Langlois (Avenue). This has been the longest line that I’ve seen.”
Letourneau said the first person to enter when the gates opened at 8 a.m. said she had been waiting since 5:30 a.m. and had already picked out what she wanted.
“They scout the fence, they know where they’re going and they just run,” she said.
Coveted plants include tropical agaves, standard weeping trees, Japanese maples and rhododendrons. There are 14 full-time horticultural staff, but those numbers are bolstered by 35 summer students. Staff spends all year propagating and dividing plants for the city’s gardens and the annual sale.
The recent cold, rainy weather may be miserable for people but plants seems to enjoy it.
“(It’s) a good time to plant them when it’s cooler,” Letourneau said.
“This moist weather, it’s great for them because it gives them a boost in watering as compared to the middle of the summer when it’s hot.”
Mona Bryan and her daughter Amber Bryan were returning to the plant sale for the fourth year.
The Windsor residents said they come for the selection and the good prices. “It’s a great deal,” Bryan said. “We have a cottage on Manitoulin (Island) so I buy for there as well. I love the variety.”
New to Windsor, Tim Leech, who bought a home in the Walkerville area just over a year ago, said he was checking out the plant sale for the first time.
Peppers, tomatoes, kale, herbs, roses and lilacs filled his wagon.
“We like to grow as much of our own food as we can,” Leech said.
“We take the natural approach to things. If you have an environment which is friendly to all the creatures then hopefully you’re not going to have a pest that’s going to proliferate and just wipe everything out.”
All the proceeds from the sale are used to maintain the Paul Martin Garden at Willistead Park.
This moist weather, it’s great for them because it gives them a boost in watering as compared to the middle of the summer.