THE HAPPY GARDENER
Calling all Ed Lawrence fans
Years ago, when I was studying horticulture at Algonquin College, our class embarked on a field trip to the greenhouses at the Governor General’s residence in Rockcliffe. There he was, Ed Lawrence, the swarthy and perpetually grinning gardening guru himself, showing me and other horticultural rookies the giant donkey-tail Euphorbia that must have been 10 feet long hanging from the rafters.
He would explain how the Governor General, who at the time was Ray Hnatyshyn, and his wife, would eat breakfast surrounded by the lush plantings in the greenhouse before they began their daily duties.
It was Lawrence’s job to keep everything alive and green, something that didn’t seem so difficult to us since everything seemed that way naturally.
Being greenhorns, what we didn’t yet appreciate was that fungus gnats, powdery mildew, aphids, thrips, mealybugs, mites and whitefly were all waiting to destroy the show Lawrence and his team worked so hard to grow.
These realities of greenhouse plant production — not to mention other things, such as beneficial insects, parasitic wasps, rooting hormone, cuttings, grafts, foliar fertilizers, NPK (nitrogen, phosphorous and potash or potassium) and the like — proved to us that being a gardener to the oldest continuing institution in the land was not for sissies. Secretly, and without telling him, we all wanted Ed Lawrence’s job.
But he wasn’t giving it up. It was around 1990, and Lawrence had worked in this capacity since the mid-1970s and would continue to do so until 2005, when he retired and moved to the countryside. His job entailed not only overseeing the greenhouse production of tropical plants and flowers, but also the grounds beyond its walls — all 79 historic acres of it — as well as the landscapes of five other official residences.
But more than this, Lawrence found time to host a very popular weekly radio show on CBC and this is how almost every gardener in the land, especially those who called in with a plant or pest problem, knew him. He still does this show today.
I, and countless others, I’m sure, have always been mesmerized by the man’s voice. Not simply the slow, considered nature of it, but the infinite amount of patience it always revealed.
No matter what the question, Lawrence always took a deep breath and responded so that the answer was clear and forthcoming.
And, most amazing to me, there was never any hint of judgment — he never said, “I can’t believe you killed a snakeskin plant” — or fatality; he would, instead, suggest ways to resurrect it. The gardening world according to Lawrence always had a happy ending, and there seemed to be no limit to his knowledge.
Lawrence’s fans will be happy to hear that the West Carleton Garden Club is hosting an evening with Ottawa’s favourite gardener and would like you to come. He will be speaking about pruning and will also be answering questions from the audience. Make a date and take a gardening buddy. And remember, a $20 bill (cash only) will buy you a signed copy of his latest book, Gardening Grief and Glory.