A special fall gift from a whole lot of mums
It’s not what we’ve seen 99 times before because of COVID, but it’s back
I really wanted to tell you that the best thing about this year’s Mum Show — officially the Hamilton Fall Garden & Mum Show — is that it is free.
But that’s not true. The best thing about this year’s show is, once again, the flowers. The free admission for this disheartening pandemic year is just a bonus — a very welcome bonus.
As I have said in the past about (shameless plug) Hamilton Spectator Open Garden Week, so few things these days are truly free. The Mum Show is one of them, although there is a small hoop to be jumped through in order to keep visitors as safe as possible. More on that in a moment.
The main thing, as it always is, is the blooms. More than 100,000 chrysanthemum blossoms in a display built around a theme of gratitude: Thanks to the frontline workers in this Year of COVID-19.
(The really observant among us will have noted that last year’s Mum Show was the 99th: That would normally make this year the Mum Show centenary. But since this show is necessarily limited in scope and admission, the 100th anniversary show is planned to be celebrated next year.)
What has always struck me as I wander through the final setup for the Mum Show each year is that it never appears forced.
It has always had the aura of a labour of love, and this year’s crew of about 17 city landscape workers and gardeners seem happy to be putting the show together. I’m not naive: It is work. But mostly, it seems to be work they like. Karl Riimand, busy plugging multicoloured blossoms into a massive block of Oasis florists’ foam, was two days away from retirement on Friday.
He’s been working on annual Mum Shows for 29 years and it was hard to tell if his wide grin was all about his obvious affection for the displays or for his imminent freedom.
Neil Schofield, the city ’s greenhouse supervisor, says this year has been one of adaptation: the greenhouses had absolute minimal staffing at the beginning of the pandemic shutdown (to keep plants watered, essentially). Only gradually was the greenhouse operation allowed to resume. Everything started later than usual this year, from hiring of seasonal workers to planting traffic islands to putting together a plan for a pandemic Mum Show.
Even without that in mind — but how could it not be? — this is a lovely, albeit abbreviated, show and a delightful “last splash” of floral colour before the gardening season goes into hibernation.
There is no cafe this year, no marketplace, no kids’ area and no educational series. There are also fewer “props” — the theme-related bits and pieces that usually accompany the floral displays. This year, it’s mostly all about the flowers.
They are backdropped by a few visual treats, although that hardly seems the right word for a garbage truck spilling its load. But the trash truck is there, along with a few other things to remind visitors of all the people — from sanitation workers and bus drivers to medical and retail workers — who kept us safe, fed and functioning over the past seven months and counting.
Take a closer look at the HSR bus. There’s more (or less) to it than first meets the eye. Watch, too, for the display of “flowers” made by Grade 5 and 6 students at Burlington Central Public School. Each “petal” is an artistic thank you to frontline workers.
The numbers tell part of the story: Schofield says there’s s o mewhere ove r 12 0,0 0 0 blooms in the show, with about 9,000 standard and Japanese spray chrysanthemums, about 1,500 hardy or garden mums (most with multiple flowers), and about 100 “companion” plants: coleus, ferns, Mexican salvia, grasses, azaleas and ivy. The pots are stacked, banked, massed, assembled and aligned into curves, arches, twists and turns.
It’s a charming smaller Mum Show this year but is well worth a visit. The show is free, parking is free and the Saturdays and Sundays of the show includes the newish and toweringly impressive Tropical House.
The “hoop” to be jumped through is that, to keep numbers manageable (and safe), admission is almost entirely by ticket. You can get yours by going to hamilton.ca , then clicking on the Mum Show banner that comes up. After that, you click on a Tickets button and choose a time slot. Schofield says there will be a very limited number of walk-up admissions, so you can take a chance if you’re in the Lawrence Road neighbourhood and want to drop in.
The show is wheelchair-accessible and there are washrooms (including accessible) available. There are no refreshments this year and the water fountain is for filling water bottles only (no drinking spout).
The 2020 Hamilton Mum Show runs to Nov. 1, and is as usual, at the city’s greenhouse facility at the south end of Gage Park. You can walk through the park from Main Street or use the parking lot off Lawrence Road. There’s a short hard-surface path from the parking lot to the show entrance. (It’s nicely adorned with fall-friendly plants.)
This is my last regular gardening column for the season. I’ll be back in the spring, full of hope for a resumption of Open Garden Week. In the meantime, you can reach me at gardenwriterrob@gmail.com, or find me on Facebook at Rob Howard: Garden Writer. Special thanks to all the garden owners and garden makers who kept the faith and helped me out through this peculiar gardening season. Much gratitude to readers and to those who took the time to write. Stay well; stay safe.