Rooted in Niagara
Rooted, by Niagara Parks, is an annual celebration of the natural, cultural and culinary traditions of our region.
Stretching over a September weekend, the event highlights local artists, horticulturalists and the home-grown flavours of our region, all set in the beautiful Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens.
This year’s event is Saturday, Sept. 10, and Sunday, Sept.11.
Charles Hunter, superintendent of Niagara Parks’ botanical gardens, school of horticulture and butterfly conservatory, graciously opened his office on a quiet Thursday evening to talk about this exciting event.
The botanical gardens serve as a hub for many diverse groups. Rooted promises to bring these groups together to showcase their talents. The students and alumni of the school of horticulture, the Garden Club of Niagara, Parkway Artists Guild along with horticultural groups such as the hosta society and the rhododendron society will all be there.
The lawn and terrace of the lecture hall will host an information fair with Landscape Ontario Golden Horseshoe members, horticultural groups and master gardeners and it will feature a student plant sale. Indoors, the lecture hall will be transformed into an gallery featuring local artists and floral designers. General admission is free, but there is a charge for certain programs.
Public programs include a monarch release, guided garden tours in Legacy Prairie Garden, a photography workshop and an evening gourmet Nuit Vert dinner set under a venerable oak tree.
Majestic Monarch Release
“Inside the butterfly conservatory there will be an introductory program, explaining why this program is important, instructions on how to tag, and they will actually release butterflies outside on that day,” Hunter said.
Sept. 10 and 11, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m, $14.25 adults, $9.25 children
Legacy Prairie Garden Tour
The Legacy Prairie Garden is one of my favourite spots to visit and photograph. The gentle, colourful meadows are filled with lively bees, butterflies and birds. Hunter described the motivation behind the tours:
“We are specifically highlighting the Legacy Garden because it’s a meadow. It’s part of the Bee Counted, the One Million Pollinators Project out of the White House (www.pollinator.org) and we are also linking the tours to the monarch release program.
“The horticulturalist who will be leading the tours, Scott Rushton, is involved with the production of plants for the conservatory and the nectar plants inside. He will be running tours every couple of hours, so people can just come and join in. The Legacy Garden is not something that people will understand right away when they walk through, so he will be able to speak to that directly.”
Each tour will be slightly different, depending on the level of level of engagement and the questions asked. The Legacy Garden Tours will be on Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., they are free of charge.
“Ontario has lost 85 per cent of its meadows that would support these ecosystems,” Hunter said. “We are learning so much about the benefits of these pollinators. The Legacy Garden is about connecting the public to how beautiful and how important a meadow can be. People associate a beautiful garden with structure, line, form and formality. When you go into the Legacy Garden, it challenges you to step back and say there is a lot of beauty here. You just have to sit and look at it.”
Hunter believes the gardens should challenge people to think.
“Take our farm implements sculpture (in the vegetable garden). When it was painted black, we hardly had any comments. As soon as we added colour, we had all kinds of people comment. It begs them to ask the question, ‘What’s going on here?’”
Nuit Vert
“We have some great chefs within the parks system, and they are using local food and produce from Niagara. We wanted to highlight that in the garden,” said Hunter. “In fact, the first course will be prepared by the chefs who prepare the meals for our own students.”
The evening will start at 5 p.m. on the terrace of the butterfly conservatory with canapés and VQA sparkling wine.
“The terrace is lovely, it is the only spot that overlooks the gardens,” Hunter said. “Next, the guests will move over to the burr oak where dinner will be served under the lit trees.”
Visit www.niagaraparks.com/ niagara-falls-events/rooted-inthe-garden for full details about the weekend or to register for the Nuit Vert dinner.
Art and floral show
The art and floral shows will be on Saturday in the lecture hall.
“The art show will highlight the work of our Parkway Artists Guild and will be themed still life, woodland, flowers, water, abstract and architecture. The Garden Club of Niagara will be creating floral exhibits that will reflect each particular theme,” said Hunter.
“We want them to have fun with this and explore the themes. One additional component will be miniature floral arrangements. They are so cute, the kids will love them.”
School of horticulture students will be hosting a plant sale on the lecture hall terrace. Proceeds will subsidize a student trip to a floral competition in Utah next March.
“Our master gardeners have moved their annual plant sale to the week after this event, so that they can help us out. They will help with plant knowledge at the student sale and be available to answer gardening questions for the public.”
Bottom line
Rooted in Niagara promises to showcase and celebrate local artists, horticulturalists and floral designers, along with it being a chance to learn more about butterflies, pollinators and meadow gardens.
Support the student’s plant sale, seek horticultural advice, dine under a majestic tree, share ideas with like-minded souls. We are all Rooted in Niagara.
Capture the Moment: Photography Workshop
Saturday, Sept. 10, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; $65 a person What makes a great image? Join garden columnist and photographer Theresa Forte for this fun and educational workshop, geared toward photographers with a working knowledge of their camera. She will cover aperture, shutter speeds, ISO, composition skills and making the most of natural light. Participants will spend time outdoors in the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens to try out some of these key concepts. Call 905356-8554 ext. 6201 to register.