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I don’t have children yet but I am lucky enough to live next door to some awesome little kids, who were my happy models for the photos in this article. They are my practice/surrogate children, and I am slowly indoctrinating them into the Cult of Gardening. It seems to be working, as they love “working” in the garden. This, I guess, qualified me enough to write the following article, which was recently published in Urbanbaby Magazine. Enjoy.
Getting kids into gardening
Ask many people about gardening and they claim to have a black thumb. “My mom always made me weed when I was a kid,” is a common refrain, followed closely by, “I always kill everything.”
Of course, gardening was a chore for many of us growing up. It was done not with pleasure or the spirit of exploration many gardeners enjoy, but reluctantly. Because of that, some of us may have vowed not to inflict the same torture upon our children.
It’s a shame, really, because gardening doesn’t have to be a chore. In fact, gardening with your kids is a fantastic way to get them outdoors, teach patience and sensitivity, instill an appreciation for the natural world, and to provide a gateway to a healthy lifelong activity.
Let’s set one thing straight: gardening is right up most kids’ alleys. There’s dirt. Bugs. Grass to pluck. Sunshine. As long as it’s introduced in an appealing way, kids will grow to love gardening. But how do you make gardening appealing to a toddler or young child?
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Visited my old stomping grounds last weekend, and I didn’t go to any gardens! At least not of the official variety. But I loved this abandoned lot. It’s not the Victoria you see in the tourist brochures, but I like this better.
I wonder if this is the work of guerilla gardeners. Any Victoria guerillas want to fess up?
Grumpy today, and in need of sleep. Luckily my friend Tammy went to the Sunshine Coast last week and took a photo of this floating garden for me — finding it in my in-box was just the anti-depressant I needed.
Thanks, Tam!
Poppy fields, Loire Valley.
Perhaps I inflicted permanent injury to my patience during the first half of my Great European Backpacking Trip of ‘96-’97. It’s the only way I can explain what must have happened to my travel ethic.
I started out on that trip every bit the Girl Guide (”Be Prepared”). Oh-so-diligent. I saw all the cathedrals and art galleries and sights I had flagged in my guidebook. I took it all in, kept notes and journals, and read up the night before each day’s activities. After a few months of this, I was cranky.
So I stopped for a while. Got a job. Then, ready to move on, slowly meandered through Greece and Turkey. Soaked it up, not thinking further ahead than dinner.
The labyrinthe at Chateau de Chenonceau.
Now when I travel, I try not to let myself get caught up in the “must-sees.” I remind myself that there are only so many churches or oil paintings you can absorb at one time, and that you can’t see it all — and even if you could, wouldn’t you rather just sit here in the shade with a picnic and a bottle of chilled Vouvray?
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I love old school botanical illustrations, but have always stopped short of hanging them on my walls. Maybe I’ve just never found ones that are interesting or bizarre enough for my taste. But when I saw Wolfie and the Sneak’s new posters, Fungi and Pods, below, I was smitten.
Soon to be gracing my walls: Fungi! Quirky and colourful. I love it.
And its sister, Pods. I think this one has inspired me to commit to an office colour scheme: red and robin’s egg blue. Delish.
Wolfie and the Sneak (Renee and Charlie – “two crazy kids in love, who also love to make things”) make some truly sweet, sweet things. Like Lotus Seed Pods, above. And next on my personal wishlist, their Freshly Sliced Art – Flora Edition, which is kind of like a really funky, beautiful colouring book. It contains 15 ready-to-color, limited edition botanically-minded prints. Renee does her drawing magic and you come up with the color scheme. The pages are perforated so you can tear them out and frame when finished. How fun!
So go check out their Etsy shop, and Renee’s garden/DIY/art/fun stuff blog. Go on now. Shoo.
While my participation in the disembowelment of a display garden was certainly memorable, I scored more than just discount perennials at the Vancouver Garden Show.
I was very pleased to discover that, although some of the feature gardens kind of sucked (it’s no Chelsea, that’s for sure), the “urban deck showcase” had some really great patios on display. And, I managed to meet the designers behind my favourite three. Can I just say that my generation is rocking? I hear all this stuff about younger people not being interested in gardening, but the best designs were by young’uns.
First up, Aloe Designs and their sleek and sexy patio (above). Um, drool. Owners Owen and Caitlin seem like my kind of people. They have a wicked sense of style and are interested in sustainability and food security issues. Owen even graduated from the same garden design program as me.
Then there’s Steve from Urban Escapes (whose gorgeous deck I posted a couple days ago). I’m coveting his mad skills in carpentry and construction – if only I could build a screen like that! I love the minimalist water feature he built into that little space.
Finally, there’s Lalieth from Outside Contemporary Garden Design, whose luscious plant combinations are truly inspired. Her deck display demonstrated that you can have a functional, beautiful garden in the space the size of a Mini Cooper.
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I’m no stranger to gardening-related injuries. My standard complaints include lower backache, blisters, and even – and this is weird – sore fingernails (am I the only one who gets that?). But I’ve never been injured in a plant frenzy before.
Oh sure, I’ve imagined it countless times: being trampled by a herd of Rosarians who have just spotted a must-have rarity, or assaulted by a spinster coveting the hot new plant I’ve got in my basket. But this – embarrassingly – was a self-inflicted injury.
See, I was at the Vancouver Garden Show yesterday. It was a decent event, and I met some really great people and some really great plants. Like any addict, I was on the lookout for my drug of choice – texture and foliage plants. Namely, those elusive few I haven’t been able to find in my local nurseries.
One of these was Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost.’ I planted it last year and it looked amazing. Anyway, I am in love with this euphorbia, my only complaint being that it’s not hardy in my zone (8), and the reason for me having to buy it again this year (although, I learned at the show that you don’t need a greenhouse to overwinter it – apparently you can bring it indoors and it will keep blooming. Who knew?).
Anyhoo, I was sure the Proven Winners tent would have some for sale, but instead I heard the dreaded, “I’m sorry, someone just bought the last ones.” I actually cursed. Out loud.
“But,” said the nice lady running the booth, “there are some in our display garden and today’s the last day of the show. Come by at closing.” Yay!
So, at 15 minutes to closing, I’m making my way up the hill toward their booth. Then I spot a white-haired, diminutive lady heading towards the exit, staggering under the weight of several pots of Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’! More curses are uttered, and I break into a run.
When I reach the display garden, I dive into the fray of crazed gardeners digging up plants with their bare hands, thankful that I’m not forced to get violent with any seniors. I emerge, triumphant, with four of my coveted euphorbias, and as an added bonus, six Pennisetum ‘Rubrum’ and a half-dozen ipomoea.
It was only later, when I’d gotten my plant booty home safely, that I realized my legs were aching as a result of my little sprint (damn you, fast-twitch muscles) and my hands were full of slivers from digging in the bark mulch with my bare hands.
But it was worth it. Now I just need to come up with a convincing way to say, “oh, I ran a marathon on the weekend, that’s why I’m hobbling around.”
Display garden by Urban Escapes at this year’s Vancouver Sun Garden Show.
Tomorrow: the Vancouver Sun Garden Show at VanDusen (formerly known as the VanDusen Flower Show).
It’s a day of plants, garden product and design – what do I care what it’s called? I’m there. Woot!
I often find myself explaining guerilla gardening, and often I question whether I’m getting my description just right. This e-mail from Richard of guerillagardening.org is just the thing to clear the confusion, and I thought it was well worth reposting here.
Dear Troops,
On 18 May Anna from Vancouver enlisted at GuerrillaGardening.org. She is Anna 3000, our three thousandth guerrilla gardener. With this milestone, with the Northern Hemisphere summer approaching us and with a flurry of guerrilla gardening in the news again, it is time we looked at ourselves and asked WHAT IS GUERRILLA GARDENING? Should some one ask you I suggest you put in three minutes of study now by reading on, so you can reply to them with one sentence.
I shall assume we all know what gardening is. The question is what makes it guerrilla gardening rather than just gardening? Last week the New York Times and The Times in Britain reported the incredible two-day turfing of London’s Trafalgar Square with 2000 metres of grass as “Guerrilla Gardening.”
It looked amazing (we can debate this ecologically questionable short-term gesture another time), but was it really guerrilla gardening? It was done at night, it was incongruous, it turned a stone square into
something green… but does this make it guerrilla gardening? Not to me. It was a legitimate marketing stunt, funded by the London tourist board and installed by professional gardeners – it was what is commonly called guerrilla marketing.
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There’s something exhilarating about seeing a famous garden in person. I also find, and, maybe it’s just me, that I am usually slightly underwhelmed. Maybe it’s because often there are hordes of tourists, or I feel like I have to take everything in and end up hurrying through, snapping photos, without really enjoying it.
I tried not to build up Giverny in my mind so much, to avoid disappointment. I don’t really think I needed to though.
It was the perfect time to be there. Everything seemed to be in full bloom: irises, roses, peonies, violas.
I was pleasantly surprised to find seemingly-wild colour combinations (although I’m sure they were carefully orchestrated). I guess I’d expected the whole garden to look kind of like a My Monet weigela; muted pinks, whites, mauves. Indeed, pastels rule at Giverny, but so do reds, oranges and blacks.
I took my time wandering through the gardens. Yes, I took hundreds of photos. But I also crossed my eyes and imagined what Monet would have seen with this failing eyesight. I smelled the roses. I saved fallen petals between the pages of my journal.
And it was good.
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