The next meeting of the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be on Wednesday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m. at SIGN on North Street. This is “Member Participation Night”, where members share helpful hints and gardening advice. Our president, Liz, has been compiling these hints into handy little booklets. You don’t have to be a member to attend! Just bring a notebook along to jot down ideas; everyone is welcome!
With the weather changing, you might curl up in your favorite spot on the couch and become an “armchair traveller”! Here’s something interesting to read about! Did you know that VIA Rail has a “Canadian Garden Tour”? Log on to www.canadasgardenroute.ca, then click on “feature gardens”.
This will take you to a list of interesting gardens, province by province. And if you will be exploring any part of Canada next spring or summer, maybe you can stop in and see one of these special gardens!
Right here in Saskatchewan, there is plenty to enjoy! “Feature Gardens” mentions the Government House Edwardian Gardens in Regina. Look under “Garden Attractions” and you will find the Patterson Garden Arboretum in Saskatoon. “Parks Canada Gardens” lists the Batoche National Historic Site and the Motherwell Homestead. And of course we all know of many other worthy stops such as the beautiful gardens at the Legislature in Regina.
Garden tourism is a fascinating topic. Wikipedia defines garden tourism like this: “Garden tourism is a type of niche tourism involving visits or travel to botanical gardens and places which are significant in the history of gardening. Garden tourists often travel individually in countries with which they are familiar but often prefer to join organized garden tours in countries where they might experience difficulties with language, travel or finding accommodation in the vicinity of the garden. In the year 2000 the Alhambra and the Taj Mahal both received over 2 million visitors.” Each year there are more and more tours with gardening as the main focus. Just type in “garden tours” into Google and you will be amazed at the numbers of tours that can take you to gardens all over the world! Pick your ideal dream trip: English country gardens, castle gardens in Ireland, the gardens of the French countryside, he beautiful gardens of Italy… there are like-minded people who want to share that gardening experience. Even if you are not planning to venture very far away, it makes fascinating reading on a blustery winter day!
Right in Canada, there are also many tours if you do a little homework. Regina has the yearly “Secret Gardens” tour, where you get to see a wide and varied selection of private gardens. The Edmonton Horticultural Society features their “Garden Tour”, and their site says this: “The EHS Annual Garden Tour is the most popular event of our year and the perfect way to spend a summer weekend in July. Tour some of the Edmonton area’s best gardens. Chat with their gardeners. Learn what grows here. Get design and planting ideas. Soak up the beauty. Each year’s tour is self-guided. Your ticket will include the gardens, their addresses with driving directions, and a brief description of what makes each garden special. Start where you choose and proceed at your own pace.” Doesn’t that sound interesting?
We may not be out in our gardens but we can still enjoy the gardening experience by reading! Visit the library, take out a couple gardening books, and have a great week!
Visit us at www.yorktonhort.ca
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