Suffice to say, it's not easy being a Manitoba gardener
The heroic measures needed to maintain a goldfish pond, however, are but one manifestation of the kind of commitment and dedication required by all Manitobans with a gardening bent. For one thing, our province's laughably short, 12-week summers are characterized by appallingly late springs highlighted by unpredictable weather, when the Sole guarantee is that there will be at least one lengthy, plant-shriveling heat wave. Yet, every spring, stubborn green thumbs across the province eagerly await planting day on the May 24 long weekend, while they gamely tend leggy, peat-potted plant babies geraniums, marigolds, zinnias in south-facing living room windows. Meanwhile, the wannabe gardeners wistfully thumb through catalogues and lurk in local nursery aisles, looking for the popsicle-stick signs identifying nursery-started flats of the newest trailing, explosively fast-growing Wave Petunias. For what these flowers lack in scent, they make up for in extravagant, lush hues. And, as we all know; winterbound Manitobans lust shamelessly after summer colour.
Perhaps not surprisingly then, this obsession with things green and living has spurred two dozen Manitoba villages, towns and cities into enthusiastic support of their local Communities in Bloom program. in 2000, 16 such communities enrolled in the provincial competition; another eight vied for national honours (which Brandon and the small village of Birtle both took home in their respective size categories). Sponsored by the likes of the National Capital Commission, Green Cross, Air Canada, Miracle Gro Plant Food, Canada in Bloom and Canadian Heritage (among others), this international community gardening initiative has operated since 1995 in Canada. But it's not all flower gardens and hanging basket planters -the goal is to spark community pride and involvement by encouraging villages, towns and cities to beautify their urban environments.
Community involvement is one of eight categories Bloom judges look for, and Manitoba's towns regularly score high in this category. Planting trees, manicuring lawns, tending gardens, planters and window boxes, restoring local historic sites and cleaning up eyesores - from empty lots to litter: these actions represent the means to a civic pride end. In Brandon's business district, for example, a tiny, park-like space at the dry, windswept northeast comer of Richmond and 18th Streets was adopted last year by the Zmetanas and their close-knit clutch of avid gardeners. The group descended on the barren comer en masse to create a fresh, mini pine forest oasis beside the dusty prairie street. They dug in more than a dozen large blue spruces, a passel of prickly dwarf junipers, assorted mugho pines and a scattering of tough perennials like day lilies. Park benches and regular volunteer weed and litter patrols kept the sweet green patch both welcoming and tidy.
That kind of spirit has always impressed the national judges. "Take Ontario, so much bigger than Manitoba in population. They only have maybe 30 or 32 communities involved in the provincial category. We have 16, with another six competing on the national level," notes Ken Ivey, chairperson for the Manitoba in Bloom committee. "That's much better than Ontario, on a per capita basis."
Communities like Birtle exemplify how the Bloom competition can rekindle local pride, he points out. "So many of these small towns and villages are struggling, and could go either way: they could spiral down or they can become those wonderful little towns we all love." So when Birtle won its national category, "We were all just tickled pink the town was so thrilled," says Ivey.
They were also amazed. "We didn't expect it," says Birtle Bloom organizer Shonda Ashcroft. "This was just our second year. But then, there are a lot of gardeners here." Tiny Birtle, with 900 residents, boasts 22 yards on its garden tour and the kind of vibrant village spirit that prompted local high school students to make hanging banners for the main street - banners faithfully mended by a local volunteer hobby-seamstress whenever they're damaged by a storm. The banners will be good for years, says Ashcroft. So will the cedars and junipers planted around town in every bare spot local gardeners could find: tough evergreens that offer a splash of fresh green in even the coldest winter In addition, every spring, local businesses donate their own efforts to the town's main streetscape, hauling out hanging planters festooned with trailing pink and purple petunias, sturdy showy geraniums and delicate blue or snowy-white drifts of lobelia.
Dandelions, chickweed and Creeping Charlie don't stand a chance in these towns.
Similar enthusiasm permeates Brandon's Bloom effort. Here, local gardeners have devotedly groomed their yards for years, says Pat Zmetana. The city parks department choreographs volunteer responsibilities, matching different groups to different "adopted" public landscaping projects. City greenhouses produce an abundance of flowering plants and planters for the volunteers to fill: legions of compact, glowing gold chrysanthemums, great swaths of marigolds, oceans of sweet, musky-perfumed alyssum. Fat, showy peonies and dignified day lilies are divided periodically to make more plants for even more hardy perennial beds. Sponsors, such as local seed company Mackenzie Seed, offer up seed packets for early indoor sowing by gardeners who can't wait for snow-buried soil to emerge, thaw and warm.
Judging in Birtle
Manitoba's winning gardens track record goes back to the beginnings of the Bloom program. Winnipeg was the first Canadian national winner in 1995 - a victory no doubt bolstered by the fact that the city has the largest collection of urban elm trees in the Western world. Elms line residential streets, downtown avenues and tower along the riverbanks. "They grew naturally along the rivers," notes city forester Mike Allen. "But we have our ancestors to thank for planting the rest."
In 1996, Ken Ivey's town of Virden won in its category (towns up to 10,000) in the provincial and national competitions, then continued on to honours at the 1997 international competition, where Virden was chosen "second-prettiest town in the world." Broughshane in Ireland won top spot, explains Ivey. "But then, that was just our second year. The program in Great Britain and Europe has been running for about 30 years."
The international Communities in Bloom program, which began in the U.K., has since spread to more than a dozen nations, including France, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Spain and Japan, with towns and villages of similar size competing in the same format as the national competitions in Canada. But the Brits have longer growing seasons, adds Ivey, just a tiny bit enviously.
Of course, almost anywhere in Canada has a longer growing season than Manitoba, he muses. "Doesn't stop us, though, does it?"
From the June 2001 Going Places Magazine
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