Politics Schmolatiks

Well, I somewhat dropped the ball there in Aug & Sept, and certainly dropped the ball on the blog. In part it was due to a lack of garden activity (other than watering) and in part it was due to my increased involvement in local politics. This is not completely unrelated as the politics involve prostitution issues and if you are familiar with these gardens, you know that there is a strong link between these gardening efforts and prostituted women in the Downtown Eastside.


Between the Pickton trial and the upcoming 2010 Olympics, there is a lot of political will to do something about street prostitution in Vancouver. And, there are several pro-prostitution advocates who are ready to pounce on that. There has been a big push in Vancouver to open several legal brothels. There has also been federal MPs lobbying to decriminalize prostitution completely. 2 groups have launched constitutional challenges against Canada's prostitution laws and if their challenge succeeds, there would be some new legislation on the horizon. If you are interested in finding out more about this, or want to know what you can do to help, click here.

Here is a recent letter published in the Vancouver Sun that lets you know what I'm on about:

It is good to see that someone has finally offered an analysis on the proposed brothels from someone other than Susan Davis! I agree with Mayor Sullivan that despite Davis' intentions most survival prostituted women would not be welcome into the coop brothels--or it would not suit the needs of these women to give a portion of their earnings to the brothel. Brothels have come and gone from the DTES since the Vancouver's inception but their presence did not protect the many women who disappeared from our streets. What concerns me most about the process of opening these particular brothels is the normalization of prostitution in the media, among various levels of government, law enforcement and the public. Societal acceptance of renting women's bodies for the sexual gratification of men will not benefit our most vulnerable women in the long run. In fact, countries that have decriminalized prostitution see a huge expansion of their sex industry, leading to increased human trafficking and child exploitation. In the 70's the Swedish city of Malmo instigated a program that gave prostituted women economic aid including housing, job and medical assistance, counseling, support and protection from pimps. Over a period of 4 years, 72.5% prostituted women in Malmo had quit. Vancouver and Canada for that matter have not given an honest attempt at sustainable solutions. Brothels are not a sustainable solution. In the long run, the acceptance of brothels further entrenches women in exploitation.

For the full article in the Sun, click here

Bees!

When we arrived at the sun garden this week it was full of bee activity, 3-4 bees pollinating flowers at the same time. This was really exciting for me!! I felt like the garden had reached a certain milestone in becoming established... In the middle of concrete and garbage and cars and weeds, the garden is developing into a little ecosystem and the bees have found it!

As an aside, no plants have been stolen lately, although our 'please don't steal the plants' sign has been!!

At the CN garden, a pair of women who do rounds for a Christian organization in the Downtown Eastside told us that some of the women working there have told them they were touched by the garden and feel cared for... I hope so, that is definitely our intention!
(incidentally this is not my photo, although it did look like this!)

Expansion!

We had some chrysanthemums that weren't getting enough rain at the CN garden so we thought we'd relocate them in the sun garden. However, on the way there, we were suddenly inspired to plant them at the corner of an alley. The next time we came down, we planted some seeds and bulbs and cleared out more garbage and blackberries. Around the corner there is a big patch of periwinkle growing out from under the fence, so we have decided to incorperate it and make a new corner garden! The first garden (the sun garden) is actually getting to the point that we can start dividing some of it's plants and spreading them around a little! That's reassuring! Yesterday I divided some crocosmia and brought it to the corner. I also planted a dahlia.






























I've actually been surprised how little has been stolen lately! A few blooms have been cut off individually, but for the most part things have remained untouched, including some colourful annuals that usually don't stay long! One of the women who work in the area told me the other day that they've been warning people to leave the garden alone! So that might be why the gardens haven't been to interfered with lately! We've had a bit of a heat wave lately and I was really pleased to see that the sun garden is doing really well at surviving without much water. That was the goal! I'm realizing however that the CN garden also needs more drought-tolerant plants. I had been considering it a shade garden but it gets a lot of sun and doesn't get much water either. Here's how it's starting to shape up:















And I've saved the best news for last! Earlier this week I was watering some nasturtium seeds that we had planted accross the street. While I was doing this the guys who run the company accross the street came out and to make a long story short, offered us the property along their fence to create another garden!! The owner even offered to pitch in for the cost of the plants!! So the dream is becoming a reality!! The original vision was that when you turn the corner onto the street, you will see a street lined with colour! Here's a picture of our next future garden:















and here is a picture of the garden we've got on the other side of the street. Sometimes I've been discouraged about it--that it didn't look as good as it could--but looking at pictures today, I've realized that the majority of this garden came about in a year! I needed that encouragement as we embark on another new project!


















(here's the garden July 06!)

Transformations

I love to be reminded of dramatic transformations, like the former picture of this back alley and the garden it has become.

swiped again!

Well, it's a good thing I got that photo of the sun garden when I did because within 5 days all the tulips got cut off and the camelia plant was stolen! Even with my burglar-proofing of wiring it to a rock!! Haha. Bigger rock next time I guess! It's always a bit of a disappointment when flowers get stolen but I guess it's par for the course. At least now the gardens are getting more established and still look decent even if the blooms are gone. Maybe the main colour the gardens are going to bring down there is GREEN!

Car Park

Last year we just happened to pass this car in our neighbourhood! It's currently parked at the corner of Clark and Broadway at a community garden... I think it made a bigger impact in a regular parking spot though. You can read more about it at: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/09/your_new_car_ma.php
I like how they say they're waiting for the city to figure out how to classify the Car Park, to give it the appropriate parking permit.

Colour!

Yay! Spring has arrived and the tulips et al are in full bloom at the sun garden! It's so exciting, this is the first time I've really felt that the dream is starting to be realized, there is colour all along the block! (at least where there is soil!) Did I mention I've been eyeing the other side of the street? Just wondering if a City Green Space could officially be started there..... and also the flow of dirt deliveries from the city.... There's already so much to do with the existing gardens, pruning, weeding, planting new plants, trimming the grass (!!) I gotta get a work party started. As for the sun garden, it's hard to decide on which pictures to put up. I'll try to get a good representation.

plant sales!

Last Saturday I went to 2 sales on the North Shore and bought about 25 plants! I left the house at 8:30 and shopped till my brain was fried. It's amazing that I can keep finding homes for these plants!! And hopefully more to come! We hit up the Green Thumbs Garden Club fundraiser sale (a club I might just join!) and then went to the Park and Tilford sale. Didn't feel up to the VanDeusen sale the following day but am interested in the UBC botanical garden sale in May and of course there is the Strathcona Community Garden sale in July...

Early April

Here's a photo of the shade garden, now that it has the geraniums moved to the CN triangle. We put in a Camelia and some heather and some columbine is coming up too! Oh ya, there's that bleeding heart too. That little periwinkle is blooming a bit in front and the bergenia's getting big...no flowers yet though! It's kind of nice to compare photos with the original 'before' photos... I'll have to post a series some time.

I forgot to put up this picture of hellebores up a few months ago, I wasn't sure I liked them before, but this spring I'm completely won over! I like all kinds, except maybe the greenish-flowering ones. Otherwise, hellebores are so beautiful and such a nice early flower. I really like the deep purple/red hellebores (I think Christmas rose is red and lenten rose white?)

Spring at the Triangle!

Well, there are lots of exciting things starting to come up! A lot of the green tufts you see around the trees are bulbs that have been there previously -- some muscari and lots of wood hyacinth. These pictures were taken on a sunny day--not something that comes easily in March in Vancouver! The leaves demark a natural path between the trees that we're building on. We planted ferns on either side of the path (hopefully they survived the winter in my pots, their roots were pretty exposed) and we'll plant some hostas further up the path among the trees. In the lower left-hand corner you can see some of the geraniums... they've taken over the shade garden so we moved them down here where it's a bit of a wilder setting and they can spread if they want to! When we first started this garden we took boxloads and boxloads of garbage out of here: anything from shoes and sweaters to bbq grills, condom wrappers and coffee cups. It just dawned on me that in the last 6 mos at least there has been next to nothing for garbage! The garden has been really respected so far at this location.

Here you can see the crocosmia, daffodils and crocus coming up... (and more wood hyacinth!) I can't wait for the daffodils to naturalize. Got to get to those stump sprouts in the background. Hopefully it's not too late in the spring to trim them.


Also, at the tip of the triangle, we put a little patch of dirt and I planted some wildflower seeds, hopefully we can expand to take up the entire tip of the triangle, there's a lot of yarrow there (which isn't terrible) and weeds. The yarrow might look nice in a wildflower mix.

What flower are you?

I am a Canna What Flower Are You?

I'm not usually into surveys but when you get to find out what flower you are.... why not?

apparently, being a Canna means:
"You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that."

waking up

Well it's been a dormant season, in the ground and on this blog!! We've even had snow and frozen ground off and on for about a month. I have been really inactive in the garden these past months (not necessarily for lack of things to do!) . Anyways, spring is coming and the bulbs are starting to peek out!! And the helleboris is budding and my baby willow tree has pussy willows! I'm getting excited!!! It'll be interesting to see which of the seeds and cuttings I scavanged last year will come up! Speaking of spring fever... I got the Vesey's catalogue in the mail the other day and I thought, 'heck! I've got Christmas money!' and I spent $50 right then and there. Got a ton of $5 deals, including 10 tigridis (mexican shell flower) which you have heard me mention before!! Here's a few pix of things I ordered:
I thought these Rununculus looked so pretty as doubles, 'Persian Buttercup'







Aquilegia 'Black Barlow' Doesn't this look amazing?!










And I'm excited about this 'Toad Lily' mix, they're sort of orchid-like and should do well in the shade...