a van-load of flowers

It's been obvious to me for a while that the potential of the gardens have grown beyond my capabilities/resources and that it's time to take them to a new level. This includes gathering and organizing volunteers, getting soil from the city and soliciting plant donations. Many friends, neighbours and garden-club members have generously shared their plants with me but I've been putting off asking for donations from businesses, that kind of thing is outside of my comfort zone and I prefer to be self-sufficient! Finally one day my 2 year old and I went into Home Hardware and find out if they had anything they could send our way. At first the manager didn't think there was much there but as he looked, he kept finding more plants to give me: dormant lilies, cana lilies and hostas, flats of pansies... and so much more! I was overwhelmed!! I drove away with a full-size van FULL of plants, and my 2 year old impressed that he was packed into the middle of a jungle. A very encouraging start, I'm so grateful and excited to see what they'll look like in the gardens next year!!! Thank you Home Hardware!!

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...

the flower lady

Thanks for the encouraging words... I have some things to sort out about the gardens. I'm so intertwined with them even if I try not to be. And on a gardening level, sometimes I feel that they're a reflection of my level of (or lack of) gardening expertise. This is embarassing to admit because it's not about me. But when the garden looks good, I feel some pride and when it looks trashed, I feel like its a reflection on me. These feelings don't sit right with me...I've got some stuff to sort out!

I have been planting a ton of seeds and bulbs and I have a lot of hope for the potential of the gardens. It won't be long before they fill up. I'm anticipating that next year is going to be a good year. I've been sneaking seedlings and seeds along the fence accross the street too. That's a great feeling. One day I'd like to see the whole street lined with colour. The city cuts the grass accross the street a few times/year to I've been reaching under the fence and planting there with hopes of survival for the plants!

An older gentleman walked by me the other day and said "so you're the flower lady!" I thought it was cute. Our friend Tony is renting some space in the building next door and he's started a roof garden in some pvc piping! It's mostly ornamental grasses. It looks great from what I can see!

This blog is looking a bit drab for lack of photos! Must get on that! It's a busy season right now. Collecting and planting seeds, transplanting... there's still lots left to do! I've been enjoying the sunshine!

zinnias

Originally I meant this post to be a photo of the bright and colorful zinnia blooms but I didn't have my camera that day and the next day absolutely everything that was blooming was picked. It seemed to happen over lunch break, we think we may know who did it. At least the plants are still there and the zinnias still have blooms on them so we may get that photo yet. It's hard not to let events like this be a big set-back. It certainly is discouraging after hours of organizing and work to have it trashed in a matter of minutes. I still have loads of seeds and bulbs to plant, so I'll keep plugging away..... back to the zinnias. I planted those from seeds and they made such big bright plants. It's fascinating what can come from a single small seed!

the book

I haven't read it yet, but here it is! Guerrilla gardening : how to create gorgeous gardens for free / Barbara Pallenberg ; illustrations by Cathy Pavia ; photographs by Lou Gaines.

I just found it in the library catalogue today, but it's checked out at the moment. I let you know how it is! Looks cute and right up my alley...

Sept is a busy season!! I've got over 16 types of bulbs and seeds to get planted and over ten kinds of plants to transplant now that it's cooled off. I'm also ready to invade my friends' yards and take any plants they don't want!

Getting ready for one such event yesterday, I was trucking some extra soil back and forth from the shop to the CN triangle. There was a woman(about 10 yrs older than me?) working the streets where I was buzzing about and she asked "why the garden? Just because?" She told me she liked gadening too. I said ya I want to plant gardens everywhere, I'm addicted to gardening. "That's ONE addiction that's ok!" she said to me.

It was a warmer day yesterday and the whole neighbourhood was buzzing with activity--women working, johns, users, people everywhere... on top of the people working in all of the local businesses. I actually saw one woman with a pimp (I'm quite sure), you don't see that often in that neighbourhood. It was such a strange feeling to watch it all in action. She seemed so thin and timid, but not overly timid, he was lurking in the shadows and then would periodically come and talk to her. He was so disrespectful to her. It's so hard to imagine the circumstances that can cause a woman to end up in that situation. It takes exploitation to a whole new level, just factoring even one more person into the equation. At times like that, it's really hard to get "I Live Off You" by the X-Ray Spex out of my head.

One woman who is very often around whenever I go gardening (the one who initially helped me haul soil) is always ready to chat and joke with me. It's nice to see a friendly face. So many faces in the area are vacant. Anyways, every now and then I happen to be there when she gets picked up. I hate seeing that. I wonder what it's like for her. She seems quite cheerful about it. I know it's her bread and butter (literally), if she hasn't had a client for a few days she complains to me about being hungry. Maybe I should just feed her. I can't tell if she's trying to manipulate me and I want our friendship to stay friends--equals--if I start taking care of her I don't want to change our friendship to someone she can use... But maybe I shouldn't think so much and just feed her. I mean, really wouldn't it be better if she had food and therefore even prostituted herself just one less time? That may be over-simplified. I don't think there are any rules about relationships. Everyone and every situation is different. It takes wisdom and readiness to be moved by the Spirit! Just some thoughts.

By the way... if anyone has a wheelbarrow they'd like to donate or a garden hose, I would be greatly appreciative. Also, if any of you have seeds to collect from plants in your yard or need some plants to be thinned out, I'm your lady!! Any plant donations can be put to good use! I'll try get some garden photos up here soon. The Zinnias are looking really colorful and beautiful.

interesting quotes

"Healthy people are inextricably linked to healthy environments..."

-John R. Parkins, "A Better Way of Living", Mosaic, summer 2006


"...Ecological citizenship invites a closer connection, which leads to change in policy, economy, and lifestyle."

-Brian McLaren, A General Orthodoxy

a confession

Here's one of the green spaces in my parent's neighbourhood. Hopefully our gardens will eventually grow into looking this good! My friend Laurie says good things don't usually happen fast and she's probably right. I feel kind of bummed that the CN triangle looks so shabby at the moment, but everyone keeps telling me that it's a great start. So we'll go with that!
The other evening I was watering the sun garden when a 50-or-so gentleman walked by. He complimented the garden and then said 'I bet plants get stolen don't they' or something like that. I said ya, it was a bummer and that I probably had about 50 plants stolen this spring. He took a few steps away then turned around and said 'I have to admit I took one plant, I think it was.... a tulip... ya, a tulip.' Then we chatted for a bit, told me about a floral arrangement course that his ex took, asked what kind of plant the hens & chicks were and recommended an electric fence if I wanted to keep people from wrecking the garden. According to him, anything nice in this neighbourhood either gets stolen or destroyed. 'Oh well you've got to try!' I told him! How hilarious that he felt he needed to come and confess to me! Well hopefully he'll feel for the garden a bit more now and spread the word to respect it.

Tigrida

One of my newest favorite flowers! Tigrida... or Mexican Shell Flower. I happened to pick one up at a garden sale in Robert's Creek last year and loved it. (Incidentally, another flower colour change--it was yellow last year and came up white this year. What's in that soil, anyways?!) Last week, I picked some Tigrida seeds at the UBC botanical garden, yay! Mexican Shell Flowers, here I come!!

the sun garden grows...

Julie and I put out a bunch of sun-loving plants that I've been saving for the sun garden. Not to mention, we added a bunch of annuals that I picked up from Emerging Hope (see below). Still more scarce than I'd like it to be. But it's just a start. Gardening takes patience.........
here are some pictures of the sun garden at sun down: