Strange Times Indeed - Looking back at 2020

2020 was a year like none other in a hundred years, Winter was much like it always is; pretty much every day some intrepid soul making the climb to the top of the Tower. As we waited for the snow to melt, we had no idea what was in store.

As March drew to a close, the snow was all gone, but our lives had been turned upside down by COVID-19. We were looking forward to getting to work. We thought it would be a safe environment working outdoors, no closer to one another than a rake or a shovel, but the Public Health Unit thought otherwise. We were greeted by this sight in early April. Oh how we wanted to rake!

Spring arrived without us. The grass turned green and the daffodils and magnolias were there for the visitors who dared ignore the signs. So were the fallen leaves, spent perennials and grasses from last fall.

We were beginning to despair about a lost gardening season, when April McNamara (Manager of Parks & Recreation) came to our rescue. She convinced Town Council to allow us access to the Garden to work, following safety guidelines approved by the Health Unit regarding the number of gardeners at a time (five), distancing and disinfecting.

She rallied her troops; they picked up the leaves and we began our season on May 26th. We had no trouble following guidelines and got right to work. There is an abundance of space in the garden; can you spot the three Gardeners working here that first day?

We felt like we had missed a huge part of the gardening season and would never catch up but by the middle of June the Garden was already looking lovely.

Every cloud has a silver lining, and the silver lining of the playing fields being closed, was that Parks & Rec staff had a little more time for us, keeping the grass neat and tidy … even during dandelion season.

High School graduation was cancelled, but graduates and their families were able to come to the Garden to take photos.

We hadn’t been able to pre-order annuals for the Garden, but had started some from seed and found enough locally to add the colour that visitors love. Zinnia’s never let us down …

… and a fresh load of mulch provided by the Town was a welcome addition as July started out hot and dry.

If COVID-19 wasn’t enough, 2020 brought an explosion in the Gypsy moth population. The caterpillars were all over our young crabapple trees and completely defoliated our Queen’s Jubilee Bur Oak. Here’s a scary sight we observed in late July; female Gypsy moths laying egg masses on the tree which had managed to put on a whole new set of leaves. Each egg mass contains hundreds of eggs and there were dozens of them on our Bur Oak, many too high for us to reach and remove. Oaks and maples are their preferred host plants and throughout the fall we spotted masses on many of the trees in the woods surrounding the Garden. What will next summer look like?

We were dreading a summer of dragging hoses which would have to be disinfected, but Mother Nature stepped up and provided enough rain and sunshine to give us one of the best summers yet in the Garden.

Lush green foliage in shady spots,

Bright, rich coloured annuals and perennials,

and show stopping shrubs kept the Garden interesting throughout the summer.

The Tower was closed for the entire season but visitors were still able to enjoy the view from a lower vantage point.

Visitors? Yes, hundreds of them. It is a shame there is no way to tally the number of visitors we have since the Garden is open to the public free of charge all day, every day of the year, because this year of restricted travel brought more people to Town than one could imagine. No Festival of the Sound, no cruise ships, no Canada Day Fireworks but visitors, visitors, visitors throughout the summer and well into the fall.

And every one of them expressed disappointment that the TOWER WAS CLOSED !

Summer gave way to the richer tones of autumn. and the leaves began to fall.

With no sign of frost and no Gardeners heading off for autumn travel, we embarked on a project that has been just an idea up till now … a Children’s Garden.

We have long imagined a magical place in the woods behind the Time Capsule that inspires the imagination where children can explore nature.

Many families visit the Garden each year but once they have climbed the Tower and skipped along the stone paths to the pond to see the frogs and fish, there is not much else (other than Mr. Googly Eyes) to engage children.

We started in early October by clearing off the rock garden hidden next to the time capsule andround picnic table.

Our littlest volunteer thinks it will be a great rock for scrambling on or a place to gather to hear a story.

From there, children can find their way into to the woods where a network of paths will provide a place of exploration,

… discovery and free play. This spot is waiting to be discovered by a child who likes to build.

The golden days of autumn lasted well into November.

As the year drew to a close, there was little or no snow on the ground and no lights in the Garden. And the Tower? Still closed.

But these grasses, stood tall and proud in the Garden … strange looking in their own way.

A fitting image to represent the strangest year of a lifetime!