Gardens, public and private

This is the story of a garden - a public garden tended, planted, designed, weeded entirely by volunteers in my community - the community of Silver Springs in northwest Calgary.  And this is the meditation Labryinth - designed after the famous Chartre Labryinth, planted and dedicated last summer with creeping Thyme.  It is putting on quite a show at the moment

You can read more about the history of the garden  here www.BotanicalGardensOfSilverSprings.ca
Right now, because spring has been so late arriving in Calgary, annual planting is in full swing all through the gardens.  It is a treat to walk the length from the Birthplace Forest and Labryinth up to the Shakespeare Garden which is where much of the work is concentrating this season, building new paths.   Public gardens, by their very nature are structured, unlike private gardens, where controlled chaos is welcome some of the time.

Every spring we take pictures of the lovely sour cherry tree in our front garden and every year it is spectacular.  We want to hold the look longer, but mother nature usually has other ideas - like wind and rain that play havoc with the blossoms turning them into pink snow on the lawn.  So we record the temporary beauty for posterity.  The blossoms signal the coming of fruit - non edible but fruit non the less.  Even the birds don't like these cherries - too sour I guess.  They're a pretty red colour when they come though, and hang on the tree all winter.

Today the marauding squirrel dug up and ate some of the tulip bulbs in the side garden by the front door,  leaving a mess all over the sidewalk.  It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't torn up tulip leaves too and then just left them laying there.  He is a vandal - a garden vandal.  I sincerely hope the tulip bulbs give him a tummy ache.