More than 30 people turned up soil and planted down roots at the May 29th annual beautification of the Sunken Gardens, a project the Prince Rupert Garden club undertakes each spring.
Club President Andreé Fawcett said it was extra special this year with two new resident families from South Africa and Brazil showing their enthusiasm for gardening in their new Prince Rupert home, with both families moving to the city within the past month.
Lauren Storm aged 10, said she has never taken part in a planting such as at the Sunken Gardens and it was her first time at the popular garden and tourist spot. She arrived in the country just three weeks ago from South Africa with her parents and two sisters. It was a good opportunity to get out into the community and meet new people, and enjoying the day she said she would definitely do it again.
Fawcett said that more than 10,000 plants and flowers will be planted in the Sunken Gardens by both new and experienced gardens over the two-day project. The club opens its arms to new members and no one needs experience Fawcett said, as she likes to see that the club is a ‘teaching club’.
“We’re always looking for new members. We always have new projects which require different levels of both physical ability and knowledge. Sometimes like today, you didn’t have to have any knowledge because we teach you how to plant a flower,” Fawcett said.
“The Sunken Gardens is not only a beautiful community garden, but it for me is a teaching garden, where we teach people how to not just plant flowers, but we have a greenhouse as well. So we’re also teaching people how to grow vegetables,” the club president said.
The Sunken Gardens is located on provincial property and the club applies for grants to cover the cost of the flowers and plants. Volunteers donate their time to assist the club with planting. The thousands of blooms and plants are shipped from Riverside Gardens in Houston, and the begonias and flowers are specially grown for the yearly project by local Prince Rupert Lawn and Garden.
There are numerous projects the Garden Club assists with each year, and the major fundraising initiative they are entering into for the 2021-2022 year is for the construction of a garden gazebo with seating made of local cedar to be the upper gateway of the park.
K-J Millar | Journalist
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