Glog
Brief moment of repose (December 1, 2011)
The month of December for gardeners has a special poignancy. It is the moment when all work at the gardens is at a standstill and weighty and colourful seed catalogues begin to arrive to announce the work for the coming season. It is perhaps the one period of rest in the gardening year and the moment when this brief period of repose allows us to think freely of the possibilities for the coming season.
We probably get more seed catalogues than do most gardeners. And like all gardeners, particularly in our climate, these glorious catalogues with their bright photographs and heavily illustrated pages, serve to inspire and to disappoint. Inspire, because the new varieties that are being introduced help us dream of new plants to add to our collections. Disappointment, because not at all of the new introductions will survive in our sometimes harsh climate. Our horticulturist, Patricia Gallant, and assistant director Jean-Yves Roy, have the pleasant task of reconciling ambition with realism. But this is the task of all gardeners, at least those who doing their own growing, rather than relying on buying plants from growers or nurseries.
Our greenhouse operations are fairly extensive, particularly since the construction of the greenhouses obtained after the closure of the Jardin zoologique de Québec. Erected last summer, they will be used this year to produce more than 20,000 plants. We produce almost all of our own annuals and perennials that are used in the gardens.
This year again we are producing quantities of sea lyme grass for our project to combat erosion along the St. Lawrence shoreline and to help residents and environmental groups join us in this effort. These native plants effectively combat coastal erosion with their extensive root system and their stubborn resistence to salt spray and wave action. It was at this time last year that our property, like the properties in nearby Ste-Flavie and Métis-sur-Mer, was damaged by the storm surge and waves. This extraordinary climatological event made us realize that our role as a garden is not simply to display beautiful plants - it is also one of educating the public about the special role that plants play in the environment. You may not find sea lyme grass in too many seed catalogues. But this does not diminish their importance.
So take advantage of this brief moment of repose, knowing that lots of hard work is not too far around the corner.
