Dear gardeners I
promise, the uplifting part of this message comes after the next paragraph. This year of 2021 so far has not shown itself to be as much of a relief as everyone had been expecting. Ignoring events to the south, we’re coming to terms with how much longer we’ll be wearing masks and avoiding people we don’t live with. The good news of vaccines has been supplanted with the realization of just how long it will take the blessed stuff to get to everyone who wants to be immunized. Politicians and civil servants who opted to sneak away to foreign destinations over Christmas have been demoted and friends and family have come nearly to blows (no actual blows, though; social distancing) over the morality of visiting a dying loved one in a foreign country. Half of my Facebook feed is filled with vitriol. But only half. Here is the uplifting part. The other half of my newsfeed is filled with gardeners. Gardeners wanting to know what the best cucumber to order is and sharing pictures of fresh snowfalls on seed heads. Maybe they participate in the arguments and ugliness—it doesn’t really matter. Because through it all, they see that someone new to houseplants has fine webs on his parlour palm and needs to know what to do about spider mites. There have always been things that divide us. Right now, they are pretty harsh; as a society, we’ve fallen into factions that each of us believes to be crazy or sane. I don’t care which faction you are in; you think the other side is certifiably nuts. But folks on either side can plant a seed. The lady so wrapped up in her political stance that you wonder if she sleeps at night can dream about a freshly unfurled rose that is still perfect, without bug bites. She can plan for cut and come again salads. She can be every bit as excited as you are to see a seed catalogue in the mail. The good news is that people are gardening again. The rain and the sun and the insects don’t give a hoot how you voted, they’ll come to your yard just the same. ••••• This is the annual edition we traditionally call Beautiful Gardens, and usually it is all garden profiles. Owing to COVID-19, we couldn’t go out and photograph gardens this year, so we decided to make this special edition all about different ways to build the garden of your dreams. From seating to paths and raised beds to chickens, there is plenty here to get your creative juices flowing. Please write and tell me what you think. I will read all your messages and I’ll print my favourites in a future issue of Canada’s Local Gardener. Happy reading!
Shauna Dobbie Editor shauna@pegasuspublications.net 4 • 2021
Canada’s
Local Gardener Follow us online at: localgardener.net Instagram:@local_gardener Published by Pegasus Publications Inc. President/Publisher Dorothy Dobbie dorothy@pegasuspublications.net Design Cottonwood Publishing Services Editor Shauna Dobbie shauna@pegasuspublications.net Art Direction & Layout Karl Thomsen karl@pegasuspublications.net General Manager Ian Leatt ian.leatt@pegasuspublications.net Contributors Dorothy Dobbie, Shauna Dobbie, Keith Lemkey, Dan Rubin. Editorial Advisory Board Greg Auton, John Barrett, Todd Boland, Darryl Cheng, Ben Cullen, Mario Doiron, Michel Gauthier, Larry Hodgson, Jan Pedersen, Stephanie Rose, Michael Rosen and Aldona Satterthwaite. Advertising Sales 1.888.680.2008 Subscriptions Write, email or call Canada’s Local Gardener, 138 Swan Lake Bay, Winnipeg, MB R3T 4T8 Phone (204) 940-2700 Fax (204) 940-2727 Toll Free 1 (888) 680-2008 subscribe@localgardener.net One year (four issues): $35.85 Two years (eight issues): $71.70 Three years (twelve issues): $107.55 Single copy: $10.95; Beautiful Gardens: $14.95 150 years of Gardening in Canada copy: $12.95 Plus applicable taxes. Return undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: Circulation Department Pegasus Publications Inc. 138 Swan Lake Bay, Winnipeg, MB R3T 4T8 Canadian Publications mail product Sales agreement #40027604 ISSN 2563-6405
Canada’s Local Gardener is published four times annually by Pegasus Publications Inc. It is regularly available to purchase at newsstands and retail locations throughout Canada or by subscription. Visa, MasterCard and American Express accepted. Publisher buys all editorial rights and reserves the right to republish any material purchased. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Pegasus Publications Inc.
Issue 2
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