Garden Days - Gardens Canada - June13

It’s Garden Time!

Photo: Courtesy of Toronto Botanical Gardens
Credit: Janet Davis

Next Garden Days will be from June 11th to 19th, 2022

GARDEN DAYS 2021 - IT’S GARDEN TIME!

June 12th – June 20th , 2021

Whether you are a home gardener, a community gardener, or a visitor, a garden can be a source of exercise, stimulation, and relaxation.

So, what are you waiting for? It’s Garden Time!

There is so much to do and there are so many benefits to gardens and gardening, that this year we are going to celebrate the many joys of gardens and gardening with daily themes.

Every day we will offer suggestions of great ways everyone can engage with our themes.
Our experts will weigh in on their favourite topics.
We will share links on great articles, books, podcasts.
We will use our social channels to connect with everyone who loves a garden.
We will invite our “Garden Family” and the public to tell us how they relate to the daily themes.
Scotts will offer prizes to those that participate.

Share with Us What You are Doing for Garden Days

Tell us your Garden Days Story!

It’s Garden Time! Garden Days 2021 celebrates the joy of gardens and gardening in our daily life, with a new theme every day!.

Participate in this year’s celebrations by sharing your story on your favourite social media platform using #GardenTime.

You could win prizes provided by:

Scotts,® Miracle-Gro®: Scotts gift bag, a retail value of $125 – 3 bags to win

It’s Garden Time!

Gardens and flowers have a way of bringing people together. (Clare Ansberry)

GARDEN THEME DAYS

June 12th

It’s time to visit a garden. Visit a garden you’ve never been to before or one you love, a public one or a friend’s garden.

June 13th

It’s time to share your favourite garden story. Did you have a remarkable adventure in a garden? Do you have a great piece of gardening advice? Let us know so we can share it.

June 14th

It’s time to learn more about the garden. Share your love and passion of gardening and gardens with your children, family members or friends who are new to gardening. Be Inspired by your local garden centre, professional landscapers, or garden expert.

June 15th

It’s time to make friends in the garden. Support a friend or neighbour by helping to tend their garden. Join a garden group, a community garden or garden activity. Give a plant or give flowers.

June 16th

It’s time to plant yellow. Communities in Bloom and its partners are asking you to plant YELLOW, the international colour of hope, and register your Hope Garden on Canada’s Hope is Growing Map.

June 17th

It’s time to find your “mellow” in the garden. Whether it’s yoga, meditating, or just relaxing with a good book about gardens or gardening, peaceful time in the garden is good for your soul.

June 18th

It’s time to get exercise in the garden. Get gardening for your physical and mental well being! Or you can go for a bike ride or a walk in a garden and get your exercise that way.

June 19th

It’s time to share a garden photo to celebrate National Garden Day. There is something very satisfying about capturing a moment in time of a garden, a flower, a plant, or a tree. We invite you to share it with us.

June 20th

It’s time to have family time in a garden. Celebrate Father’s Day with his favorite garden activity. Why not a backyard garden BBQ with his favorite garden cocktail, or a family picnic in a garden.

Garden Days Spokespeople

National Spokespeople

Mark & Ben Cullen

Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, author & broadcaster and holds the Order of Canada. His son Ben is a fourth-generation urban gardener and graduate of Guelph and Dalhousie Universities.

“We believe that this time, during the pandemic, is Canada’s sweet spot for gardens. A time when Canadians are discovering the joys of the gardening experience at a new level. Garden Days is your chance to celebrate the gardening experience with us!”
- Mark and Ben Cullen

Provincial Spokespeople

Todd BolandNewfoundland

Brad HendersonNew Brunswick

Garth DaveyPEI

Neville MacKayNova Scotia

Albert MondorQuebec

Steven and Emma BiggsOntario

Colleen ZachariasManitoba

Noelle ChorneySaskatchewan

Jane RekstenAlberta

Egan DavisBritish Columbia

“There is no doubt that gardens foster wellness. They provide opportunities to reduce stress, boost Vitamin D, improve heart health and muscle strength, and allow us to socialize, problem solve and increase access to healthy foods.  Gardens foster wellness for those who create them, those who spend time in them and those who view them.”

– Dr. Vera Etches, Medical Officer of Health, Ottawa Public Health

Growing things has helped me through some of the toughest times in my life. The perseverance of nature, to push through the soil even when it snows, was the one thing that helped me realize, several years ago, that I could keep going when I was left heartbroken and without a home. I’ve clung to the magic powers of gardening ever since.”

– Alice Vincent, Montreal Gazette

“I cannot remember a time when the world stopped like this and it seems that the gods are not punishing us but trying to tell us something about living a slower and more contained existence. This may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see just how much more tranquil our lives can be. There is value in our quarantine, which some may see as gifts. The comforting path leads to the garden, if you are lucky enough to have one in any form. A patio, a backyard, a balcony even, all offer places where we can get outside without having to dodge others.”

- Adrian Higgins, The Washington Post

“According to a new study done by Anglia Ruskin University in England, gardening can increase our confidence, improve our self-esteem, and boost our appreciation of our bodies. This confirms what we already know about gardening being the perfect activity to get us through the current social distancing regulations.”

- Lisa Walden, Country Living

“What all gardeners know, and the rest of you may discover, is that if you have even the smallest space, a pot on a window ledge, a front step, a wee yard, there is no balm to the soul greater than planting seeds.”

- Charlotte Mendelson, The New Yorker

Gardening helps us to slow down and learn to observe and operate at the Earth’s pace. We can drastically increase the therapeutic benefits in the garden by simply paying attention to our surroundings and slowing down enough to really observe the garden (and our own bodies).”

– Cheney Creamer, Chair, Canadian Horticultural Therapy Association

“Gardening is a lifetime marriage between yourself and nature connecting spiritually, emotionally, physically, creatively, intellectually, and socially. It is always challenging me to improve myself, provide me guidance, and raise my vibration to receive and give love out to the world. It’s my favourite outlook to release, destress, feel grounded, take time for myself as well as engage with others.

- Sarah Shapiro, Horticultural Therapist, The Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre, Ottawa

Gardening gives us so much pleasure, as we co-create these special places with nature. But sometimes the garden becomes entirely about what needs doing. I know people who can’t be in their garden without pulling out an unwanted plant here; deadheading a flower there. Can we also give ourselves permission to simply BE in our gardens; to rest; to enjoy the sights, sounds, smells, textures exactly as they are. The world of nature – whether garden, lakeside, meadow or forest – invites us to set aside our to-do list and discover the wonder and healing power of the present moment.

- Andrea Prazmowski, Forest Therapy Ottawa, Certified Nature & Forest Therapy Guide

Garden Days Champions

The Canadian Garden Council is grateful for the support that each Champion volunteers to help create local, regional, and national awareness of this program and are looking for more ambassadors to help promote Garden Days this year.

If your organization has an interest in gardens or gardening, you could be a Garden Days Champion!

Learn More