From gravel pit ~ to Rock Gardens
The following message
appeared in the Hamilton Spectator end of April:
Royal Botanical Gardens is
embarking on the final twelve months of renovating our beloved Rock
Garden. Time has not been kind to this
garden and it is receiving a much needed makeover. To help us remember the history of our iconic
Rock Garden, Royal Botanical Gardens
invites you to share your memories
through a submission of photos, stories and/or video with the grand
prize winner receiving a trip to New
York City.
Praise for the
Royal Botanical Gardens
(my submission dated
May 2, 2014)
A Blissful Event: The day was extremely hot and humid. My Wedding Day was the last Saturday in June,
1962...after a teaching year. My dress,
custom-designed in the Spring by Mary Thornton
of Hamilton,
was fashioned from white Swiss cotton with sprawling satin-embroidered white
daisies; Svarovski crystals centered
them on the front and long tapered sleeves.
My attendants wore below-the-knee light royal blue satin dresses
(Mary-designed). Our bouquets were of
blue trailing lobelia and white daisies. I was sweltering from the heat and
humidity of this tropical-weather-day!
Following the ceremony at All
Saints Church, the wedding party and guests adjourned to the scenic Royal
Botanical Gardens for photos and celebration.
It was a soft-blue-sky-day with drifting clouds. The Gardens was a park-scape of lush green
lawns, of stately deciduous and evergreen trees, of flowering shrubs, of dramatically sculpted
rock and a trickling stream winding its quiet flow through this horticultural
paradise. Truly a “Garden of Eden”
setting!
A Little Boy's Joy: After
our son was born, we frequently spent summer evenings at the RBG. It was a great escape from our warm apartment
on the East Mountain to leisurely enjoy the pathways, the nature-induced
created wonder ~ the essence of being totally inspired by this Garden of
Beauty. Our son, mesmerized by the
stream, was fascinated by the tiny fish that flitted playfully through the cool
flowing waters. At home we had a
fishbowl with a couple fan-tailed goldfish.
When they outgrew this small aquarium, our family chatted about
releasing them to a bigger and better habitat.
After water-bagging them, one evening we visited the RBG stream and with
a prayerful farewell, our son gave them a more suitable home. Thereafter, when we visiting the Gardens, to the stream he would go, ensuring his fish were happy.
To compensate for this loss, his
father helped him to make small paper boats...a delightful activity as our son
in bare feet would set his boat afloat on the stream and to be caught by his
bare-foot Daddy...to again be re-floated and captured again and again and
again.
Appreciation Days: Such a thrill it was when we moved to Burlington, now having
this nature magnet of green including
the Rose Garden and those of Lilacs and Irises in our neighbourhood. Over the
years, we enjoyed the Mediterranean Garden, the Tea House and Garden Cafe, the
lower level recently built waterfall cascading over a limestone wall, the
informative displays throughout the complex, the available conference
facilities and banquet rooms.
The camera and I were constant
photographic partners for several years.
Expressing the essence of nature through my eyes and lens inspired me to
capture the subtle beauty of colour and environment. Several of these on-site-prints, I crafted
into cards mounted on pastel-toned linen-type paper with matching
envelopes. The RBG Gift Shop was
receptive to marketing these innovative “write your own message” inside the
cards...a new idea at that time.
I praise the Royal
Botanical Gardens and its staff
for the numerous
developed endeavours
which endear the
public and tourists who frequent this Gem!
Merle
Baird-Kerr...scripted August 5, 2014
Comments
appreciated...e-mail to:
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