Hortisculpture at the 2009 Centennial Flower Show.
into a related program known as Front Yards in Bloom. A collaboration between the city of Edmonton, Canada Post, and the horticultural society, Front Yards in Bloom allows anyone to nominate a yard for an award; society volunteers distribute lawn signs, letters of congratulation and other promotional material to every nominated prop- erty. A celebrity judging process awards prizes, but the primary intention behind the program is to reward effort and promote city beautification. Over the years thousands of Edmontonians have
contributed time and talents to the Edmonton Horticul- tural Society with the intention of making Edmonton a better place on account of its gardens. Prominent citizens, public figures, horticulturists, and plain old gardeners and gardening advocates have taken places on the society’s board of directors, judged competitions, planted trees on boulevards, created and maintained public gardens and even baked goodies for bake sales. Some of these had careers associated with horticulture including: Walter Ramsay, florist and greenhouse operator; Alfred Pike, seedsman; Georges Bugnet and Robert Simonet, both plant hybrid- ists. Others were prominent community figures such as professional photographer, Gladys Reeves, who believed trees, gardens and city beautification were causes worth fighting for. Lieutenant-governors, politicians and judges loaned their names to honourary positions. Now in its 106th year, the Edmonton Horticultural
Society continues, with the help of its more than 500 members, to make Edmonton a better place on account of its gardens and gardeners – to make Edmonton, if not
localgardener.net
Judges at work. 2009 Centennial Flower Show.
a City Beautiful, a worthy example of a Community in Bloom. x Kathryn Chase Merrett obtained her master of arts degree
in history from the University of Alberta in 1992. She research- es and writes about Edmonton, and volunteers her time in the interests of horticulture and history. Her interest in Edmonton’s gardening history grew out of the research for her first book, A History of the Edmonton City Market, 1900-2000, and has evolved very slowly beyond research to encompass the actual world of gardening. See her latest book on page 78.
Fall 2016 • 45
Photo by Wilf Maul.
Photo by Wilf Maul.
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