UBC Botanical Garden Blog

I took a few quick snapshots at the front entrance to the garden today. The flowering of the first magnolia, Magnolia sargentiana var. robusta, always seems to signal the start of spring for me. A few rhododendrons are already past their prime in the garden, but the Rhododendron mucronulatum (white-flowered selection) at the front entrance is greeting all visitors this week with its full glory (along with some nearby purple-flowered Rhododendron dauricum).

Tony Maniezzo, the horticulturist responsible for the excellent displays in the Food Garden, has compiled this list of recommended fruit and vegetable varieties for local gardens.

Vegetables

Bean ‘Painted Lady’ abundant beans and attractive flowers  

Broccoli ‘Gypsy’ reliable, many smaller side shoots into the winter after the main heads are harvested  

Cauliflower ‘Cheddar’ lovely orange colours  

Beet ‘Chioggia’ reliable performer at UBC  

Cabbage ‘Mellissa’ hardy variety, suitable for the winter garden, very reliable  

Cucumber ‘Salad Bush’ great in containers  

Tomato ‘Sweet Million’ cherry tomato, loads of fruit, resistant to late blight  

Pac Choi ‘Joi Choi’ very white stalks, grows quickly  

Kohlrabi ‘Kongo’ grows quickly  

Lettuce ‘Mesclun, Cooks Mild Mix’ big fan of leaf lettuce salad blends that can be harvested young, cut and cut again as they keep on growing  

Fruit

Strawberry ‘Totem’ most common for a reason, reliable  

Blueberry ‘November Glow’ good sized berry, a little later fruit and great fall colour  

Raspberry ‘Kitsilano’ large fruit, won our student taste-testing a couple of years ago  

Raspberry ‘Nootka’ very good, sweet, large fruit  

Fig ‘Brown Turkey’ grown all over the Lower Mainland  

Kiwi (Chinese gooseberry) ‘Annasnaja’ will ripen on vine, very sweet, less vigorous than large fuzzy fruit varieties  

Plum ‘Cannor Gold Plum’ delicious, golden-yellow fruit  

Pear ‘Aurora’ consistently good crops  

Apple ‘Melba’ softer than some varieties but great flavour, some disease resistance  

Apple ‘Gravenstein’ old variety, large fruit, crisp  

A new website about “Botany John” Davidson, UBC Botanical Garden's first director, will be launched in the first few weeks of March.

From the home page of the new site:

John Davidson (1878–1970), also known as “Botany John,” was a Canadian botanist, educator and conservationist who touched many lives through his teachings and public lectures.

His accomplishments include the creation of the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden, the University of British Columbia Herbarium and the Vancouver Natural History Society.

Expansive documentation of the life and work of this avid photographer and diligent record-keeper resides in the University of British Columbia Archives, the City of Vancouver Archives, the University of British Columbia Herbarium and the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden.

Read about John Davidson and his achievements, browse through over 5,000 digitized objects and dive into his work and presentations. The activities section will take you on a 1927 botanical exploration of Garibaldi Park and allow you to hand-tint some of Botany John’s digital lantern slides, while the learning aids will help you understand the technical jargon and provide helpful facts about herbaria and lantern slides. Explore and learn!

And some previews!

Hello Community, Volunteers and Staff

On Saturday October 27, 2007, UBC Botanical Garden held the 2nd Annual Boootiful Botany Haunted Halloween Event.

This is a spooktacular event where children and their families use a map to search the Garden for a series of trick or treat plant stations. At each plant station they are greeted by a volunteer who stamps their map, shares unique botanical information about the plant at that station, and hands out Halloween treats. Following this scavenger hunt, the children also enjoyed a series of Halloween crafts and games. As with last year, the event was a great success with 730 community members of all ages in attendance, decked out in weird and wonderful Halloween costumes.

My sincere thanks goes to all of our volunteers whose enthusiasm and help are integral to the continued success of educational community events at the Garden. The 2007 Boootiful Botany Haunted Halloween Event was supported by the assistance of 31 UBC student volunteers. Some of these student volunteers were international students that were new to Canada and eager to help so that they could experience their first North American Halloween celebration.

Thank-you also to our staff volunteers, which included:

Ingrid Hoff, Jodi and Natalie Simkin & Family, Jackie Chambers, Mindy Li, Patrizia Todaro, Lindsay McGhee, Raakel Toppila

And thank-you to our event sponsors:

HENRY EDDIE FOUNDATION, AUTOPLAN BROKERS (Alexander Park & Associates Ltd, Axis Insurance, Kitsilano Insurance Agency Ltd, Deak Agencies Ltd, William Parton Agency Ltd, Winram Insurance Ltd, Vanguard Insurance Brokers Ltd), FORSTBAUER FARM, UBC BOTANICAL GARDEN

Please enjoy the photos and feedback below! Thank-you to Lindsay McGhee for the wonderful photos!

“My husband and 4 year old son had a wonderful time and they enjoyed all aspects of the event. My husband was impressed by the students who were running the event, as they were enthusiastic and very good with the kids. My son really liked the scavenger hunt and when he got home he was able to describe almost all the plants that he found on the hunt. He kept the map because he wants to go back to the Garden again to see the plants that he found. It was nice to see him so excited about plants.”

“This was a great event. Our daughter, who is just 4 years old, loved all of it. She is so interested in everything to do with nature. You made it fun and informative. It was well thought out with the stamps, so that the kids could make sure they saw everything. Well done.”

“Dear Nadine, I went with my two boys (3 and 5). The boys loved the treasure hunt style, and exploring the small trails in the garden. They were excited by the licorice fern, the candy tree, the story of the Jack-O-Lantern, the activity centre and the crafts. The volunteers were exceptionally enthusiastic and welcoming. And there was even candy! The event was a bigger hit than Halloween night itself. We will definitely come next year if it is on.”

“It was great having someone at every stop with info or a story about the tree/plant. Of course, the kids enjoyed the treats too. The feeling boxes were well done and it was great to get the small pumpkins from the garden to decorate. The jack o lantern story was well done, and the games and crafts were an added bonus to the walk around the garden.”

“Hi Nadine, My husband took our 5-year-old granddaughter. They both thought it was a wonderful event! It was a high interest introduction to the garden and plants for our granddaughter. The scavenger hunt keeps interest going, and it was a pleasant and enjoyable time for the adults as well.”

This is always a really, really fun family event. These photos were taken this morning just as the set up was getting started.

Please click here to read all about this year's Apple Festival (including details on how to arrive by public transit or car). There are lots of activities scheduled, and the weather people are forecasting a perfect weekend--we hope that you can make it!

It might not look exciting to most people, but we are thrilled by this generous donation.

We have been given a huge amount of chipped wood that has allowed us to improve unsafe pathways and to get control of the weeds in some difficult areas. Here are a few photos of Brendan and Chris using the donated wood chips to rebuild Upper Asian Way in the Asian Garden. We have also used many, many loads of these chips to mulch the new beds in the Carolinian Forest.

Horticultural Manager Ingrid Hoff explains: "the mulch has come from South Campus and is part of a sustainability initiative spearheaded by UBC Properties Trust. By locally re-using raw materials, which must be removed from the area on south campus due to neighborhood development, truck traffic and carbon emissions are greatly reduced. We are grateful for the support of Al Poettcker, Rob Wood and Paul Young."

A big thank you from all of us!

We are very fortunate to have found these four great people.

Gemma, Mia, Shasta and Shalea are all graduate students in the UBC Landscape Architecture Program. They are doing a fantastic job in caring for the garden and we hope that their work here helps with their future careers (and their tuition).

"If the weeds don't grow, whatcha gonna hoe?"

We've decided that the horticulturists here need a catchy saying to challenge Tom's popular turf-centric motto that I wrote about earlier this week. Tony had a shot at it. I'm thinking hard about it. I wonder if there are any plant lovers out there that could help us out?

Day 6 was, for the most part, a travel day. A few side excursions were made along the way, including a trip to Domingo Pass in southern Oregon. The first photograph shows a view of the Alvord Desert taken from Domingo Pass. The Alvord Desert is tucked below the east side of Steens Mountain. After arriving at our destination of Frenchglen (population: 11), we decided to scout the Steens Mountain, where we spent an entire day collecting (I'll write about this in the next entry). In the meantime, the second photograph is a teaser – it's a view of Kiger Gorge near the summit of Steens Mountain.

"If you can't mow it, don't grow it!"

Visitors to the UBC Botanical Garden will probably recognize Tom right away. He has been with the garden for quite a while and works hard to keep all of the turf areas looking terrific. Tom certainly has a passion for his work. I'm not sure if his motto fits with the garden's collections policy, but it always makes me laugh when he says it.