Spring Gardens - Tours & Workshop - June 16th

There’ll be lots to learn about at Upper Canada Village’s upcoming “Spring Gardens” Day, scheduled for Saturday, June 16. Horticultural staff at the Village have set aside the day to share their expertise on landscape design features of Upper Canada Village, and how to ensure your plants get a good head start this season through on-site guided garden tours, and a workshop.

Guided tours, led by Village Horticultural staff, will provide a close-up look at a wide variety of 19th century flowers, vegetables and gardens. The first guided tour will start at the front entrance at 10:30 a.m., and will take visitors through several gardens on site to see heirloom varieties that bloom in spring. Visitors will also learn about planting and transplanting techniques, and the many historical connections between the gardens and Upper Canada Village’s living history program. The tour will be offered again at 3:00 p.m.

Many of the plants visitors will see during Upper Canada Village’s Spring Gardens Day were started from seeds in hotbeds fashioned from 19th century materials. Others are given a helpful start in the ground with the use of different structures to shade, protect and support them. A workshop at 1:30 p.m. in the Robertson Home garden will offer a chance to view these various structures and to understand why they are still important to the home gardener today.

“Spring Gardens” is the first in a three-season garden series at the Village, with “Summer Gardens” on August 4, and “Fall Gardens” on September 8, 2007.