Summer Gardens Day - August 4

With colourful heirloom plants in full bloom and vegetables growing in abundance, Upper Canada Village is in peak form for its “Summer Gardens” event on Saturday, August 4. Visitors are invited to participate in guided tours and to attend a fascinating workshop specially prepared for this day.

The morning tour, starting at the entrance to the Village at 10:00 a.m., will be a “Weed Walk” entitled, If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them. Led by the Village’s Lead Horticultural Interpreter, this walk will focus on weed identification, key characteristics, alternative uses, and both historical and modern methods of weed control.

The afternoon tour, starting at the entrance at 3:00 p.m., will highlight summer-flowering ornamentals (both annuals and perennials), and will provide insight on planting and transplanting techniques, dead-heading, pest and disease control.

At 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon visitors are invited to attend a Garden “Tea Party” at the Loucks Farm Garden. But don’t expect to be drinking the tea … this workshop will focus on several different types of garden “teas” – traditional recipes for mixing liquid pest and disease treatments using a variety of plants. The workshop will address the different types of teas, how to “brew” them, their purposes, guidelines for use, and potential hazards. Visitors are welcome to bring their own small sealed containers to take home and try small quantities of the teas, and special door prizes will be drawn at the workshop.

The tours and workshops that are part of the “Summer Gardens” event are all included in the regular admission price to the Village. Fall Gardens, the third in this series of garden programs, will take place on Saturday, September 8, 2007.