Josefina at the Spring Tide

A couple weekends ago, I visited one of my favourite places in the city: the Gage Park Tropical Greenhouse. Gage Park Greenhouse is where the City of Hamilton grows all the flowers for its public gardens, parks, and traffic islands, but part of it is also open to the public, free of charge. Gage Park itself is chilly in the winter, but the greenhouse is warm and filled with pretty growing things all year round. This visit was extra-special because the annual Spring Tide event was taking place! Every March, the greenhouse displays hundreds of spring flowers. The show always takes place right when I’m starting to get tired of winter. Although this year’s winter was mild, it was still relaxing to visit the greenhouse and enjoy the humid air and bright colors for a little while.

I decided to bring Josefina with me for two reasons: one, she loves gardening and beautiful flowers; and two, she was my first American Girl doll, so it seemed fitting that she host my first blog post.

The Spring Tide always has a theme, and this year’s theme—naturally enough—was Canada’s 150^th Celebration. Canada became a country on July 1, 1867, and this year, the Canadian government and many independent organizations are celebrating its 150^th anniversary. The Spring Tide setup included information about and characteristic items from each of the Canadian provinces and territories. One of the most impressive displays was a model of Canada’s Parliament Building, surrounded by tulips. The scene was intended to recall the Tulip Festival that takes place every spring in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city. This was the first I’d heard of the Tulip Festival, and now I really want to go!

While we were visiting the Gage Park Greenhouse, we had the opportunity to chat with one of the staff members, who informed us that the greenhouse would close for renovations on March 20^th of this year. When it reopens, it will be half again as wide as it is now and it will have a second storey. Securing the funding for the renovation was a challenge, she said, but now the biggest issue is safely relocating the greenhouse’s trees. Some of the trees are quite old, and no one knows for sure how deep their roots go.

Josefina and I hope that all the plants and trees can be successfully replanted in their new and improved home. We are also looking forward to Mother Nature’s version of the Spring Tide, which will hopefully take place soon!