July 16, 2010 (Communities in Bloom – Dryden, Ontario, Canada)

Elsewhere on this website is an advertisement for Communities in Bloom – Dryden’s annual Showcase of Gardens competition. It tells in brief detail how to enter a garden into this friendly competition.

Each year the Showcase of Gardens changes slightly in the categories we use and 2010 is no exception. This is to bring new people into both landscape gardens and this year for the first time, an edible garden.

Again this year we have also chosen our categories to correspond with the National Miracle-Gro Garden Contest sponsored by Scotts. As you may recall Dryden residents Gwen Johnston and Jim Blight won the medium “In Ground” category and a gift basket of Scotts products valued at $100.00.

As a result, since one of our obvious goals is to encourage more participants, we have decided to establish a “Circle of Excellence” category patterned after our own National win in the CiB competition in 2009. We cannot enter the National competition again until 2012. Thus we have declared the 2009 winners in the Showcase of Gardens to be in the “Circle of Excellence” and we will designate them so with a sign for their lawns in 2010. This way there will not be any repeat winners in the Showcase of Gardens categories in 2010.

The Scotts’ 2010 Miracle-Gro Garden Contest continues to focus on “Residential” gardens. There are two main categories “In Ground” and “Container” floral gardens. I think the terms are self explanatory, however if you wish to see some pictures visit the CiB-Canada site.

The Miracle-Gro Garden Contest has also added a new category this year called “Best Community Edible Garden”. They describe it as, “Consideration will be given to the number of participants, variety of plants, overall neatness, sense of community involvement and spirit, and special events. Bonus consideration if crop is to be shared with others such as food banks.” Dryden has at least one such “edible garden”, The Community Garden on King St.   Are there others shared by residents of apartments or neighbourhoods?  If so, we encourage you to enter the Showcase of Gardens.

Finally, because this is our Centennial year and we want everyone, businesses, service organizations and residences to participate, we have created two more categories, one is a repeat and one is new for 2010. The repeat is the “Best Commercial or Service Floral Display” and the new one is best “Residential Garden with Curb Appeal.” Both of these competitions are to encourage everyone in the community to make their front yards, store fronts and Church/school/hall yards to look as neat and colourful as possible for the arrival of our Centennial visitors.

There is, however, one more thing we at CIB-Dryden are going to ask you to do to spruce up our city for Centennial visitors.  Please take a few minutes to cut out the weeds from our sidewalks and the edge of the curbs. Simply put the City Parks staff can’t do all the sidewalks and curbs. In fact they will be hard pushed to do the just the downtown core. So if you are a downtown landlord please look at your properties, whether buildings or a parking lot and dig out those weeds, especially the burdocks. Think of it as the equivalent of snow removal in the wintertime.

Only with your participation by keeping your own residence tidy and blooming while helping our City look its best with weed and litter free sidewalks can we show to the World we are indeed “The Best Bloomin’ City in the Wilderness”.

July 16, 2010 (Communities in Bloom – Dryden, Ontario, Canada)

Imagine a table 32 feet long and 8 feet wide. That is exactly 36,864 square inches. Now imagine giving yourself the task of filling all of those square inches with approximately 32,000 pieces of pottery.

That is the task members of the Dryden Regional Arts Council (DRAC) have set for themselves. Called “Pieces of Dryden”, the table is in reality eight 4’ by 8’ sheets of plywood which will be reassembled into an eight sided pagoda and placed at present somewhere in Cooper Park.  Note that is 4000 tiny tiles per sheet.

On Friday evening July 9^th a number of Drydenites where invited to view the progress the artists are making in creating the mosaic mural.  Members of DRAC meet regularly to assemble “Pieces of Dryden” in a donated area currently at the back of the Golden Mile Plaza.

The design is the brain child of local artist Willene Moffatt. It features a swilling swarm of colors broken by bold straight lines symbolizing our trees. Even with less than 20% of the tiles laid out on the massive canvass the work already has a magical feel about it.

Earlier DRAC asked for donations of pottery and tiles from the public. Those pieces are now sorted into colors. They are still in need of donations, particularly pieces where the color green predominates.

As colors are needed the pieces are broken and neatly cut using various means into a rough square or rectangle. But before each piece is placed on the wooden “table”, the edges are ground smooth. This appeared to be a very slow, tedious and time consuming task. Of course the step is necessary because china or glass is sharp and one already has the immediate urge to run a hand over the surface of the tiles already in place, as if a somehow to touch it, puts you in touch with the generations of people who have called Dryden home.

Running throughout the sculpture are white lines composed of narrow tiles with the names of donors to the project. For a donation of $25.00 you too can be a piece of this historic tribute to our ancestors and the future city that Dryden is in the process of becoming. Artists at the Naked North Gallery on Government Road (beside Dryden’s iconic Max the Moose) would be glad to take your donation which is tax deductable or you can call 807 223 2895.

June 23. 2010 (Communities in Bloom, Dryden, ON)

Communities in Bloom-Dryden’s public fundraising program is called “Adopt-a-Planter”. Each year, since 2006, we have asked community members, whether businesses, services agencies or citizens, to sponsor a pot of flowers for the downtown core of the city.

Each year we have received comments from the businesses on the TransCanada Highway which passes through town to do something for that commercial strip. In 2010 we finally came up with a plan to put hanging baskets on the lamp posts.

Our original idea was to do a trial run of just 10 baskets.

In the process, however, we discovered that a few years ago an order had been placed for 50 baskets through Schmidt’s Greenhouse and never collected. Schmidt’s still had 34 left, 23 twenty-four inch baskets and 11 twenty inch baskets. We decided to purchase and hang all of them for 2010 as part of our Centennial Beautification effort.

In the meantime we also discovered that we had 66 pots left from 2009 but the number was perfect because added together it made 100 adopt-a-planters on our 100^th birthday. Perfect!

The Pots

For each of the past two years we have placed our pots in the local PRT Nursery to provide them with a head start so that they are fully mature when we put them out onto the downtown streets.

In 2010, however, we discovered that PRT did not have the room to manage the pots and we found an alternative location at Tamarack Nurseries. They did not have quite the space we had been using, so as the picture demonstrates we decided to put the pots closer together, maybe too close together.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, however as we all know, mother nature was providing us with much above average April and May temperatures and it was about to have an effect upon our pots. Instead of recognizing the rising temperature and moisture we continued on our regular schedule and in doing so many plants became weak and some even developed problem with spores.

As a result we rushed the plants out of the greenhouses and onto the street, where we spent many hours deadheading and removing the damaged and infected portions of the plants. Since then we have replaced the worse of the petunias with new ones courtesy of Schmidt’s greenhouses.

Of course we next faced three days of extremely high winds with the consequence that some of the black and blue Salvia plants have had to be staked to keep them growing upright.

Finally, it is hard to believe, but this past week we have had to deal with vandals knocking over pots and destroying at least one merchant’s window flower box.

Hanging Baskets

As if getting the pots out onto the street in panic mode was not enough, we were getting told it was time to put up the hanging baskets, which had been prepared and stored by Schmidt’s Greenhouses, at exactly the same time for almost the same reason. They were ready and if we didn’t move we would begin to lose them.

City Parks assigned small teams to both tasks and it is a compliment to them that before the week was out the baskets plus the hangers were on the lampposts both downtown and on the highway between the overpass and underpass intersections.

Compounding the task further was the last minute discovery that we had to install rings on the chain for fear that the hooks would slide off in high winds. Considering that the winds appeared that first Friday, it was a very smart decision.

What follows is a pictorial display of the raising of a 24 inch hanging basket on Government Road (Highway 17, The Trans-Canada Highway)

Watering

The biggest task we now face is watering both the pots and baskets. The baskets need, we have been advised, to be watered on a daily basis and we had not budgeted for this degree of frequency.  Watering has always been a challenge. This only adds another dimension to the problem.

So I hope we all can now enjoy the City’s adopt-a-planters, especially visitors during our Centennial year. They are another sign that we believe, we live in the Best Bloomin’ City in the Wilderness.”

June 17, 2010 (Communities in Bloom, Dryden, ON)

Perhaps there is no more important word in the lexicon of Dryden’s Centenary than the word “sustainability”.

I realize it is traditional to use a centenary to look back on our accomplishments and history and to celebrate the fact that a community made it this far. But in my mind that is only half the story.

An equally important question, especially during a period when the rate of change, both social and economic, has never been so rapid, is, can our community survive to celebrate its 200^th anniversary?

And just what has this got to do with Communities in Bloom, you might ask?

We at CiB Dryden view the Communities in Bloom program as one plank in Dryden’s overall “sustainability” program. What are some of our City’s other initiatives? The new water treatment plant, the ongoing revitalization of the downtown core, the work of the Dryden Area Cultural Partnership with its resultant “Cultural Strategic Plan” and most importantly the initiatives and planning of the Dryden Development Corporation such as the solar park, new industrial and commercial parks and a Waterfront Development Plan are just some examples of projects imbued with “sustainability”.

Sustainability, however, is about more than economics. It is also about the livability, attractiveness and esthetics a community possesses. Communities in Bloom with its emphasis on beauty through blooms, tidiness, conservation of the environment, heritage, and volunteerism adds immeasurably to this dimension. So when a CiB representative asks a person or business to participate in its program, it is about more than just giving to another community endeavour; it is a contribution to the larger question of sustainability.

This brings me to the second part of the headline question! Can Communities in Bloom be sustained in Dryden?

This is now the fifth year of CiB in Dryden. In our 5 year plan, 2010 was to be the year we became a National winner, a goal we achieved in 2009.

For many of us on the committee, this is likely our last year of direct involvement. As a community you should be aware that the core members of the CiB committee are all retired volunteers.  This situation by itself is not sustainable.

In many places, especially those towns and cities which have been in the CiB program since its founding in 1995, i.e. 15 years, the program has been managed and driven by city staff as part of the community’s economic or parks programs and budgeted accordingly.  Obviously, this results in sustainability.

Few CiB participants rely as heavily on volunteers as does Dryden. We have shared with both the Mayor, her Council and city staff the idea that if Communities in Bloom in Dryden is to continue, the City must take greater ownership of the program.

As a member of the CiB “Circle of Excellence”, Dryden Council, administration and the DDC board of directors must decide  if they wish to ride CiB to the next plateau: economically, socially and competitively.

If we truly believe Dryden is “the best bloomin’ city in the wilderness”, the CiB program has the potential to assist in creating a more sustainable “tourism” sector while providing the community with an enhanced attractiveness and a possible win at the International level as early as 2012.

Now, that would be a step toward real “sustainability”.

June 10, 2010 (Communities in Bloom, Dryden, ON)

June 9, 2010 (Communities in Bloom, Dryden, ON)

June 1, 2010 (Communities in Bloom, Dryden, ON)

Communities in Bloom claims it’s about more than just flowers. Although that claim is true, it isn’t with this column because this column is very much about the best blooms we can find in our “wilderness city”.

If there was ever a year we want to make a splash of colour say “Wow!” in our sea of green this, our 100^th anniversary year, has got to be it.

We want our visitors and returning Drydenites to see how beautiful our city has become and to leave with memories of both how good it looks and how much fun they had during “homecoming week”.

To that end we hope everyone will, despite the deer troubles, take the time to plant some flowers in their front yard and keep their property tidy. In CiB and Realtor’s terms, we want Dryden to show off our “curb appeal”.

The Daisy

One flower in particular we ask you to consider is Dryden’s new official flower, the daisy. Although the actual official flower is the “Shasta” daisy there are few available at our local nurseries. Some other members of the daisy family are available however. Look for such annuals as Osteospermum hybrid more commonly called Sunny Carlos at $6.99 a pot. Another annual is Argyranthemum, either Maderia or Molimba Hello. Both are white daisies and retail for $5.99.

If those plants are beyond your reach the most deer distasteful flowers, in my experience are marigolds of almost any variety.  I have also had good luck with snapdragons. For borders I have found that deer seem to leave Dusty Miller alone.

Adopt-a-Planter Program

Once again in 2010 Communities in Bloom Dryden is asking everyone: businesses, service organizations, and members of the public to sponsor the adoption of a planter to beautify our Downtown and this year, for the first time, the Highway 17 commercial corridor.

As a result in 2010 we have two programs: the sponsorship of the traditional 28 inch pot at $150.00 per season and new this year, a 24 inch hanging basket at $100.00 a season.

Try to image how attractive Government Road will look with 23 hanging baskets of mainly trailing petunias dangling from lamp-posts between the lights at the overpass to those at the underpass.

In the Downtown core we will again use six different planting arrangements. The centre spike with be a Canna Lily, Fountain Grass or Salvia plant. Three Geraniums, Petunias and Green Vines will make up the other nine plants. However in 15 pots white daisies will replace the vines.

As I write this, to date we have 28 planters adopted and approximately another 30 positive responses. That means an additional 40 sponsors are still needed. You can get both order forms and follow our progress by visiting the CiB-Dryden website at http://www.cibdryden.ca/?page_id=428 or the Communities in Bloom Dryden, ON Facebook page.

The Centennial Committee’s motto is “A Century of Community; Come on Home”. When they do it is CiB-Dryden’s hope they will literally find they have returned to “The Best Bloomin’ City in the Wilderness”

May 21, 2010 (Communities in Bloom-Dryden, ON)

The following pictures illustrate the 6 different planting arrangements used in 2010 for the Adopt-a-Planter pots which once again will be placed in the City’s downtown core.

May 21, 2010 (Communities in Bloom-Dryden, ON)

The following is a modified layout of an article in the current issue of Bearskin Airways in flight magazine On-board.