Just a reminder — the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be holding their first meeting of 2018 on Wednesday, February 21 at 7:00 p.m. at SIGN on North Street in Yorkton. Maira Waechli from Florissima will be our special guest, and she’ll be showing us how to do a spring flower arrangement. Maira’s sparkling personality and stunning floral designs will give us a most enjoyable presentation! Hope to see you there. Everyone is welcome; you don’t have to be a member to come to the meeting.
Don’t forget Seedy Saturday is on February 24 at the Victory Church, 38 Bradbrooke Drive in Yorkton, from 12:30 till 4:00 p.m. There will be various displays, presentations and vendors, and a chance to talk gardening! There is also a Seed Swap Table, so you can swap for a new variety or something new to your garden! Admission is a non-perishable food item. This is a great chance to kick-start the season, because let’s face it, after all that cold weather we are looking forward to spring!
Now let’s share a cup of tea, because I’d love to tell you about something very interesting. On a recent trip to Edmonton, we saw something called “The Living Wall” at the airport. And it is just that!
The living wall is 1420 square feet, in three sections, of vertical plantings of assorted plants. When I saw it, sunlight was streaming in and the wall looked absolutely beautiful! (The main wall design is inspired by cloud formations, while the two side wall designs are inspired by Canadian artists; so imaginative!) When we got home, I did some homework (check out flyeia.com/livingwall) about the living wall and found out this information. There are approximately 8000 plants of 32 varieties planted in this gardening marvel, growing up over two stories of the airport. I read that various sizes of plants are used to form designs, but on this occasion, the pattern was a beautiful abstract of various shades and textures of foliage.
Many of the plants are epiphytes, meaning they grow without soil and get their moisture from the air, so when this type of plant is used, soil is removed from its roots. The living wall is watered with a drip irrigation system that runs for only a few minutes each day.
Not only is it beautiful to see all this lush greenery, especially in an airport where everything is very sleek and functional, but the best part is the important job that the plants accomplish. The living wall adds tons of oxygen to the building every year, as well as removing many indoor air pollutants. We all know how plants are especially good for cleaning the air. Well, here’s a fascinating factoid: NASA discovered that plants were more efficient than filters at cleaning the air in the space stations. They found that ten plants were especially hard-workers for this task, and the living wall contains nine of the ten. How cool is that!
There was also a sign by the wall saying that all materials used to build the wall are natural or recycled, including plastic bags and milk jugs.
It was truly a marvellous sight, and the company that created it, Green Over Grey Living Walls and Design, should be applauded for their imaginative, beautiful and “green” approach to bringing nature into the high-tech world of a busy airport. Aren’t we all gardeners at heart!
Have you been looking in your seed catalogues? Now that the days are longer, spring doesn’t seem quite so far away! It’s such fun to plan this year’s plantings!
Visit us at www.yorktonhort.ca and have a great week!
