BY DUCK PATERSON
Ladysmith is in bloom this spring and community members got to see for themselves on the Rotary Garden Tour this past weekend.
The 24th annual event was held Sunday, May 28, at gardens around the community.
One of the featured gardens this year was that of local Rotarian Peter Pardee and his wife Sieka. The Pardees are originally from Alberta and noticed the difference when it came to gardening in Ladysmith.
“Here the colour explodes in the spring and lasts long into the fall, and that makes gardening way more fun here,” Peter said. “In between all the roses, irises, azaleas, etc, Sieka has planted vegetables as well. We’ve made the gardens useful and productive and hopefully folks will find them beautiful as well.”
The Pardees, when they built their home in Saltair, put a 42,000-litre cistern underground to help with growing the gardens.
“We collect the run-off from the roof and driveway as a way of saving on the water and we also water minimally,” he said. “It’s not necessary to soak everything every day and we plant species that require similar amounts of water in the same areas, which helps to conserve.”
Eowyn Sinclair, Rotary chairperson for this year’s garden tour, said it’s an “amazing event” and club members all participate in one way or another.
“It’s looked at, by our club, as a chance to not only give back to the community, but it also highlights some of the beauty we have around us,” she said.
bailey.seymour@nanaimobulletin.com
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