11 May, 2015
A bit about my Mother’s Day : colourful, beautiful, and with a smattering of crime
By andrea tomkins in Ottawa
Spoiler alert: it was a great Mother’s Day, but it’s one that will be known in our family forevermore, as The Time Someone Stole Mum’s new plant.
But first, allow me to backtrack. The first rule of Mother’s Day is that mothers should be allowed to sleep in. Everyone knows this, right? Unfortunately, Piper didn’t get the memo. And she decided she wanted her breakfast at the crack of dawn. Sigh. But things got better after that. The youngest made my latte for me – with a foamy heart shape and all – and I was treated to a breakfast of fresh bagels and smoked salmon from the Ottawa Bagelshop. The girls gave me perfectly thoughtful cards and gifts which included a lovely watering can and ceramic bird bath from Lee Valley, a stylish glass sugar jar, and Godiva chocolates.
We had just enough time for an outing before Mark’s parents were to arrive. The destination: the Dominion Arboretum. I knew it would be pretty, and much less busy than the other side of Dow’s Lake where the tulips are out in full force. And I was right.
It’s a pretty place to wander. The parking is easy and free, and there’s a lot to see. PLUS, there were two additional reasons to visit this year. (1) the Friends of the Experimental Farm were hosting a big plant and garden sale and (2) the tropical greenhouse was to reopen after several years of renovations. This is what it looked like the last time we were there, in 2008:
I actually got a press release about it this morning.
After nearly 100 years of maintaining heat and humidity year-round, the greenhouse needed repair and restoration. Work was carried out by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada between 2011 and 2015 following the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada. Original materials were preserved to restore the building’s appearance and included the installation of a new pathway, planters, and lighting; refurbishment of the foundation; and refurbishment of all paint on the steel frame and wood glass frames. Tropical plants were preserved in the AAFC Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre (ECORC) greenhouses during renovations, which is also located at the CEF.
The work was so successful it was recognized by the City of Ottawa through the presentation of a 2012/2014 Ottawa Architectural Conservation “Award of Excellence” in Restoration.
Built in 1928, the octagonal greenhouse was originally located at Major’s Hill Park. It was moved to its current location at the CEF in 1938 where it was used for horticulture research. It became a tropical greenhouse open to the public in the 1970s and was designated a federal heritage building in 1996.
Cool eh? I was pretty excited to go, so much so that we were there at 9 a.m. only to discover that it doesn’t open until 10 a.m. on Sundays. No worries! Let’s check out the plant sale! It was a short walk, and we had a leisurely poke around the different stands. There was a great selection of plants, including many native species. I was also coveting the hostas and seriously debating whether I should start collecting them. Maybe this should be a project for my retirement days.
I left the hostas for another day, opting instead to spend a few dollars on a pretty succulent and start a journey into the land of Rock Gardening in my pre-retirement days. After much soul-searching, I picked one:
On the way back to the car the girls stopped by a huge crabapple tree to snap some photos. We had ten minutes before the greenhouse opened, so I wandered back to the car to put my plant away. I realized I didn’t have a car key, so I tucked it under the driver side door near the wheel well. As I was doing that I thought it was a little pointless. I mean really, who would steal a four dollar plant? (You know where this is going, right?)
I walked back to join the rest of the family under the giant flowering tree, and then we wandered back again just in time to see a security guard open the greenhouse. The youngest and I rushed ahead, jokingly fighting each other to see who’ll be the first to enter the greenhouse after the long renovation. (Let the record show that we crossed the threshold the same time!) I was inside for about two minutes when Mark and the eldest joined us.
“Your plant is gone,” said Mark. Of course I thought he was kidding.
“You are the worst liar in the whole world,” I said. The eldest joined in. “No, mom! Your plant is gone we looked everywhere.”
I still couldn’t believe it, so I went and looked myself and sure enough, someone took my little plant. Gah!
Mark, what a dear, walked BACK to the plant sale and bought another plant. I fought back the tears and wondered who would do such a thing. I went back to the greenhouse and barely took any of it in, so we left. It was all just so depressing. CLEARLY it wasn’t just left on the curb or forgotten somewhere. I’m wondering if the person watched me tuck it under the car because it would have been almost invisible from the parking lot.
ANYWAY. That was that. I’ve been silently cursing the plant thief ever since: MAY YOUR PLANTS DIE A ROTTING AND SMELLY DEATH, MAY SLUGS INFEST YOUR HOSTAS AND SQUIRRELS POOP IN YOUR GARDENING SHOES etc etc.
In an effort to decompress we walked around the Ornamental Gardens, even though in my heart I knew there were dirty rotten plant thieves at bay.
It is truly a lovely time of year to visit:
Lunch was sushi from Naked Fish here in Westboro and the youngest and I walked down to get it. Later on in the afternoon Mark’s parents came over for dinner, which wasn’t cooked by me, and was delicious. Dessert was a triumph of crunchy, fruity and sweet that went by the name PAVLOVA and it’s become my favourite thing in the whole world:
And that was that! Aside from plant thievery it was a pretty sweet Mother’s Day. I just wish I had saved myself some heartache and held on to that plant! So how was your Mother’s Day? Any plant theft? ;)
