By Patricia Simcoe-Rosenbaum
The Gimli Garden Club is encouraging residents to “Come Grow With Us” as it celebrates a busy year of projects, tours and new initiatives.
Known for the colourful planters that brighten Gimli’s downtown each summer and for its popular annual plant sale, the volunteer club has grown steadily since three local women launched it during the Communities in Bloom movement of the mid-1990s. Today, the group has 29 members from across the Interlake, including Matlock, Sandy Hook, Fraserwood, Winnipeg Beach, Camp Morton, Gimli and Fisher Branch.
Members take part in a wide range of activities, from community planting and parades to workshops, presentations and tours. This year’s highlights included a visit to a local bison farm and a tour of the Hillside Memorial Garden designed by Inwood resident Fred West and area gardeners.
Education is central to the club’s mission. Past guest speakers have included environmentalist Dr. Eva Pip, Free Press columnist Colleen Zacharias, radio host Dorothy Dobbie and designer Fred West. Workshops may carry a small fee to cover speaker costs.
The club is funded in part by a grant from the RM of Gimli, which supports the purchase and planting of flowers to beautify the community. Additional funding comes from membership fees and the annual plant sale. Members also work alongside Nadine Gislason, a full-time gardener hired by the RM, who has been improving local greenspaces by removing diseased and damaged trees.
This year marked the launch of the club’s first annual gardening contest, Come Grow With Us, open to amateur gardeners across the RM of Gimli. Categories included perennial, annual, fairy, balcony, unique and vegetable gardens. Entries closed Sept. 14.
The Gimli Garden Club meets at 2 p.m. on the third Monday of the month from September to December and April through August at the Gimli Multi-Purpose Room, 17B Loni Beach Rd., behind the Gimli New Horizons building. Membership is $10 per year and open to all residents, with non-members welcome to attend some presentations for a silver collection.
The club has also launched a Facebook page and encourages new members to join, share ideas and take part in community beautification.
“We welcome everyone — you don’t have to be an expert gardener,” said organizers. “Our goal is to learn together, build community and have fun.”
For more information, email gimligardenclub@hotmail.com.
