With the nicer weather finally here, Winkler’s dedicated Adopt-a-Plot volunteers have gotten to work.
Orville Enns and his wife Anna have taken on tending to the shrubs at the Greg Ens Memorial Park
Crews were busy last week cleaning out the flower beds beside Winkler Arts and Culture and tidying up around the trees and shrubs that populate the Greg Ens Memorial Park.
Those teams, and similar ones at public flower beds throughout the community, have committed to keeping their assigned spaces weed-free and tidy for the summer.
Program coordinator Margaret Penner shares that she has about two dozen people who have stepped up to fill these roles, but there’s certainly room for more.
“I’m still looking for several more volunteers,” she says, noting that in the case of gardening many hands very much does make for lighter work—and more fun, to boot.
Many of the volunteers have been adopting a plot for years, but fresh faces are always welcome.
“Probably 95 per cent of them are returning volunteers,” shares Penner, spotlighting one longtime volunteer who has tended to the beds in Parkview Gardens for 14 years. “She’s going to be turning 85 next year and she told me this is her last year. She is so meticulous—she brings her own little trimmer, edger, and just makes it perfect.”
The program is great for apartment or condo dwellers who love gardening and miss having a larger space to tend to.
“It’s a chance to have a plot that’s your own, and it’s a very gratifying thing to be able to do something where you can see you’re making a difference,” Penner says. “People take pride in what they do, they almost take an ownership of their spot.”
City crews do a great job watering and tidying up Winkler’s many parks and green spaces, Penner notes, but there are only so many work hours in the week, so the volunteers’ help really take the city’s beautification efforts to the next level.
Amongst the crew of volunteers is a team of newcomers to the community.
“They’ve moved here from Ukraine. They had done gardening back home,” Penner says. “Some of them live in apartments now and they just love the idea of being able to get their hands into the dirt and give back to the community.”
“I love flowers,” says Viktoriia, who helped out last year and was eager to return this summer.
“It’s important for us,” she adds, speaking through translator and fellow volunteer gardener Kathryna. “It’s an opportunity for us. In Ukraine, it is always a green country. Many parks, forests, flowers everywhere. We want that for Winkler too.”
Working alongside these ladies to oversee the rejuvenation of the Winkler Butterfly Garden at the art gallery is Brenda Thiessen, who moved to Winkler a couple of years ago.
Thanks to a $2,000 grant from Healthy Together Now, the plan is to re-establish the butterfly garden with signage and new plants so it can re-certified through the North American Butterfly Association. Many of the plants previously in the area were moved to the Discovery Nature Sanctuary a few years ago, though the giant butterfly statue remained.
Thiessen, an avid gardener, is excited at the prospect of breathing new life into the space.
“I’m passionate about Monarch butterflies,” she shares. “So I’m grateful I get to do this.”
The Adopt-a-Plot program gives Thiessen the opportunity to get even more gardening fun into her summer.
“It’s fantastic. And Margaret does such an amazing job of drawing everybody in and getting them going,” she says. “I met one of my closest friends here through this last year.
“I’d really encourage people to get involved, because you can do as little or as much as you want. There’s lots of options and wonderful people to meet.”
If you’ve got time to give to keep Winkler’s floral displays looking their best, shoot Penner a text at 204-362-2552.
Even if you’ve not got a wealth of gardening experience behind you, you can still get involved, Penner stresses, so long as you can take some friendly direction about what needs to be done.
The assigned plots are all manageable sizes, she adds, and you’re simply asked to commit an hour or so a week, as needed and on whatever day and time works for you, keeping them shipshape.
