Help build the gardens

In the past we've told you about the Busby Legacy Gardens at the Allen Bungalow. The project is well underway, and with spring (finally... apparently...) here we'll soon be gearing up for planting season. We had a very successful fundraiser with leaf sales at Sobeys on the North Hill -- leaves are still available to purchase for $1 at Parkland Garden Centre and here at the Nature Centre -- and now we're looking for plant sponsors.

Over the next few weeks I'll be featuring trees (like this Royalty Flowering Crab Apple), shrubs, and other perennials that we need for the gardens on our Twitter account (@NatureCentre). If you're interested in sponsoring a plant, all you need to do is contact Darlene at 403-346-2010 ext. 120 or e-mail her at Darlene.Kranenborg@waskasoopark.ca. Tax receipts are available for all donations.

If you'd like to be involved with the gardens but would rather put in time than money, you can volunteer to help with planting and maintenance. Call Marg, our Volunteer Coordinator, at 403-346-2010 ext. 113 to let her know you'd like to lend a hand.



Things are shaping up really well for the gardens, and I'm looking forward to seeing things grow. Now if only the weather would cooperate we'd be all set.

Allen Bungalow Busby Legacy Gardens

Some time ago I posted about the work that was being done to renew the Allen Bungalow gardens. You can find that original post here. Since then, new beds have been created, some plants were installed in the fall, and a gazebo was started. The Busby Legacy Gardens are well underway.

The Busby Legacy Gardens -- named after the Busby family, who operated the River Glen Dairy and made the Allen Bungalow their home -- will be a fantastic addition to the Bungalow. They'll create a wonderful setting for weddings, give an outdoor break space to people holding meetings in the McCullough Room, and bring back some of the heritage of the original home. The Gardens need your help, though. If you're as excited by this project as we are, you can support it by buying plants, donating funds towards maintenance, or donating your time towards the gardens themselves.

As usual, click on either thumbnail for a closer look at the garden plans and suggested donation levels.

I apologise for the quality of these images; because of the nature of the Blogger platform I had to turn the original files into jpegs to post them. We'll have a clearer PDF version on the main website soon. In the meantime you can drop by the Nature Centre for a hard copy of the brochure, or contact Darlene Kranenborg (403-346-2010 ext 120; email darlene.kranenborg@waskasoopark.ca) for more details.

For more information on the history of the Allen Bungalow itself, check out the Bungalow page on our website here.

Quick Garden Update

 The beds have been mulched, some ornamental rocks have been put in place, and the first of the perennials added in. A good start. And below, a closer look at the gazebo. For those who would like more information on the Allen Bungalow, here's a page from our website.

 

Gazebo update

Here's a look at the gazebo that the Rotary Club of Red Deer East spent the weekend putting up at the Allen Bungalow. It's still waiting for its roofing, and landscaping and painting will be done in the spring. Still, a pretty nice sign of things to come.

Allen Bungalow garden

One of the more exciting but hidden projects at the Nature Centre these days is the renewal of the Allen Bungalow gardens.

For those unfamiliar with the Allen Bungalow, it's the Edwardian house across the parking lot from the Nature Centre. While it's currently used as a private residence and a meeting space, back in its farmhouse days it was locally famous for its gardens.

 Those gardens are long gone now and can't be fully recreated, but we're hoping to bring back as much of the feeling of the gardens as we can. The first steps are underway, and over the next year or two the garden should start bringing a lot more colour back to the bungalow.

Today work was started on a new addition to the Allen Bungalow garden: a gazebo. This should provide a wonderful backdrop for the weddings that are staged there, as well as a nice break space for meeting groups using the McCullough Room.

We'll keep you posted as things progress. For more information on the Allen Bungalow, the garden, or the McCullough Room meeting space, please call us at 403-346-2010.