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CTV News
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
The event highlighting Manitoba's glorious gardens
Harrison Shin takes a closer look at the Gardens of Distinction in Winnipeg. From Prairie plants to roses to lilacs and lilies, Winnipeg is home to many lush, vibrant and diverse gardens. To highlight these tranquil sanctuaries, Nature Manitoba holds an annual fundraiser called the Gardens of Distinction tour. During this event, attendees take themselves on a self-guided tour of some of the city's most gorgeous gardens, all while raising money for the non-profit organization. Tim Evans, coordinator for the Gardens of Distinction tour, is the one who chooses which gardens are featured in the event. He admitted he's quite picky about what makes the cut. 'It has to have an appeal to it. It has to be something that would be tour-worthy,' he said. 'So that's where I get a little persnickety… It has to have a beauty to it.' This year's Gardens of Distinction event takes place on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with 14 glorious gardens in south Winnipeg for Manitobans to enjoy. Those taking part in the tour can take pictures, ask questions and discover new plants they may have never seen before. Gardens of Distinction A rock garden that is part of this year's Gardens of Distinction Tour is pictured on July 2, 2025. (Tami Bradford/Nature Manitoba) Which gardens are involved The 2025 Gardens of Distinction event includes several home gardens, as well as stops at FortWhyte Alive and Aurora Farm. One of the gardens being featured belongs to Rita and Len Giesbrecht. Rita said their garden has evolved over 35 years and features a rock bed with a pond, as well as irises, peonies, lilies, and more. She noted it takes a lot of work to keep the garden going. 'We work on it from spring to fall constantly,' she said. 'There's weeding, moving, deadheading… It's basically set up so that we have something blooming from the spring all the way through the fall.' Gardens of Distinction Rita and Len Giesbrecht's garden is seen in this undated photo. (Rita Giesbrecht) Other gardens on the tour are found at Aurora Farm, which has seven unique gardens with their own story and purpose. This includes a rose garden, a medicinal moon garden and a fireweed garden for culinary herbs and edible flowers. 'With Aurora Farm, I consider the entire property a garden,' said co-owner Louise May. 'So, it's an ecosystem with a lot of different components to it.' Those on the tour will also make a stop at FortWhyte Alive, where they will get to take in its solar pollinator garden, which includes colourful wildflowers and native Prairie plants. Heather Skrypnyk, FortWhyte's farm operations manager, said the garden began in 2018 with the goal of showcasing the native species that can be grown with solar panels around. 'The solar pollinator garden has a couple of things starting to bloom,' Skrypnyk said. 'It's really active later in the summer, and in the fall, there's lots of those classic Manitoba purple and yellow colours.' These are just a few of the gardens featured in this year's Gardens of Distinction tour, which still has tickets for purchase Saturday morning at FortWhyte Alive. Why is the event important? The Gardens of Distinction tour holds significance for its organizers, featured gardeners and plant lovers around the province. According to Evans, the event gives people a chance to see amazing gardens that are produced in harsh environmental conditions. 'Not too many places in the world have got -40-degree weather in the wintertime and go up to 40 [degrees] in the summertime. We have a temperature range of 80 degrees unlike any other place in the world,' he said. 'If you can create a beautiful garden in Winnipeg, you can create a beautiful garden anywhere around the world.' Gardens of Distinction The solar pollinator garden is pictured at FortWhyte Alive in this undated photo. (FortWhyte Alive) May said it's an honour to be a part of the event and looks forward to getting feedback from those on the tour. 'This is my 20th year gardening here, so it's a 20th anniversary garden,' she said. 'So, I really pushed myself to just go all out and do everything I always wanted to here. I love the gardens here. I'm very excited about the gardens.' The love of gardening When it comes to what people love about gardening, it's different depending on who you ask. For some it's about being outside and connecting to the earth, while for Rita Giesbrecht, it helps her find calmness. 'I can get out there and I can start weeding, and you just don't think about anything else,' she said. 'You're in the moment.' Skrypnyk said she enjoys gardening because she gets to work with her hands and see the results of her work. 'When you come to a space like a garden and your task is weeding, at the end of the job, you can look back and it's very obvious that you've made an impact. And so that can be really rewarding for people,' she said. Tips for future gardeners For those who are interested in gardening and its many benefits, May said it's all about observing and enjoying. She added it's also important not to come in with too many expectations or give up if things go wrong. 'Just take it one year at a time,' she said. 'Every single year that I've been gardening, which is almost my entire life, has been a different gardening year. So, if [something] didn't work one year, try it again next year.' And who knows, if you start now, maybe you'll be featured in a future Gardens of Distinction tour.
CTV News
26-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Winnipeg woman's garden to be highlighted in upcoming fundraising tour
A flowerpot is hanging on a pole in Esther Chen's garden on June 25, 2025. (Harrison Shin/CTV News Winnipeg) For Esther Chen, gardening is not just a hobby — it's a family affair, a lifestyle, and now, a cause worth celebrating. What began as a bare backyard when Chen first bought her Winnipeg home has blossomed into a lush, vibrant garden that's earned her a spot among Nature Manitoba's 14 Gardens of Distinction. Her garden will be open to the public this Saturday as part of a fundraising event organized by the not-for-profit group. 'It's just a habit,' Chen said. 'I like flowers and plants — and gardening is very rewarding because they will come back year after year.' But it didn't start this way. 'When we first bought this house, the backyard was only pure grass. There was no gardening at all — no flower beds, no shrubs, nothing." Chen began transforming the space herself, one plant at a time. As an owner of a landscaping business, she went to rescue dying trees and shrubs from her landscaping clients, reviving them with care and giving them new life in her yard. 'Lots of dying shrubs — if you take care of them, they can actually revive,' she said. Her dedication caught the attention of Nature Manitoba, which handpicks a handful of gardens across the city each year to be featured in its annual tour. Attendees will get a rare glimpse at some unique plants and gardening styles, said Tim Evans, master gardener of Nature Manitoba. 'They get to take pictures. They get to learn about plants they've never seen,' Evans said. 'A lot of times, the gardeners have plants you will never see in garden centres.' The Gardens of Distinction tour is now looking toward northeast Winnipeg for its next round of honorees. But this weekend, the spotlight will shine on Chen and her garden. 'It will be a good show,' she said. 'I hope more people can come to see what I can do.' The tour is held annually to help fund Nature Manitoba's educational and recreational programming and overall operations. It costs $20 for people to take in the tour.
