Prince George, B.C.- Rain or shine, there will be a special treat today for anyone who loves to have their hands in the dirt.

 

The David Douglas Botanical Society, in conjunction with the Two Rivers Art Gallery and UNBC, is holding a special “Green Tour” of UNBC.   It is the third event in an “Artist in the Garden” weekend that got underway Friday night at the Gallery, then featured the Artist in the Garden tour yesterday. Unlike the other two events, the Green Tour is free. “There are 8 different sites ( at the University) open to the public, and it is a free event from 1-3” says David Douglas Botanical Society President Corrine Gibson.

 

 

The event includes a tour of UNBC’s bio-energy facility, the University’s compost site will be featured and experts will be on hand to talk about sustainability. The enhanced forestry lab greenhouse will be open for visitors as well.

 

There will also be an informal tour of the  Society’s   display , educational  garden.   A new water feature has been added to that garden, but Corinne Gibson says there is so much more to do and yes she would like to see the Society’s membership grow. “We have 40 acres of land at the University that we are to develop into a botanical garden, featuring native plants, medicinal plants, and we need a lot of people to help us get that off the ground.” She expects the botanical garden to be a place where rare plants, and natural vegetation are displayed “It is definitely an educational garden.”

 

A Master Gardener, Gibson  is hoping today’s event will entice more people to learn about the joy of gardening “I think people will be surprised to learn how much you can do with limited space and a limited budget. Gardening doesn’t have to be about knowing the Latin names, it should be just about creating something you like.”

 

Her desire to share the simple love of gardening has lead to the Society now having its own Facebook page “You don’t have to be a member to see what we’re doing on Facebook.” 

 

Gibson is relatively new to Prince George,  having come to the City from southern Ontario. Growing is good there, but she is not intimidated by our short summer or our “zone 3” designation  “I have never lived in a zone that I haven’t liked” says Gibson, “I like every zone, because you grow different things. Yes we’ve got limitations, but we’ve just got to look around and see that there’s a lot we can do.”