Garden Voices of Ontario’s Historic Gardens

This is a new initiative organized for 2012 by Parkwood National Historic Site. Prompted by interest expressed by participants at a 2011 historic gardens workshop at Parkwood, it was then organized with grant support from the Ontario Ministry of Culture’s Cultural Strategic Initiatives Fund.  Ontario Garden Tourism Coalition and National Historic Sites Alliance for Ontario came on board as collaborative partners, and a steering committee was formed with representatives from historic gardens, tourism and related sectors.

Project Aims

We set out to tell the stories of Ontario’s historic gardens, with enriched programs and experiences that would motivate Ontarians to get out and explore them.

We knew a little about some of the recognized names associated with some of the garden designs, such as Dunington-Grubb and Olmstead, and we hoped to increase greater awareness of our design roots.

We considered a single week or timeframe to create an event (such as Historic Gardens Week in Virginia), but from submissions we found that best-viewing times and programming themes were too varied to bring together in a single week. 

We left it to each garden to devise its best showcase opportunity, and established a broader scope and a sort of umbrella theme for the project –
taking inspiration from the wonderful publication Garden Voices:  Two Centuries of Canadian Garden Writing by Edwinna Von Baeyer and Pleasance Crawford.   For in a sense, we can hear or experience the voices of the owners, designers, workers, and era influences that have shaped our historic gardens, in the physical evidence and in the animation of those voices through interpretation and programming.

The project received a lot of good feedback anecdotally from colleagues in the museum, garden and tourism communities.  The project gave support to broader garden tourism initiatives, as a complimentary stream to other garden attractions, festivals & events generally, and as part of a build-up toward major international garden showcases in Ottawa and Niagara to mark Canada’s 150^th in 2017.

The project was intended not only to increase awareness about historic gardens, but also to increase visitation and visitor revenues, attract volunteers and dollar support.  Given provincial investment and perceived interest of gardens and historic gardens as “new” tourism offerings, the project was timely.  Readiness of the gardens to participate was a challenge however.

 
Project Results

Thirty-five historic gardens were identified, and grouped together perhaps for the first time.  Eight feature gardens came forward with experiential offerings beyond the standard fare.

The project prompted dialogue about what constituted a historic garden or landscape.  Notable 20^th century gardens for example are clearly preserved historic gardens, while many other gardens would be considered recreations of gardens lost to time.  For that matter, gardens we would call historic are still on the drawing board.  Historic garden movements or practices also draw in cemeteries, forts, railway gardens and parks, and merge with the broader idea of cultural landscapes – all Intriguing and useful discussions.

More problematic were discussions about garden tourism, particularly experiential tourism which calls for a much richer visitor offering than the typical talk & point garden tour.  As many owners or operators of historic gardens do not speak “tourism”, we worked with Brain Trust Marketing & Communications to develop a number of tools and materials.  These can also be adapted to other projects or used in future. 

A new website was created, www.garden voices.ca, to showcase the feature experiences and the rest of the historic gardens.  It too  can be adapted for future use and linked to any related historic, horticultural or tourism site.  Other marketing efforts provided an opportunity for gardens to maximize on their own budgets (eg. with placements/publications not normally within reach of small organizations). 

A number of difficulties encountered illustrate, in our view, that historic gardens and landscapes need to be better understood and supported.  They are generally lacking in resources, volunteers, and the will to present gardens as more than “second-fiddle” to buildings & collections.  Programming is generally quite limited, and the historic garden voices are often not well-articulated. Recreated gardens aspire to period-correctness and authenticity but often lack resources for research, design and upkeep.

As  project milestones and submission dates approached, some gardens dropped out as feature garden contenders, finding themselves unable to make the programming leap, or that their gardens would not be up to scratch in terms of conserved state or event basic maintenance.   An additional aggravation for some gardens was centralized budget, programming or marketing controls that did not allow for decision-making at the site level. 

We prefer to view this as not a sad state of affairs, but rather as a new beginning for Ontario’s historic gardens and landscapes.  Indeed, those gardens that declined to participate as feature gardens were quick to add “this year”, adding their pledge to resolve their readiness issues or other challenges in preparation for next year, suggesting life beyond the project.

Parkwood honours longest-serving volunteer at 40th Annual General Meeting.

Bill Smith received accolades from the Board of Directors, Members and staff for his volunteer service through most of Parkwood’s history as a heritage institution and charitable organization.

Executive Director Brian Malcolm offered a partial view of Bill’s extended service:

“My direct knowledge about Bill’s volunteer service only covers the last 23 years or so.  Most of you know Bill as our Comptroller, our behind the scenes accounting guy, and that certainly is the case these days.

But there was a time when Bill got dragged into just about everything – from barbecues and bulb planting, to Easter Egg hunts and Swing Band concerts, helping put budgets and financial reports together since the 1970’s.   As a member of the Management Committee from the1980‘s to the mid 1990’s, Bill was often called on to leave his ledgers and files and get involved with urgent matter du jour.  Later, Bill got us all to leave our ledgers and files, as he helped shepherd Parkwood through the early agonies of computerized accounting.

Until recently, Bill kept daily hours and had the misfortune to have an office right between Jane’s office and mine, and right across from our sometime development office.  We had constant access to him, and what a fantastic resource for us.

But think for a minute about the volunteer hours and the level of service contributed each day, each week, year-round and each year. Truly, I can’t imagine how Parkwood could have made the strides it has without Bills’ constant commitment, and faithful attention to some of the most important matters.

Over the last few years we have focused on sustainability.  Frankly, we have been acutely aware of the value of Bill’s volunteer services.  It’s beyond any typical measure of expectation.   I can’t think of another organization that has enjoyed such a gift.”

Treasure Scott Smith introduced a special motion at the 40^th Annual General Meeting

“BE IT RESOLVED THAT that, as The Parkwood Foundation celebrates its 40^th anniversary, it recognizes the decades-long volunteer contribution of William Smith as Comptroller – with resounding gratitude for his long-service, dedication and wise counsel.”

Rules of order were thrown out as several attendees clamoured to second Scott’s motion.  Here’s a sampling:

 “ I have worked with Bill almost as long as he has been here, when I was a Director and more recently as Chair of the Finance Committee.  I came to rely on Bill’s work, and trust on the information and advice he has brought to the Board and the committee.  It has been a pleasure working with him over the years.

I second the motion, with my confidence and thanks”  Arthur Lovell

“I probably work the closest with Bill, about 14 years if anyone is counting.  For me Bill represents one of those un-sung heroes, who work quietly but effectively behind-the-scenes, on things that are important and - let’s face it, nobody’s  idea of interesting or fun - and seeking no recognition or praise.

Bill, I second the motion, with my thanks for your patience, guidance and commitment”   Jane Battersby, Administrative Assistant

“In 1990, Marion O’Donnell & I became really active in Parkwood’s rejuvenation.  Along with Bill, we formed a sort of dynamic trio – a restructuring task force to push forward the new future for Parkwood.  It was somewhat daunting and a bit radical and we relied heavily on Bill’s financial good sense to help guide the changes.  Bill was also far more involved in events and doings than he ever hoped or wished to be.  His thanks are truly well-earned.

I second the motion, with the knowledge of Bill’s many skills and broader contributions to Parkwood’s success.” Patricia O’Neill, Past President

Parkwood has not stood still, nor has the world.  During my term as President I saw increased demand on our accounting requirements.  But, Bill remained unflappable and slow to complain about new reporting requirements and regulations, fundraising and grants, new budget lines and inter-fund complications.  It was a pleasure working with him and, with a shared hospital background we even commiserated a little about our health care system

I too second the motion, with sincere thanks and admiration.”

Sharon Swain, Past President

“I get the prize for working with Bill the longest, and I might just have the best perspective on just how valuable his service has been to Parkwood.   He has been a constant resource during various ups and downs, a great source of knowledge and a sounding board too, a man of integrity and solid values, and an exemplary volunteer.  For so long, there was just no question about who would be doing what Bill was doing, next week, next month or next year.  That’s an amazing comfort level for me, with a perpetually under-resourced organization, and it represents a rare & outstanding volunteer contribution.

I second the motion with my personal thanks and knowledge that Parkwood and I have been spoiled!”  Brian Malcolm

Needless to say, the motion passed – with hands raised in the affirmative and then in applause (followed by a standing ovation!

Thank you Bill!