Peace Garden set for Santa, cacti preview

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This article was published 07/12/2023 (1020 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Santa will be at the International Peace Garden this Saturday, Dec. 9, and visitors can take in fun holiday activities and get a sneak peek of the newly expanded conservatory.

The conservatory, which features a dry garden of cacti and succulent species, has been closed for the last two years. Construction of the building is now complete and staff is focused on the large task of planting.

In the meantime, the Peace Garden is ready to celebrate the season.

Fun activities are planed for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Santa Claus will be available for pictures with children. Boissevain’s Sawmill Coffee and Tea Co. will be there, serving steaming bowls of chili and biscuits, as well as hot drinks and other baked treats from their shop. Children will be able to decorate cookies and make ornaments. And two horticulturists will be on hand to give you a peak at what’s happening in the now-20,000-ft. conservatory.

Tim Chapman, CEO of the International Peace Garden, said while staff were expecting work on the new conservatory to be done already, pandemic and weather-related delays slowed construction down. The new target for opening is April. But, he said, it’s not putting a damper of the Garden’s full day of holiday activities.

“This is something we’ve been talking about for a few years and planned it hoping that the conservatory would be a little more complete than it is now,” Chapman said.

“What we wanted to do was set up time for families and kids to come see Santa. We’ve moved a big 20-foot tree in this year to the centre of the lobby, decorated it and included Christmas villages and train sets that will be running so that the kids can kind of take in all of that while they’re waiting to visit with Santa.”

The conservatory at the Garden was started by a generous donation of plants in 2011 from Minot resident Don Vitko, who had been a collector of cacti and succulent species for more than 50 years. The Garden received another big plant donations years later from the widow of Ernie Brown, who was known in Winnipeg as “Dr. Cacti.”

In the previous small conservatory, Chapman explained, the plants were all in pots. Now the much larger conservatory is built with energy saving in mind and allows plants to grow and spread. While the new conservatory will use some propane to heat the building, he said the new space will use much less with the installation of heated floors and a greenhouse-style building, which will allow the sun to provide warmth to the plants.

“We’re really excited,” he said. “The last structure was pretty small. Everything was kind of jam-packed together, and nothing was actually planted into soil. We’re still going to have some potted plants throughout the new landscape, but quite a few more plants are actually going to root into specialized cactus soil that was developed for this collection and will really allow the plants to grow and root and feel a lot more comfortable in this new setting.”

The new conservatory is not the only new thing to check out at the Garden. Last year the Garden received a grant from Trails Manitoba that allowed it to install and maintain groomed cross-country ski and snowshoe trails. There are also cabins available to rent during the winter months.

“We don’t have rental equipment yet. We encourage folks to bring their own skis or snowshoes. And then in the coming years, we hope to be able to rent some of that out as well,” Chapman said.

”Part of extending our season has included the addition of cabins folks can rent in the winter. These are seasonal staff housing that we need for our staff May through August, but October through April, we’ve opened those up so that families and groups can come stay and enjoy a fun winter setting. And pretty soon they’ll be able to add the conservatory into their plans when they come to stay for a weekend.”

For the event on Saturday, folks will be entertained by the Bottineau Vocal Ease High School, who will be singing Christmas carols. Vendors will be on site selling their wares and Rugby baker Gerry Brenno will be helping kids decorate cookies. Staff will be on had to help kids make ornaments. Also, the two horticulturists, Johannes Olwage and Jonah Neufeld, will be available for all the pressing questions about the conservatory garden and what weird thing that cacti in your kitchen is doing.

Pictures with Santa are free for those five years old and under and $5 for those six and up.

The International Peace Garden is located on the Canada-U.S. border. You do need a passport for everyone in your vehicle to visit, as you need to go through the border crossing to get to the Garden.

» khenderson@brandonsun.com