Planting to start at Eleanor Kidd Gardens

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/02/2024 (588 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Planting to restore the Eleanor Kidd Gardens is expected to begin this spring, a decade after it was destroyed in a pair of floods.

Bee City Brandon first announced its plans to revive the long-dormant site on the grounds of the Riverbank Discovery Centre last year as a garden promoting native pollinators.

At a meeting for volunteers with the organization at the centre Wednesday evening, the five-year plan for the site was discussed.

As part of its mission, Bee City Brandon seeks to promote and protect pollinators native to the area because of their importance to the local ecosystem and their role in agriculture.

The organization’s chairperson and “queen bee,” Sherry Punak-Murphy, explained that unlike honeybees — which were imported from Europe — native bees do not produce honey but they still perform the crucial role of pollinating various types of plant. Eighty per cent of native bees nest in the ground, she said.

Butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, birds, lemurs and even humans are also considered pollinators.

What these critters need, Punak-Murphy said, is food from early spring to late fall, shelter and water.

The advantage to planting native plants is that they don’t need pesticides or fertilizer — they can survive and reproduce in our local climate. Theoretically, they should be more resilient to potential future floods.

Some examples of plants native to Westman include bergamot, giant hyssop, wild blue flax, purple prairie clover, gaillardia, dotted blazingstar, three-flowered avens, prairie crocus and milkweed.

In planning for the gardens’ revival, Punak-Murphy said it became evident that a multi-year plan was needed. She warned that the garden might not look like much for two to three years while the plants establish their roots before flowering.

When Punak-Murphy presented to Brandon City Council about the project in April last year, she said volunteers were going to spend 2023 cleaning and weeding the site as well as creating a design for the new garden.

This year, seedlings will be planted in beds in the centre of the gardens and volunteers will take care of weeding and watering. Some varieties, like milkweed and purple prairie clover, have already been planted.

Other beds to the north and south of the gardens will be filled out in 2025, with some seedlings that didn’t grow properly getting replaced. Beds around the periphery of the gardens will be planted in 2026.

Knowledge keeper Eugene Ross from Sioux Valley Dakota Nation was invited to speak about the history of the area along the riverbank. When Hudson’s Bay Company vessels first came through what would become Brandon, he said there were Dakota people living along the river in tents.

As the first people on the land, Ross said the Dakota people have an agreement with their Creator to take care of the plants and animals that inhabit it. That’s why, he said, everything has a name in the Dakota language.

Because of that connection with the land and the familiarity with the living beings that inhabit it, Ross said people like his grandfather were able to predict the year’s weather.

He said Indigenous people have been ignored too long when it comes to addressing climate change and they should be listened to as the original pioneers of these lands.

Eleanor Kidd was the founder of the Brandon Humane Society, working for the organization for more than 20 years without pay. She died in 1978.

A park in her name was created on the south side of the Assiniboine River after her death and was reimagined as gardens after renovations in 2002. It featured a performance stage, fountain plaza and a sculpture by Westman artist Peter Sawatzky.

The gardens were first ravaged in the flood of 2011. Work to fix the site up was started in 2013, but those efforts were thwarted when the river flooded again in 2014. It has lain dormant since.

In 2016, $73,000 was spent on decommissioning the gardens and moving some of the elements to the Riverbank Discovery Centre.

Brandon earned the designation as Manitoba’s first — and thus far only — bee city in 2018. The Wheat City named the orange-belted bumblebee its official bee in 2020.

Things people can do to help pollinators include planting native plant species, leaving weeds untouched in the spring and leaving fallen leaves on the ground in the fall.

Anyone interested in volunteering or interested in learning more should check out Bee City Brandon’s social media pages, visit the website beecitybrandon.com or email beecitybrandon@gmail.com.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» X: @ColinSlark