Gardeners rise to the challenge amidst rainy weather

It’s a challenging spring for gardeners, as they try to find the right conditions to get everything planted. 

Lia Langelaan of Steinbach puts all her free time into gardening, whether it’s at the Mennonite Heritage Village or in her own gardens. The rainy spring weather has made it difficult to prepare the soil for planting, and for getting plants into the ground.

She says her Canadian garden is much bigger than the small spot she had when living in the Netherlands. Langelaan had to be creative with getting plants onto a “postage stamp” piece of land. 

“In the backyard patio, you put pots on there, also vines along the fence with the neighbours.” 

Langelaan now has a few colourful gardens and has found the rainy spring to be a challenge as she tries to clean them up and plant some annuals. 

This lifelong gardener prefers perennials though, saying it’s not as time consuming as the flowers that have to be planted each year. 

Elsie Kathler with the Steinbach and Area Garden Club says they finally got things going at the demonstration garden at the Mennonite Heritage Village.

Steinbach and Area Garden Club volunteers spend a rare sunny evening planting flowers in the gardens at the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach. Elsie Kathler says they mostly stick with the iconic flowers of Mennonite settlers, like red geraniums, marigolds, and nasturtiums.

She says they try to stay true to the way Mennonite settlers grew their vegetable gardens which included some flowers. 

“For example, we plant nasturtiums to be an attractant crop, so the flea beetles eat that instead of the vegetables. We plant marigolds on the periphery as well, and that repels (insects). So, it just naturally assists in protecting the vegetables that are important for people.” 

Kathler says this spring has been the most challenging one she can recall, with the many rainy days delaying gardening tasks. 

She appreciates all the volunteers who helped finish the planting of pots and gardens at the Mennonite Heritage Village. 

Environment Canada is predicting a drier-than-normal month for June and a warmer-than-normal summer for southern Manitoba.