Horticulture Training Program: Now Accepting Applications
We are now accepting applications for the Horticulture Training Program 2013-2014 at UBC Botanical Garden.Â
Running from September to May, the fullÂtime Horticulture Training Program is designed to give students the skills and experience necessary for entering the field of horticulture. Completion of 1100 hours of classroom and hands-on practical instruction and supervised practical work will lead to Levels I & II Apprenticeship technical training credit.
For more information on the Horticulture Training Program, click here.
New Volunteer Opportunities
Here at the Garden, we are beginning to think about spring and summer. We are looking for volunteers to guide tours and assist with special events.
Guides
Volunteer guides play a vital role in bringing the collection to life through engaging educational interactions with garden visitors. We are seeking volunteers who are passionate about ecology and botany, eager to share their knowledge with others, and interested in learning more about the plant world and biodiversity.
Events Volunteers
Events volunteers play a vital role in providing support to the garden staff and interacting with visitors during events. We are seeking volunteers who are interested in learning more about the biodiversity, ecology and botany, and sharing this interest with visitors.
Visit our website to learn more on our volunteer opportunities and how to apply.
Visit us all year long, and take advantage of discounts on our courses and lectures.
Get 10% off at the Shop in the Garden and Plant Centre when you present your membership card. You can buy or renew your membership in person, or online on our website. Thank you for your support.
Not sure if your membership has expired? Give us a call at 604.822.4208.
About the Garden
Established in 1916, UBC Botanical Garden curates a collection of ca. 12,000 plants, representing approximately 8,000 taxa from temperate regions around the world. The Greenheart Canopy Walkway offers an umparalleled aerial view of the west coast forest canopy ecosystem 15 metres above ground.
A message from our friends at Wesbrook Village:
Join us in Wesbrook Village at 11am on February 16th as we celebrate the Year of the Snake with a traditional lion dance. Wesbrook Village merchants will also be handing out lucky red envelopes. Bring in this coupon to receive 10% off Togo Sushi while you take in the festivities. Offer expires 02/28/13 at 8pm. Not to be combined with other offers.
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UBC Botanical Garden has an enviable collection of species rhododendrons. The site is ideal for woodland plants—high, overhead shade from high-crowned conifers, such as grand fir (Abies grandis) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), and the wind-stilling protection of low-branched western red cedars (Thuja plicata). The prevailing winds are normally from the west off the Strait of Georgia, and these strike the escarpment below the David Lam Asian Garden and are deflected upwards, allowing bald eagles and other soaring birds to float lazily above the garden. In winter, a surprising amount of protection is afforded by the forest. On a clear night in February, the open sky draws enough heat from the ground to cause a radiation frost. Typically, under tree cover, the temperature near the ground stays well above freezing.
When we’re favoured by mild winter weather, we can brag about our Rhododendron ririei and R. moupinense plantings (out now), and expect to see R. lutescens, R. barbatum, R. praevernum, R. dauricum, R. mucronulatum, R. niveum and R. sutchuenense. All of them are known to bloom anytime between January and March and most if not all will be flowering this February. Hybrid rhododendrons are rare in the garden, but one of the best and earliest is R. ‘Cornubia’. The parentage of this beautiful plant includes three superb Himalayan species—R. arboreum, R. thomsonii and R. barbatum—all of them cultivated in our collection. ‘Cornubia’ is not a common plant locally and is notoriously shy to flower, especially when winters are cold; however, most rhododendrons including ‘Cornubia’ have a good set of flower buds this year. Barring a serious cold snap, there should be plenty of flowers to see before the end of February.
Pruning Course
Saturday, March 2, 2013, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
UBC Botanical Garden Reception Centre
$45 public, $35 garden members & UBC students
A blend of classroom and field discussion with hands on learning of the basics of pruning.
Drawing Nature Course (NEW!)
Sunday, March 24, 2013, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
UBC Botanical Garden Reception Centre
$100 public, $90 garden members & UBC students
This one day class we will cover basic drawing techniques and how a limited number of watercolours can create a wonderfully full palette!
Tuesday, April 9, 2013, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
UBC Botanical Garden Garden Pavilion
$48 public, $43 garden members & UBC students
Learn to grow fresh fruits and veggies the city dweller’s way, with containers!
Urban Organic Gardening Course
Saturday, May 4, 2013, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm
UBC Botanical Garden Reception Centre
$60 public, $50 garden members & UBC students
Are you an urban gardener? Join Linda Gilkeson for a class focussed on intensive food production in small spaces.
Espalier Course – June 7
Friday, June 7, 2013, 12:00 – 3:00 pm
UBC Botanical Garden Reception Centre
$45 public, $35 garden members & UBC students
Espalier is a pruning technique of training fruit trees into interesting shapes. Learn the basics with Brendan Fisher, our food garden horticulturist.
Espalier Course – June 14
Friday, June 14, 2013, 12:00 – 3:00 pm
UBC Botanical Garden Reception Centre
$45 public, $35 garden members & UBC students
Espalier is a pruning technique of training fruit trees into interesting shapes. Learn the basics with Brendan Fisher, our food garden horticulturist.
Lectures
Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
UBC Botanical Garden Reception Centre
Free
Join our Curator of Collections for a talk on what are the best trees to grow in Vancouver.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
UBC Botanical Garden Reception Centre
Free
Join our Curator of Collections for a talk on how complexity and biodiversity make gardens more resilient.
For more information on our courses and lectures, please click here.
After the annual post-Christmas hiatus of a few weeks, the Shop in the Garden had undergone a facelift and was reoponed on January 21 with a reinvigorated, airy atmosphere for your shopping pleasure. Come and visit our light and bright Shop, or check out the photos on our Flickr page.
Post Christmas Sale
Take 50% off select products, Christmas cards, holiday merchandise and calendars. (While supplies last.)
Garden Centre
With our minds springing forward to the warmer gardening season, new stock is flooding in, with more on its way. Items just arrived are spring bulbs and helebores “cinnamon snow” (soft pink) and “Jacob” white with yellow stamens for your garden. They are the first plants to bloom and will last for several months. Such a lovely treat at this time of year. Also available are beautiful fragrant white Jasmine plants for your home.
Books at the Shop
Linda Gilkeson, our local guru on everything relating to west coast vegetable gardening has just published her new edition of Natural Insect, Weed and Disease Control. The Shop is well stocked with this best defence against pesky invaders: leaf chewers, sap suckers, root feeders, borers, seed and fruit pests, and more. Every vegetable gardener should also have Linda’s accompanying Backyard Bounty and Year Around Harvest: Winter Gardening on the Coast.
$700 Generated to Support Local School Garden
Christmas may have come and gone, the holiday cheer continues to spread with the spirit of giving. The annual Christmas tree chipping fundraiser at UBC Botanical Garden has generated $700 for the food garden of a local school in Vancouver.
Over the course of two weeks after Christmas, community members have dropped off several hundreds unwanted trees. With their generous donations, and the support of UBC Plant Operations, the woody remnants of the holiday season were turned into mulch for use to resurface garden trails. The mulch generated reduces the amount of mulch we need to purchase while we collect funds to support a local school garden project.
Chipping trees on a by-donation basis ($5 suggested), each year we select one local school to support their gardening projects. Partnering with SPEC (The Society Promoting Environmental Conservation), the funds generated in 2012-13 will help Thunderbird Elementary School’s food garden expansion* to add a three-bin cedar composter and small orchard garden during the 2011-12 fundraiser. The tree recycling event is a small event with a large impact on local schools. Over the past four years since this program began, we have helped local schools with a range of small garden projects while supporting our not-for-profit garden. Schools that have benefitted in previous years include David Thompson High School, Quichena Elementary School, and Bayview Elementary School.
THANK YOU to everyone who have supported this year’s event!
*Funds may be used for other school garden purposes as needed.
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