Communities in Bloom resumes annual spring workshop

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Communities in Bloom is gearing up for the upcoming gardening season and invited local community members to a free workshop to discuss gardening and plant husbandry.

According to past Communities in Bloom Chair Rob Pirie, the workshop is a return to an annual habit which aims to help people to know how to better care for their plants, as well as those in the community. 

“We have two members of the town coming to talk about fire blight, how we can prevent it, and what can be done about it; we have someone from Eagle Lake coming for a brief talk, and then somebody from Eagle Lake Landscaping,” said Pirie. “Then, our feature speaker is Cynthia Pohl, and she is coming from Red Deer to talk about the reason we need to increase pollinators and how we can bring about an increase of pollinators inside our community.”

The event, which took place April 1 in the Strathmore Municipal Library, was free to attend and offered free seeds, coffee and cookies to those who came out.

For the occasion, the library also put out a display of their available gardening tools available to rent out over the spring and summer. 

“I think the impact of the workshop is always positive. It is tough to measure, but one of the pillars of Communities in Bloom is to provide education,” said Pirie. “We felt this is a very worthwhile thing for us to continue to do on a yearly basis. We have an opportunity to provide some information and free seeds.”

Pirie added he believes it an obligation of the Communities in Bloom committee to work with the Strathmore community and the town to provide information regarding the maintenance of local flora and keeping the town looking its best. 

Though Strathmore will not be evaluated again this year by Communities in Bloom, it certainly is not a reason to suddenly abandon the maintenance of local plants. 

“We do not do it on a yearly basis because it would be exhausting, so we would wear out our community, and it is also expensive,” said Pirie. “We are not doing it this year, and it will be up to the committee to decide if we are going to do it next year. This year, we will be focussing on other things not focused on in the evaluation.”

For those who may have missed the workshop or who are simply looking for more information, resources are available through the Communities in Bloom website and social media.