Bloomin' Great Garden

Click to embiggen for a better view of Mom and Dad's award-nominated yard!

My parents just found out that their yard has been nominated for a Communities in Bloom award. They deserve the recognition; as the years have passed, Mom and Dad have gotten more ambitious and experimental with their gardens, gradually whittling down the lawn grass and replacing it with flowerbeds, vegetable gardens and trees and shrubs.

I first found out about the Communities in Bloom program when I started working for Hole's Publishing. The awards encourage individual gardners and municipalities to beautify their yards, streets and parks through gardening, and Edmonton has won the major city award several times, including this year. It's a great program that rewards people for sprucing up their communities, getting active and staying in touch with the soil.

While I'm no gardener (somewhat ironically, since I've written books on the subject), I have great admiration for people who pursue this virtuous hobby. Hopefully Mom and Dad will come home with an award next week when they return from Leduc City Hall.