[URBAN NOTE] "Toronto Botanical Gardens is a metropolis of plants, animals and insects"

[rfmcdonald]

Why did I not know of the Toronto Botanical Gardens before now? Thanks to Shawn Micallef in the Toronto Star for alerting me to the existence of the place.

Trinity Bellwoods Park has its famous white squirrel, making rare appearances shared delightedly on social media, a kind of urban badge one achieves in downtown Toronto. However, the Toronto Botanical Gardens (TBG) in North York may have the city’s friendliest squirrel, who stands on his hind legs with his hands clasped together, plaintively looking you in the eye.

“Go away, Freddie,” says Paul Zammit, sighing. “People have been feeding him.”

Zammit is the director of horticulture at the TBG, and as he surveys the site he points out squirrels, hawks, ground hogs and mouselike voles that make their home among the 3,600 different kinds of plants he cares for.

“Gardens are opportunity,” says Zammit, wandering between planting beds, naming off dozens of different kinds. “A garden isn’t just esthetic, there’s an opportunity to educate.”

Bees are one way to educate. On site there is both a “bee hotel” and collection of hives they call a pollinator garden. Zammit explains many bees don’t sting, nor do many produce honey, but they are integral to the garden’s biodiversity. Apart from Zammit, there is only one full time and one seasonal gardener to take care of all of this, but 40 volunteer gardeners also pitch in.