Winter fix for plant enthusiasts

Since 1971, the MUN Botanical Garden has offered programs focussing on basic plant education and Newfoundland ecology. Keeping with this tradition, the garden launched a new pilot program, Botanical Boot Camp, which included two sessions held Jan. 28 to 29 and Feb. 4. Day two of the second camp will be being rescheduled due to weather. The boot camp, part of the From Garden to Classroom Outreach Program, was supported by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Promo-Science funding program.

The outreach program involves teaching various botanical projects to groups of students who wish to learn about these practices, including composting, seed propagation, building a terrarium, grocery store botany, and more. Education Coordinator Anne Madden explains that the boot camp is meant to provide skills, knowledge, and acceptance of using plants in our everyday lives. More specifically, the goal of the program is to get teachers and youth group leaders to incorporate more activities that involve our natural world.

“Most people going through school don’t get a lot of plant education,” explained Madden. “Therefore, as teachers, they don’t have the background knowledge or comfort level to work with plants in the classroom.”
Madden spoke about some of the challenges faced by programs offered by the Botanical Gardens. “I don’t think students avail enough of the programs here. The Garden does receive valuable assistance from MUN, but a lot of the advertising does not always reach students.” Madden also points to the challenge of living in a northern climate. “The major problem is that botany is viewed as a summer interest, especially in Newfoundland, and in winter it is a challenge to provide these hands-on programs.” The MUN Botanical Garden also coordinates the PlantWatch program that offers Newfoundlanders the opportunity to be citizen scientists. The program involves recording flowering times for selected plant species, which is used to identify changes in bloom times to see how climate change affects these species. It’s a springtime activity that is accessible to anyone and contributes to nation-wide climate change research.

Volunteers with the MUN Botanical Garden will be in attendance at the Sustainability Fair taking place on March 4 as part of the events planned by the Students for Sustainability Coalition. They will have information on the PlantWatch program, along with other information about the Garden and other events.

Admission to the Garden, which provides a relaxing environment, is free for MUN students. “[Students] can take advantage of the quiet, hike the trails, sit by the pond, and many use the beautiful natural environment to practice their photography. Just coming up, smelling the trees, the fresh air, seeing the birds, is a fantastic thing, and we encourage every student to do that,” said Madden.

Winter hours are from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm on weekdays. More information on the programs featured by the Botanical Garden can be obtained through www.mun.ca/botgarden.

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