Rick Hutchings, the Community Planting and Junior Gardening Director of the Leaside Gardening Society, co-ordinates the planting of the flower beds by elementary school students with City of Toronto workers Gary Cardoso, Rick Revoredo and Ginaya Smith. The workers will maintain the gardens for the rest of the season.
As part of their Grade 3 Science curriculum, students from St. Anselm Catholic School plant the flower bed in Father Caulfield Parkette, named for the founder of the school and located at Cameron Cres. and MacNaughton Rd. Students from Bessborough did the same at Trace Manes and those from Northlea planted the green space at Bessborough and Eglinton.
Budding Garden Society members from Grade 2 and 3 classes at St. Anselm enjoy planting their bed, which is often featured in photos of wedding parties from the church during the summer. Both Nora Campbell and Joanna Blanchard, the past and current presidents of the Garden Society, believe that the planting teaches the children a lesson in “ownership of gardens and pride in their neighbourhood.”
