Ted and Mary Greig
Rhododendron Garden

In Flower Now Through Middle May

May 2, 2005 - In a city the size of Vancouver it may seem at times that there are no hidden horticultural treasures waiting to take us by surprise, but you would be wrong. Now, and for the next several weeks, the wood-chipped lined pathway that encircles the Stanley Park Pitch & Putt Golf Course is blooming in a confetti of pastel colours with rhododendrons and azaleas taking centre stage.

This is the location of the Ted and Mary Greig Rhododendron Garden (yes, azaleas fall into this category) and the Vancouver Park Board was the grateful recipient of this extensive collection of plants over 30 years ago. In hearing of the Greigs impending retirement from their nursery at Royston on Vancouver Island, where they hybridized rhododendrons, the Park Board was able to secure, enmass, an irreplaceable group of shrubs.

New this season is the delightful trio of metal benches and table positioned on a blue stone patio near the entrance to the main part of the Greig Garden at the bottom of the pitch & putt golf course. As the dedication plaque indicates, this wonderful park amenity was donated to the Park Board by the Cumming family in memory of their parents who loved walking in this area. This generous giftnow enables the garden visitor to stop and sit a while, eat an al fresco lunch, read, knit or just contemplate the beauty of these gardens.

In all, about 4,500 plants are necklaced around the golf course beneath the towering magnolias and evergreens. Of special interest are the rhododendron auriculatum hybrids which combine the desirable characteristics of late bloom time in July and August and scent, something not usually found in rhodos. An early evening stroll through this area during the first two weeks in May astounds the park visitor with Italian ice colors combining bloom and foliage. Summer walkers are equally bowled over to see colorful rhodos blooming "out of season." You'll find a good guide book is necessary, such as Gerald Straley's Trees of Vancouver or the Natural History Society's The Natural History of Stanley Park, with excellent articles by now retired Stanley Park gardener Alleyne Cook.

We tip our hats to the Greigs who were generous in their donation comprising no less than a lifetime's achievement in the guise of these magnificent specimens. We are told that former Park Board Deputy Superintendent Bill Livingstone negotiated this gift of public pleasure and went on to hire rhododendron specialist Alleyne Cook to create the garden you now can enjoy.

Don't miss it. This is a secret garden worth discovering year after year.

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