Inspiring Stories

In the Beginning…

Back in 1994 in Vancouver's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, a network of traffic circles and corner bulges had been built to slow traffic at many neighbourhood intersections. At the corner bulge at Manitoba and 14th, a load of compost had been dumped in the bulge in advance of the shrubs and groundcover which would follow when a more reliable source of rainfall could establish the new plants. A neighbour, cleaning out his bird feeder before leaving on vacation, scattered the spent seed husks on the bulge to go with the compost.

Upon his return from holidays he was greeted by dozens of sunflower plants, sprouted from seeds the birds had missed, voluntarily thriving in the fertile soil!

The sunflowers grew and blossomed and City Hall started getting phone calls. Neighbours called asking if they could plant the traffic circles and corner bulges near their homes. Others wondered if they could take care of the plants the city would provide. Enough interest was generated to start a pilot project and the Green Streets Program began with 15 volunteer street gardeners.

By 2006, hundreds of volunteer gardeners in 250 Green Streets gardens are expertly demonstrating what can be accomplished when neighbours are given the opportunity to have a say over the look and feel of their streets. Green Streets gardeners have created a remarkable and significant difference in their neighbourhoods, generating an interest and an enthusiasm that continues to motivate and encourage others to this day.

Meaningful Conversations

Early one Sunday morning, I was weeding the traffic circle when an elderly woman, who didn't speak English, stopped on the corner and watched me for a long, long time. I smiled and she waved back but remained serious, observing my work. One of my goals for the traffic circle is to promote self-maintenance; the more it can look after itself, the better the chances of survival. So when I found a lupine that had gone to seed I picked the pods and threw the seeds around. As soon as she realized what I was doing, she broke into a huge smile and ran across the street to the circle. She grabbed the seed head off a cosmos, broke it apart and started throwing the seeds around the circle, all the time talking a mile a minute in her language. I found another lupine pod, broke it open and threw the seeds around while nodding "yes, yes" to my new friend. She spoke to me for a few minutes more, smiled, bowed to me and left.

I marvelled. Here was a woman born decades before me, in a place and culture far from mine, with whom I didn′t share even one word of a common language. And yet we had just had a very satisfying, meaningful conversation about sustainability and ecological stewardship!

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Evelyn′s Daisies

Several years ago, an elderly neighbour who has now passed away, gave me a daisy plant; just a regular daisy but a nice present. Of course daisies multiply like crazy so two years ago I took some up to the traffic circle garden where they have really taken off. We all know them to be "Evelyn's Daisies"— a great reminder.

An Unexpected Bonus

When I first started gardening at my corner bulge about four years ago, I was very surprised at how many people stopped to thank me and tell me how much they enjoyed the flowers. Since I was caring for the bulge simply for the joy of gardening, this opportunity to connect with my neighbours and gain so much appreciation was an unexpected bonus.

Just this spring, a young man stopped and thanked me for planting the garden. He said, "I feel good when I walk by and look at these flowers, and I don't feel good very often." I was deeply touched but also kind of sad that his life isn't a very happy one. It was a good reminder that the little things we do can have a big impact on other people, often without our ever knowing it.

Street-side Throne

In my office tower a few years ago, building maintenance was in the process of putting a toilet from one of our handicap washrooms into the landfill. Well, that's no place for a throne of such stature, so I intercepted and gave this toilet a street-side front row seat. Now everyone marvels at the new planter. A few shake their heads.

Just for fun, for a few weeks every spring, I place a pair of legs with pants and shoes upside down in the toilet, and on Christmas Eve? Santa's legs!

An Honourable Visit

We have scores of people stop and talk to us during the year as we work on our traffic circle garden, but our most distinguished visitor was a member of Royalty - a Monarch Butterfly! We were honoured with its presence for ten minutes before it flew away.

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