Skip to content

SOOKE GARDEN CLUB: Discovering alpine plants in the coastal region

Sooke Garden Club meets May 26
25165621_web1_210520-SNM-Garden-Club-PHOTO_1
Laura Caddy in an alpine region. She’s the guest speaker at the May 26 Sooke Garden Club meeting. (Contributed - Sooke Garden Club)

Cory McInnis | Contributed

Going for a hike is one of my favourite things to do, somewhat like a form of therapy. Tie up your favourite hikers, pack some water, snacks, a camera and any other hiking essentials and head out to explore. Either with someone or on your own, being out in the forest trails or along the ocean paths, you soon feel the benefits of nature on your wellbeing.

You may ask yourself what are the alpine plants in our coastal area. Alpine is an adjective that describes mountainous environments, but alpine plants grow in many different regions.

Discovering the beauty of alpine plants, you can’t help but to stop and admire the colourful varieties that find their home amongst the dense forests, meadows and mountains.

The Sooke Garden Club welcomes Laura Caddy to speak on what the alpine environment is and how the plants have adapted to live there, and how they are grown at the University of B.C. in West Vancouver.

Before attending the Niagara Parks Commission School of Horticulture, Caddy worked in many areas in both the horticulture and agriculture fields. She has a varied background completing internships at Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and Royal Botanic Gardens in Ontario, and then joining the University of Alberta Devonian Botanic Garden, where she held the positions of supervisor of horticulture and living collections, alpine and native plant collections curator and plant records manager.

In July 2016, Caddy joined the staff at UBC Botanical Gardens holding the position of curator-horticulturist of the E.H. Lohbrunner Alpine Garden.

As this will be the last speaker until September and the club cannot join together for summer activities, we can stay connected through our newsletter published quarterly, website and Facebook links.

Sooke Garden Club meets on May 26 at 7 p.m. As a Sooke Garden Club member, you can join the Zoom meeting with the guest speaker scheduled at 7:30 p.m. If you are not a member and would like to join the Sooke Garden Club, please contact Solange by email at sookegc@gmail.com.

•••

Cory McInnis writes for the Sooke Garden Club. Please email her at sookegc@gmail.com.