Gardening in the Heart

City: Winnipeg

Director: Elise Swerhone

Genre: Lifestyle

Manitoba’s climate is challenging, but intrepid gardeners persist. In season 2 a flower gardener dyes fabric, refugees bring new skills, bugs are welcomed, new trees are grafted and fruit growing is explained.

To watch Gardening in the Heart:

If you are already a Bell Fibe TV customer, go to channel 1, or watch it on demand with the Fibe TV App.

If you are not a Bell Fibe TV customer, click here to learn more about Bell services.

Episodes

Season 1

Episode 1

Diana Dhaliwal and her family have created a home away from home around her hundred year old house with a potager, pool and Manitoba mountain.

Episode 2

Designer John Tinkler created three very distinct gardens surrounding his home - each different: one wild, one sculptural and one lusciously decadent.

Episode 3

Micro-biologist Linda Cameron brings her scientific training to her garden with spectacular result.

Episode 4

Lisa Renner wanted her yard to be a naturalized prairie garden in front and functional space in back so she hired designer John Harper to bring beauty to both.

Episode 5

Free Press garden writer Colleen Zacharias gardens for Fall. With over 90 hydrangeas, her garden blooms late into the season.

Episode 6

Created for seniors, using raised boxes for easy access, this garden has become a haven for naturalized plantings and pollinators as well.

Season 2

Episode 1 - Lourdes Still: Masagana Flower Farm

Masagana in Tagalog means abundance. Lourdes Still felt this described, in her language of the Philippines, the five acres of land she lives on near Richer, Manitoba. Three years ago she started a flower farm and now she teaches people how to dye fabric from the flowers she grows including indigo from persicaria tinctoria or Japanese indigo.

Episode 2 - Raymond Ngarboui: Land in Canada

Raymond Ngarboui has been in Canada for 20 years after fleeing Chad to spend 8 years in Cameroon as a refugee. He knows the difficulties of being in a strange land. The Rainbow Community Garden is his way to give back to refugees who are new to Canada. 258 families from 39 countries garden here and they have much to teach us.

Episode 3 - Derek Yarnell: More Butterflies Please

Derek Yarnell is disturbed by the rapid decline in numbers of insects and birds so he has made it his mission to change the way he gardens by replacing lawn with natural prairie plants as food for local species. He is sharing what he learns with local gardeners by welcoming them to tour his yard and on TikTok by posting his progress.

Episode 4 - Wilbert Ronald: The Plant Makers

Wilbert Ronald is one of Canada’s leading plant breeders. He and his family have owned Jeffries Nurseries in Portage la Prairie for 40 years. It is one of the largest distributors of plants in Western Canada. On their farms Wilbert and his son Andrew grow 250,000 shrubs, 50,000 trees and thousands of small plants. Wilbert’s passion is lilies. He has hybridized many varieties that are sold around the world.

Episode 5 - Philip Ronald: Growing Fruit on the Prairies

Philip Ronald and his wife Karen run Riverbend Orchards in Portage la Prairie where they grow a variety of fruits mainly: hascap and Saskatoon berries, cherries, plums and apples. Philip teaches horticulture at the University of Manitoba and he brings together his teaching and fruit growing skills to show prairie gardeners what grows well in this challenging climate.