more news about the garden tour

1. There will be several draws and purchasing opportunities at the various gardens on the Blooms for Africa tour on July 28 and 29.
A wonderful basket of garden items is being raffled at Ann Craig-Howarth's garden in Aldershot (Bedford Rd.address).
Raffle tickets for a beautiful hand made concrete bench donated by Hamilton artist, Judy Hill, are being sold at all the gardens.
Beautiful stationary (sketches of grandmothers and orphans in Africa) by Hamilton artist, Theresa Randles, are being sold at many of the gardens.
All of the proceeds from these sales will go directly to the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Stephen Lewis foundation.

2. A very special garden has been added to the tour. This garden, located at the First Unitarian Church, 170 Dundurn St. Hamilton, rear garden just off the parking lot is the SEEDS OF HOPE GARDEN. Seeds of Hope is a project designed for the Women?s Centre of Hamilton that uses horticultural and human experiences to link women?s centres around the world. A central idea for the project is re-visioning the curb-side plots of urban buildings, transforming them into welcoming gardens with political meaning?the idea of the live organic message as part of the urban landscape and as part of public conscience.
Also, there is the desire to take women?s centres out of their ?removed settings?, (the Women?s Centre of Hamilton is housed in an office on the third floor of the YWCA. building) and out onto the streets/gardens where it is more likely that women in need will encounter the Centre?s contact information which is posted at each of the urban garden sites.
Women?s centres from around the globe joined the Women?s Centre of Hamilton to form a collective and participate in the project by sharing horticultural seeds and stories of women?s lives from their region. Sites in and around the Hamilton area have been selected as garden host sites where seeds from the partnering countries and local botanicals would be planted and the words of women disseminated in the form of on-site booklets.
The SOH project is a good indicator of the challenges that women around the world struggle with on a daily basis. I encourage people to visit the SOH garden sites and allow the diversity of the plants to remind them of the varying situation of women around the world?the resilient seed?and in the life-cycle of the garden, to see glimpses of our own abilities for growth, renewal and peace Kelly Hilton, Project designer