The Oshawa Express - Exploring Oshawa

Exploring Oshawa - Botanical gardens offer a peaceful oasis

By Jessica Verge
The Oshawa Express
• It might be a spot few Oshawa residents are aware of but those in search of a quiet place to take a stroll, to share a picnic or just spend a lunch hour with a book in the shade can find the perfect getaway right in the middle of the city.

• Oshawa Valley Botanical Gardens (OVBG), an oasis tucked away between Children’s Arena and Kinsmen Stadium, has a few treats to offer those who can appreciate the landscape and are looking for little else than a quiet afternoon spent touring flowers and trails.
The city is set to celebrate its Peony Festival June 17 as the flowers reach the height of their bloom.

• OVBG offers visitors a new spin on the trail system, with specialty gardens and architectural features clustered around the Oshawa Creek and stretching from Fire Hall No. 1 to the stadium’s fence. A city-funded initiative dreamed up by the Oshawa Garden Club, the OVBG is still in its early stages with plans to expand and add more gardens, all linked by parks and trails.

• When stepping through the entrance, the Peony Garden, the first of the specialty gardens to see completion, greets visitors to the OVBG. With more than 300 vibrant varieties— from shocking pinks to vivid reds to bright whites—the peonies are a sight worth seeing, whether you’re a green thumb or fonder of fake flowers.



The Oshawa Garden Club’s commemorative gazebo was constructed in 2006 to mark 75 for the group.
• At the centre of the garden is a beautiful, intricately designed gazebo, which was constructed in 2006 to mark 75 years for the Oshawa Garden Club.

• Further into the garden, visitors will come across an impressive footbridge, also erected in 2006. Named the Rotary Bridge, it celebrates the 100th anniversary of Rotary International. The bridge provides a route across the Oshawa Creek, which cuts through the gardens and appears cleaner here, tempting passersby to jump in.
The colourful peonies are the current highlight of the Oshawa Valley Botanical Garden.  
• Unfortunately, the bridge is also a draw for local skateboarders who pay little attention to those using it for its intended purpose. As well, the west entrance to the bridge is already spoiled with graffiti.

• Once across the bridge, the OVBG is a little less attractive. As a stark contrast to the healthy, blooming peonies, there is a potentially nice area with benches and gardens in desperate need of some attention. The flowers here are dry and colourless but a little TLC could turn it right around. Further north grows a collection of lilac trees, which, while they could use some maintenance, are in full bloom and fragrant.
  • Back on the west side of the garden, past the hosta collection and tall shady trees, visitors
can find the rockery, a mix of stones and shrubs surrounding a serene pond. While the rockery has been there since 1980, it found new life in 2004 with the addition of a waterfall garden.

• The OVBG is open year round but is highlighted by the annual Peony Festival, which takes place June 17 and coincides with the climax of the bloom cycle. Peonies bloom in late May and only stay in bloom until the end of June. Those wanting to catch a glimpse of the peonies at their best have little time left to do so but those wanting trails to follow or a shady spot to read, picnic or just relax have all summer.		  
 
Join Oshawa Express reporter Jessica Verge as she finds
out what Oshawa has to offer when it comes to summer
fun. Got a place you’d like to see her go? Call 905-571-7334
or email news@oshawaexpress.ca.
  
  Car wash helps local hostel  
By Courtney Duffett
The Oshawa Express

Michael Modeste, 11 (left), wiped off windows as Paige Rancier, 11 (right), dried the rest of the car with a towel.

• A weekend car wash helped raise money for the YWCA
Durham.

• Kingsway Inn Motel in Oshawa held a car wash this past Saturday in hopes of raising funds for the YWCA
Durham.

In the end, Kingsway Motel raised $428 for the charity.

• “We wanted to help a charity,” said Erin Taylor, housekeeper and event organizer. “It just fell into place for the Y. (YMCA Durham’s Adelaide hostel) closed down and it was such a needy charity. There was no second guessing.” The hostel closed its doors earlier this year because of lack of funding.

• People who wanted their cars washed this weekend paid $5 with all the funds going towards the local charity. In total, about 85 cars were washed.

• Eva Martin Blythe, executive director of the YWCA Durham, was at the car wash in support of her charity and the event.

• “If somebody in the community is going to support us then we’re going to be here,” said Blythe. “It’s great when people want to help. It’s a great partnership. And it was a perfect day to do this.”

Eva Martin Blythe, executive director of the YWCA Durham, helped wash cars at a local car wash event, which raised money to support the YWCA Durham.
       
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