The year ahead
What's on: Canada
Flower shows, festivals and awareness days for the next twelve months. Dates shown in green were confirmed against the organiser's own website; everything else shows the month it usually falls in.
December
Magic of Christmas at The Butchart Gardens
The Butchart Gardens' winter season, with the gardens dressed in lights and festive displays from early December into the first week of January.
World Soil Day
A day for the living material everything in the garden depends on. Healthy soil is the whole game.
The December solstice
The shortest day in the northern hemisphere and the longest in the southern. The turning point of the year for daylight.
February
World Wetlands Day
A day for the marshes, bogs and ponds that hold water and life. Even a small garden pond does a version of the same job.
Calgary Home + Garden Show
A large late-winter home and garden show at Stampede Park, with exhibitors and guest talks. A good place to plan the season before the ground thaws.
March
World Wildlife Day
A day about wild plants and animals and the habitats they need. Gardens are a surprisingly large share of that habitat.
The March equinox
Day and night are close to equal length everywhere. Spring begins in the north, autumn in the south.
International Day of Forests
A day for trees and what they do for us. A single garden tree still provides shade, shelter and food for wildlife.
World Water Day
A day about fresh water and using it carefully. Worth a thought for anyone with a hose or a water butt.
April
Earth Day
A worldwide day of environmental action, marked since 1970. Composting, planting or simply leaving a corner wild all count.
May
International Day of Plant Health
A day about keeping plants free of pests and disease. Most plant problems travel on plants we move about ourselves.
Canadian Tulip Festival
Ottawa's long-running spring festival, with beds of tulips in bloom around Dow's Lake. It grew from the Netherlands' wartime gift of tulip bulbs to Canada.
Rhapsody of Rhododendrons
Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens' late-spring celebration of its rhododendron collection in full flower.
World Bee Day
A day for bees and the other pollinators most of our food depends on. A patch of flowering plants is a real contribution.
International Day for Biological Diversity
A day about the variety of life and why it matters. A mixed garden supports far more of it than a tidy one.
June
World Environment Day
The United Nations' biggest day for environmental action, marked since 1973.
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
A day about land drying out and losing its fertility. The principles that hold soil together in a garden hold it together anywhere.
The June solstice
The longest day in the northern hemisphere and the shortest in the southern. From here the daylight turns the other way.
July
World Mangrove Day
A day for the coastal forests that hold shorelines together and shelter an enormous amount of marine life.
September
Gardens of Light
An evening walk through the Montreal Botanical Garden's Chinese, Japanese and First Nations gardens, lit after dark.
World Ozone Day
Marks the treaty that repaired the ozone layer — one of the clearest cases of an environmental problem actually being fixed.
The September equinox
Day and night are close to equal length again. Autumn begins in the north, spring in the south.
October
World Food Day
A day about how the world is fed. A vegetable bed is a small answer to a very large question.