Winter dreams of summer gardens

The City of Edmonton awards may inspire you

No matter your gardening pleasure, the City of Edmonton takes pride in your efforts.

The Edmonton in Bloom Awards reviews nominations for various categories and selects standouts from hundreds of community contributions every year. With some work (and a few dirt stains), you may be recognized for your balcony garden, edible yard, natural yard, or tiny yard. General yards and public spaces are also honoured as we encourage communities to come together and plant their best.

The Front Yards in Bloom awards were launched in 1999, and the City of Edmonton collaborates with various partners to cultivate community spirit and enhance the city’s beauty. With the 2024 season behind us, we’re highlighting the best of the best and looking forward to an even bigger 2025.

For more information: Edmonton.ca/programs_services/landscaping_gardening/front-yards-in-bloom

General Yard - 1st place: Loralea Gaboriau & Gary Pihl in Alberta Avenue

While buying hanging planters and potting mix is one way to make your garden pop in the spring, there is nothing quite like a perennial garden to remind you how beautiful the seasonal changes can be here in Edmonton. Luckily for our community, the lilies, roses, and ivies of the Gaboriau lawn are among the first greens to greet us as the snow fades and the blooms begin.

With a mix of public and private displays, the colours erupting from Gary and Loralea’s gardens are an absolute showstopper. Years of pruning, diligent weeding, and careful maintenance have rewarded our community with a lawn as resilient as the people who tend it. A timeless home behind the boughs makes for the perfect canvas that makes this year’s General Yard 1st Place unique, memorable, and charming all in one.

Community Garden - 1st Place: Alberta Avenue Community Garden

This floral backdrop to Alberta Avenue’s favourite summer festivals has its roots planted firmly in the community — literally and figuratively. Located behind the community centre on 118 Avenue and 92 Street, this meeting place of backgrounds, skills, and passions continues to be a source of pride and beauty for the community.

“The gardens exemplify community building, out-of-the-box creativity, and hard work,” says the Awards Committee. Beyond just beauty, the garden also gives back freely to the neighbourhood. In what has become an annual tradition, potatoes were planted in a vast communal area of the backyard. This year, volunteers celebrated over 1,300 pounds grown, shared, and donated to local pantries!

Numerous projects dot the flower-studded yard. From an active apiary that supports nearby pollinators, to a donated greenhouse bursting with hot peppers late into the season, the sky is the limit regarding the creativity and hard work of those who want to bring a unique and beautiful twist to their neighbourhood.

The joy of this award is as shared as the labour that went into it. “The certificate will be displayed,” says Hemanta Siwakoti, a garden volunteer. “It’s an indication of respect shown by the City of Edmonton for gardening and nature. It shows respect in a very special way.”

Public Spaces - 2nd Place: Parkdale Cromdale Community League

From chest-high lilies to beds bursting with marigolds, the gardens of the Parkdale Cromdale Community League (PCCL) stand as unique a meeting place as the communities that surround it.

Summer employee Autumn Meszaros was immersed in PCCL gardening this past summer, and can be thanked for much of the work that went into planting and maintaining their impressive yard. Despite her immersion in studying economics at the University of Alberta, Meszaros was eager for the opportunity to pursue a family tradition. “My great-grandfather lived in Welland, Ontario. He was a florist and the head city gardener.”

For Meszaros, a summer job at PCCL gave her the rare opportunity to work outside. “It was nice to do gardening in the summer,” she says. “Being outside enhanced my well-being. I appreciate the community league very much for this opportunity.”

Are green thumbs genetic? Maybe. What we know for sure is that the outreach of any garden goes beyond the plants themselves. We may walk by them, admire them and start growing our own flowers or vegetables to find some of that joy at home. However you find joy in the soil, we hope it is a journey of gratitude.

Edible Yard - 2nd place: Beth & Otto Mahler in Parkdale

Beth and Otto Mahler show us there’s no such thing as building your trellises too tall.

“My passion for gardening came from my parents, who immigrated from Europe in the 1950s,” says Otto. He tells us that during their time, the entire block in Norwood was a contiguous garden. With very few fences around to break up the mosaic, the outdoors was a fantastic meeting place for communities. The Mahlers’ spread of edible plants reminds us how families may still cultivate a substantial vegetable garden as a source of inexpensive, healthy food.

“Today, spending time in the garden gives me a chance to chat with neighbours who pass by. We often exchange updates about our gardens and trade plant cuttings and saved seeds. It gives me great joy to see the love of gardening gaining momentum in our community,” adds Otto.

The Mahler family encourages everyone to plant something – even starting small with a few tulips or a tomato in a pot on your deck. The potential rewards are immense, and well beyond the awards. With a few hours of work, you can expect delicious food, stronger muscles, time in the sun, and maybe even new friends.

Tiny Yard - 2nd place: Mike Hukalo in Alberta Avenue

The Hukalo lawn is a stunning example of how much you can do with a bit of space and a splash of creativity.

Located on a busy street, this small pocket of calm highlights what a curated approach to gardening can offer. Complimentary colours, a stunning mix of vibrant highlights and thick ferns, and a tangled, yet refined border. Like haikus to poets or canvases to painters, limitations (in this case, space) often reveal new potential. Even the warm string lights and rich wooden steps complement the effect of walking into a private oasis. Luckily for the community, the garden is far from private, and the panel took notice.

After finding a photo of the property online from 2014, Hukalo’s work is even more impressive. From a couple of spindly trees and planters on the stairs, the garden now stuns those who pass by and reminds us how much potential there is in our own front yards.