Sunday, May 04, 2008

Trash Bins of Butchart Gardens

In addition to my last two posts on the beautiful gardens of Victoria, British Columbia, I bring to you this important photo-essay on an artfully-managed detail of Butchart gardens.

Yes, I am writing about the trash bins (often found twinned with a recycle bin).

A Fritillaria, pansies, and ornamental grasses adorn this trash bin:

They were not unsightly boxes requiring shrubbery to hide them, nor were they made of ugly materials or painted in standard garbage-can colors. They essentially were stained solid wood planters that just happened to also be receptacles for refuse and recyclables.
Some red-leafed Heuchera add color to this trash bin:

Resident-lawnmower-man thought it strange that I should spend so much time admiring the trash bins, but I thought these were brilliant elements of the garden. Even the trash bin in the Japanese garden had its own unique flair, with muted colors, white pebbles up top, and a bamboo-texture in place of the solid wood frame of the other bins.

I wonder how often they change the flower displays on these garbage cans?

Yes, I took picture of the garbage cans, but if this inspires just one person to beautify their surroundings, I will be happy.
A garbage can display designed for shade:

Decorative element rather than eyesore:

Sometimes thinking of our little town can make me pull my hair out. Surely, people have enough time and energy to keep the place clean and make it a little nicer. I feel like our tax dollars haven't brought much beauty to this place, and I'm not asking for vast gardens of tulips or rows of rhododendrons. I am glad that Patterson park keeps our downtown area green, however. There is a lot of natural beauty here, but especially in this grungy, mud-on-our-cars time of year, I feel like a single one of these Butchart garbage bins exudes more evidence of effort to beautify a location than our entire town can muster. Perhaps we can do better than pick up the empty beer cans and other litter.

3 comments:

O.I.M said...

i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE those garbage cans!!! I want some here in toronto to replace the monstrosities that sit on every corner -- all of them plastered with some form of advertising or other. if garbage cans were a bit more attractive, perhaps people would take a little extra care when disposing of their trash - instead of the hit and miss strategy that is often evident. I'll be back to check out your garden tours. a quick glance tells me they were awesome. but first, must make dinner.
cheers.
irena

Amy said...

Those are *the best* trash cans ever! What a great idea. We have friends living "down south" and I've been dreaming of finally seeing some of the gardens on the coast. You're adding fuel to the fire...

beachlady said...

Thank you for your trash bin essay. We are visiting Butchart Gardens next week and will have more goodies to search for.
Beachlady