Every Wednesday over the past months of winter the International Peace Garden has been hosting Free Seniors Weekends where folks can come and enjoy the beautiful cacti and succulent collection in the Conservatory for free.
But it's not just a casual walk through the blooms of these exotic plants that have brought smiles to the faces of their visitors. The Peace Garden has also been offering programming every other Wednesday to share information about the collection and enjoy some together time with crafts and snacks.
"We haven't decided yet if we'll continue the program beyond the end of April, but it's been really nice to see attendance start to pick up, especially as the weather has been more favorable," shares CEO Tim Chapman.
"Last week, we had Canadians and Americans join the program, which included an hour with Johannes Olwage, our curator of Living Collections. He took visitors through the Conservatory and the cacti collection, educating them about plants from all over the world, some of which have already started blooming as the days have gotten longer."
In addition to this, the Peace Garden Education and Volunteer Coordinator, Deb McCallum, hosts a teatime with the visitors and does crafts with those who wish to participate during their visit to the Garden on those Wednesdays.
This special programming every other Wednesday has been very special, but Chapman says there are only 2 more of these special Wednesday left; March 26th and April 9th.
"On March 26th, the program will include a Peace Garden history tour with Deb McCollum, a stroll through the cactus collection like we do every week, and a seed packet decoupage activity, along with teatime."
" And then we'll wrap up our current programming schedule for Senior Wednesdays on April 9th with a visit from Dakota College of Bottineau horticulturist Raquel Dugan-Dibble, followed by some more crafts and teatime," he adds.
For more on Free Seniors Wednesdays please click HERE!
For all upcoming events, please visit the International Peace Garden website HERE!