July 8, 2015
1888
Betty Conlin loves art, music and gardening.
And it shows, as the 83-year-old Kincardine woman continues to create in all three facets, with her gardening skills on display this year as part of the Kincardine and District Horticultural Society's annual "Through the Garden Gate" garden tour this Sunday afternoon.
Conlin and her husband built their house on Manorwood Crescent in 1983 and designed the east-side garden along an Oriental theme, with a river of blue stone running through it.
"That was all hand-picked stone," says Conlin, "and we ran it all along the side of the house to a pond at the back."
The backyard was where she built the prototype of the Labyrinth Peace Garden with the actual garden built at Geddes Environmental Park in Kincardine about 15 years ago, complete with Conlin's statue of Eirene, Greek Goddess of Peace.
That garden is maintained solely by volunteers and takes a lot of work, says Conlin. "It's important to me and I like to help take care of it."
Back at her own garden, she found that over the years, the ground cover began to take over the river, so about two years ago, she transformed the garden, had two Blue Spruce trees removed and installed a sprinkler system. A cut-leaf maple was planted where one of the spruce trees was.
She removed the pond and replaced it with a pondless waterfall which is a marvellous focal point for the garden. She also put plants along the fence out front and expects they will be blooming beautifully in time for the garden tour.
Her love of art is evident, as her sculptures, garden stones and other lovely treasures are liberally sprinkled throughout the garden. "My grandchildren call me the fairy grandmother because I have so many fairies in the garden," she says.
Conlin has been an artist since she was 19. She worked in fashion design and then shifted her sights to quilting, 3D artwork, and now sculpture, using Paverpol Textile Hardener. Similar to glue, this agent helps shape natural fibres into sculptures, such as the Blue Heron and Egret in the garden.
At one point, Conlin was instructing classes in a wide range of art, quilting, silk-dyeing, and sculpture. But she has decided to slow down a bit and teach only in the Kincardine area, while maintaining her involvement in the quilt guild and the horticultural society.
"At 83, I'm not 100-per-cent retired," she says, with a grin.
During the garden tour, she will have homemade cards available, with a $10 donation toward the Labyrinth Peace Garden.
Conlin's garden is one stop on the tour which includes 10 gardens and a couple of sites of interest, with the Walker House as the watering hole for rest and refreshments.
The tour runs Sunday, July 12, from Noon to 4:30 p.m., rain or shine. Admission is $12 in advance (tickets available at Quinn's and Jerome's), or $15 on the day of the event at the Walker House.
Written ByLiz Dadson is the founder and editor of the Kincardine Record and has been in the news business since 1986.
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