Get Your White Gloves and Fascinator Hats Ready:
Rudi’s Tea Room and the Costume Museum
Open May 20!
Enjoy dishes from Rudi’s new menu, or revisit some of your favourites. The hours are from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Tuesday to Friday
. Be sure to wear your Friends’ name tag to receive your 15 percent discount.
The “Mews Crew” also begins its new season on May 20. Its experienced greeters are ready to welcome you, answer questions, give directions, or suggest finishing a tour of the gardens with well-deserved refreshments at Rudi’s.
The Flower Arrangers Amaze Once Again:
Government House gardens were abuzz with activity for this year’s
Mother’s Day bouquet sales.
On Tuesday, 12 volunteers harvested 30 buckets of floral materials which were then conditioned and stored on the Cottage porch overnight. Bright and early Wednesday morning, 18 volunteers began transforming these garden finds into 30 vases and six teacup arrangements. 
Says Liz Thompson, Floral Arrangers Cutting Garden coordinator,“We are never certain of what flowers will be available because of the unpredictable spring weather. However, this year’s offering exceeded all expectations with stunning results.” The volunteers used fresh, bright greens, lilacs, candelabra primulas, blue bells, hellebores and many more plants to create their bouquets.
The arrangements are then taken to the Bruce Pavilion for the customers who have pre-ordered the bouquets.
Says Liz, “We were thrilled to share these beautiful arrangements with our regular, and many new, clients. It is a great start to this year’s garden bouquet offerings.” Fresh cut flowers will be available on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the Tea Room.
The Nursery Garden now open Tuesday and Thursday morning from 9 a.m. until noon. See you there!
Raising High the Roof Beams
– Well, In This Case, the Vegetable Beds
Mary (Vegetable Garden co-ordinator), and her hardworking volunteers, prepare 12 vegetable garden rows for planting on April 15.
The group raised the beds to make it easier to plant, weed, and harvest the many vegetable varieties they raise each year. Most of the produce is sold to Friends’ members, some is used in the tea room, approximately 10 per cent goes to charity throughout the season, and a basket is given to Her Honour each week.
Mary says, “These permanent frames widen the growing surface and will help increase our production of lettuce, salad greens, beets, spinach, carrots and radishes. And, by keeping the soil in the beds, we gain wider aisles for easier working access.” Spinach and spring salad mix should be ready by the end of May.
Have Hose … Will Cause Mayhem
Bryan (on left) and Brian keep volunteer safety in mind as they power wash the moss from the sidewalk and stairs at the Cottage taking care of a potential slipping hazard. Two truly Canadian “hosers” eh?
