As one of the prime movers of St. Albert Botanic Park, former mayor Richard Plain played a key role in its success for more than three decades.
On Sunday, about 50 park volunteers turned up to repay his years of service renaming the park’s rose garden as the Richard Plain Rose Garden.
The renaming was kept a secret from Plain and it showed. Accompanied by his wife, Margaret, he appeared gobsmacked at the ceremony and said very little.
In an interview after the event Plain said, “I was carrying my camera case and I saw John Beedle and I thought there was a dedication to him. I was trailing the crowd to see what was going on. I turned the corner and discovered I was the subject of all the attention.”
Botanic Park president Patricia Bell said the event was kept under wraps in large part due to Plain’s ingrained humility about his contributions.
“But the volunteers were all very happy that it was done. It was even a secret from them until the day before. And Richard was shocked. It was the first time since I’ve known him that he didn’t have anything to say,” said Bell, with a chuckle.
Growing up on a farm near Westlock, Plain picked up a passion for cultivating roses from his mother. Over the decades he developed an encyclopaedic knowledge of the blooms, received countless garden show prizes and trophies, and became St. Albert’s go-to rose gardener.
A health care economist by profession, Plain travelled throughout his career and eventually settled in St. Albert in 1971.
“I had the same home, I had the same yard and I started planting and developing hybrid tea roses and floribunda. And I found other kindred spirits interested in growing tender roses and having them survive in our harsh northern climate.”
A two-time city mayor, Plain met John Beedle, a former city park planner responsible for our many beautiful parks, trees, shrubs and greenscaping. The twosome shared a horticultural passion and became prime movers in conceiving a botanic park modelled on the former Devonian Gardens, now named the University of Alberta Botanic Park.
Its intent as a research park focused on volunteers planting flowers, fruits, vegetables and trees in Zone 3 climate conditions. In addition to planting, they conduct research and record and collect data on all the species.
By 1990 Plain, Beedle and a troupe of dedicated gardeners leased a five-acre vertical strip running along the Sturgeon River’s banks. It was the start of what would become a popular summer tourist destination site.
“The initial vision was centred around a rose garden. Woodlands and the Red Willow Trail were developing at the time and there was a large block of land. A developer wanted to build a country club but we wanted a park that would be accessible to all people,” said Plain.
“We wanted to build a botanic park in an urban area. At the time you needed a car to drive to the Devonian park. We wanted an urban area where people could walk, bicycle, ride a bus or take a car.”
In operation for more than 30 years, the park has grown extensively showcasing more than 18 separate gardens including roses, lilies, peonies, an orchard, a crab-apple lane and a shade garden.
The park’s diversity is stunning. In the first year of the rose garden, 369 roses from 170 different varieties were planted.
“We have slightly fewer now. Some of the plants were not hardy enough and didn’t survive our climate,” said Bell.
Although Plain has taken a step back from the daily demands of the Botanic Park, he continues to come out every spring to prune hundreds of roses.
“The idea of a rose garden was to show what actual flowers could be grown. St. Albert is an amazing place for the number of roses grown,” said Plain.
Although the rose gardener's hard work was singled out on Sunday, Plain quickly redirected the praise to the park's 75 volunteers.
“The St. Albert Botanic Park and rose gardens are based on a lot of volunteer work. There are no professional or paid gardeners working in the park. This is a very different type of operation that has run successfully for 30 years. There’s a level of camaraderie and companionship.
"People are increasingly interested in the green revolution. People are retiring and volunteering. Kids are learning about the environment. And the St. Albert Botanic Park reflects the interest of its citizens. The volunteers run it, the volunteers finance it and the volunteers enjoy doing it.”
