Welcome to my Garden
Edmonton Journal
5 June 2003
Northside garden just a mouse-click away
Misty Harris
The Edmonton Journal
Thursday, June 5, 2003
 EDMONTON - Hundreds of people traipse through Gerry Danen's garden each week,
but not a single blade of grass is disturbed. Visitors from all over the world come for inspiration,
but nary a footprint touches the velvety-soft soil.
Thanks to his comprehensive Web site (http://garden.danen.org), Danen's eye-popping yard is
just a mouse-click away. Whether you want to trace the garden's history over the past decade,
learn more about planting or browse through myriad photos, his site makes it possible.
 "Gardening is my therapy in the summer," says Danen, 53.
"In the wintertime, it's posting pictures (of the garden) on my Web site."
Danen, the IT manager for Northlands Park, created the site as a way of satisfying three hobbies:
photography, computers and gardening. A green thumb since the age of 10, he says there's absolutely nothing like it.
"It's a great way to unwind," he says. "If you're working with your head all day, it's nice to
come home and work with your hands."
The Web site has also been an olive branch of sorts between himself and other gardeners around
the globe. Through his online connections, Danen has obtained triple tiger lilies from India,
orchid cactus cuttings from California, and much more.
 "The Internet is a really big resource for gardening," he says.
"Anyone who has a garden (and hasn't been online) had better start looking because they're missing out."
Missing out, indeed. Danen's small Abbottsfield garden, which boasts poppies, tulips, irises,
pansies, koi fish and begonias (among other things), is a sight to behold.
His is the garden of New York rooftops and quaint Dutch villages untouched by the dogma of
Martha Stewart. Untamed and poetic, there's almost no telling where Mother Nature's hand ends
and Danen's arm begins.
 "I just say let it grow," he enthuses. "It's much more
forgiving if it's a natural garden. Here, if the dogs run through it, you hardly even notice."
JG: What has been your biggest gardening setback?
Danen: In 2000, my garden was shredded in a hail storm. In my mind, it was a total disaster.
Insurance doesn't cover lilies, you know.
JG: Any advice for other gardeners?
Danen: Give a plant a few years. Martagon lilies, for example, take seven years from seed
to bloom. But I'd give them at least nine years because conditions may not be optimal. Soil conditions
are a large factor in what works. Flexibility and patience are two of the gardener's greatest virtues.
JG: How would you describe the theme of your garden?
Danen: My garden is rather wild, with flowers and grass intermingled. I often refer to it as
my urban jungle. I prefer the wild look over manicured flower beds ... In Holland, the trend is to let
your garden grow wild. But here, the neighbours complain if you get too many dandelions, so you have to be careful.
JG: How powerful is the magic of a garden?
Danen: A garden can be pretty inspirational because it gives you a sense of life ... You don't
have to go to the mountains or to Hawaii. You can have the same sense of peace in your own backyard.
mharris@thejournal.canwest.com
© Copyright 2003 Edmonton Journal
Photos by Larry Wong of the Edmonton Journal.
* Fuchsia 'Miss California' was purchased from Wallish Greenhouses...
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