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Hamilton Spectator
a day ago
- General
- Hamilton Spectator
80 gardens across Hamilton area welcome visitors for last Open Garden Week
I've written at least 30 of these introductions to Open Garden Week. You would think it would come easily by now. But no. I'm torn between thankfulness and awe and a bouquet of other sentiments. Eighty. That's the total number of gardens listed here on these pages. The people who made these gardens — sometimes over decades — are sharing them with you on this final Hamilton Spectator Open Garden Week — which begins tomorrow and runs to July 1 — and its partly parallel Waterdown and Area Garden Walk. I'm grateful, even overwhelmed, by the generosity, hospitality and benevolence of the garden owners who are welcoming any and all visitors over the 10 days of the event. Listings are organized geographically and by their first open date. Please check listings Gardening is largely an unselfish act: we make gardens to share them with others — family, neighbours, friends, passersby. And in the coming days, visitors. Not strangers, because as Irish bard William Butler Yeats wrote 'There are no strangers here; only friends you haven't met yet.' In case you missed it, this is the Grand Finale. This is the 30th edition of Open Garden Week and it is the last one. (I'm planning to keep writing about area gardeners and their gardens as long as The Spec will have me and I can still stroll around other people's gardens.) But Open Garden Week is exiting with a flourish, going out with a bang. We have many, many returning garden hosts and we have many, many first-time hosts, at least some of whom were moved by my ominous caveat: It's now … or never. Visitors' choices are, well, huge. There are gardens open from Burlington to Grimsby and south to Haldimand. Almost every community of Hamilton — Dundas, Ancaster, Stoney Creek, Flamborough and the 'old city' of Hamilton above and below the escarpment we call the Mountain — is represented. There are country gardens, city gardens, gardens with native plants, with water, with big trees and dwarf trees. There are gardens with a healthy dose of whimsy, with art, with an artist's sensibility. (Some gardeners have noted their property's accessibility or lack of same: These descriptions have not been tested or verified.) So many: yours to pick and choose. Dave and Cathy Cummins get a special shout-out here. Dave was one of the original six gardeners who signed up for the first event in 1992. Partly because I pleaded with him to close the first-and-last circle, Dave and Cathy are opening their magnificent garden in Dundas on three mornings and one evening this year. Even Dave admits his garden is looking pretty good this year, so if you haven't seen it, make sure you do this year. Dundas and Hamilton west of downtown have a combined total of 24 open gardens, with a huge variety of types and designs. A bunch of neighbours in Westdale have banded together to open at the same times (I'm one of them) and most are within an easy walk of each other. There are lots of lovely gardens on the Mountain, of all types and styles. Several are the products of decades of gardening experience. There is such a thing as garden tour etiquette, something that's especially important when your host is letting you in to her or his private space There is such a thing as garden tour etiquette, something that's especially important when your host is letting you in to her or his private space You will see quite a few listings mentioning their owners are members of Garden Hamilton/Mount Hamilton Horticultural Society. I'm one of them and if you have an interest in gardening, you might want to consider becoming a member, too. Email me at gardenwriterrob@ if you want more information on that. Some stalwarts from the past weren't prepared to open their gardens this year, but Mary Galli is keeping the flag flying in Haldimand at her Windecker Road garden. Margaret Hunsperger, who with her late husband, Ron hosted hundreds, perhaps thousands of visitors over many years, is welcoming people into their magnificent garden in Burlington. Ruth Moffatt and Jim Howden are opening their Grimsby garden, which, to paraphrase an Acton leather-goods shop, is worth the drive. Their lakeside garden is breathtaking. Among the Waterdown and Area Garden Walk listings, look for the Union Street garden of Arie Vanspronsen and Lee Bolton; this will be their last time opening this plant lovers' garden. It is fabulous, but then what would you expect from someone born above a florist's shop in Holland and who spent a career in the garden trade? Also check out Trudy and Roy Bliedung's wonderful garden on Carlisle Road, and Pearl Hoogerdyk's incredible garden on Safari Road. There are so many others who have been stalwarts of Open Garden Week over the years. The problem with mentioning one or two or six great gardens is that you have to leave others out. That's especially unfortunate because some of the best gardens are the ones you didn't expect. Every one of the gardens in this 'OGW30' is worth your time. Check out the gardens whose listings pique your interest. Trust your instincts, make a visit, get inspired, make a connection, see a plant you have to find for YOUR garden. Pack a hat and something cold to drink and make a road trip out of your visits. If you live in Flamborough, see Stoney Creek and central Hamilton gardens. If you're from Grimsby, come into central Hamilton and see some of the fabulous inner-city gardens that are on show. The great thing about going farther afield is that you travel roads and see communities you might not otherwise have a reason to visit. Finally, I say it every June and I mean it more with every passing year: Open Garden Week only happens because you make it happen. This is all about 30 years' worth of generosity, hospitality and the gifts our gardens give us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Hamilton Spectator
20-05-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Ona Mae Allen was first Black nurse at Hamilton General Hospital
Ona Mae Allen was a trailblazer and a beloved member of Stewart Memorial Church, built by runaway slaves before the U.S. Civil War. Allen — who died April 17 at age 99, just shy of her 100th birthday — made history when she became the first Black nurse in Hamilton in 1952. She worked at Hamilton General Hospital and was known as a 'floater,' meaning she moved between different departments and wards. She became an institution at HGH — when she retired in 1989, the hospital threw a huge retirement party for her, inviting everyone who worked at the hospital to come by. Ontario Lt-Gov. Lincoln Alexander, Canada's first Black MP and cabinet minister, dropped by with his wife, Yvonne. 'She was just a lovely lady,' said Mary Whitfield, her longtime friend and retired nurse. 'She had a great face. You knew she was on your floor because as she was going down the corridor, she was singing a hymn.' Allen did face bouts of discrimination throughout her life. A descendant of slaves, she endured not being allowed into restaurants or dances when she was growing up. After she became a nurse, she told The Spec in 1999, 'I had patients say 'Keep your Black hands off me' — but there were far more of the other kind of people who would accept you.' Ona Mae Allen in her 1951 graduation photo from the Public General Hospital Nursing Class. She believed her past helped her deal with discrimination. It 'made a strong person of me. I never let it hold me down.' Allen was proud of what she accomplished and the barriers she knocked down for Black health-care workers who came after her. 'We had to pave the sidewalks for them to walk on,' she told The Spec in 2007. 'I didn't want them to feel trampled on because I knew what that meant.' Whitfield, who worked in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), said she and Allen became closer friends after Allen retired. Each January, she would get together for dinner with Allen and her husband Alfonso to mark his and Whitfield's birthdays. 'She never missed calling me and wishing me a happy birthday, even this year, her 99th year,' said Whitfield, recalling Allen always hosted a party at her Burlington home each August to mark her own birthday. Allen was a parishioner at Stewart Memorial on John Street North for decades and was treated like royalty. She sang in the choir and served on the stewardship committee. She was also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and received a lifetime membership from the fraternal organization in 2018. On social media, colleague Jeannie Hope said Allen was a pleasure to be around. 'Her smiling face would always cheer everyone whenever she arrived on your ward,' she said. 'You knew it would be a good day.' Carol Fulthorpe said, 'Ona Mae guided us through our student years with kindness and humour. (She's) treasured by all who knew her.' Ona Mae Morris was born Aug. 7, 1925, and grew up on a farm outside North Buxton, near Chatham. It was a settlement built by slaves who arrived in Canada on the Underground Railroad. Allen's great-great-great-grandfather came to Canada through Fort Erie and her great-great-great grandmother arrived through Windsor. She graduated from a business college in Chatham, but couldn't land a job. She worked in a tomato canning plant. She made her way to Hamilton and Whitfield said she worked as an aide at the former Mountain Sanatorium. She said Dr. John Holbrook, who developed and built the sanatorium, recognized her abilities and encouraged her to become a nurse. Allen, Cora Prince and Marion Johnson were the first Black women to graduate from the Public General Hospital Nursing Class in 1951. Allen is survived by her niece, Trinia Griffith Williams, and nephews, Stacy and Curtis Griffith. She was predeceased by her son, Benjamin Paul, and her husband, Alfonso Jesse.
