One sign of summer in Newmarket is the array of plants and flowers popping up along sidewalks and at municipal buildings.
Starting in the first week of June, nearly 600 planters and hanging baskets will be installed throughout town and one man is responsible for all of them.
Johnny Dwyer is Newmarket’s horticulturist, who has been busy preparing for this year’s planting season.
“Basically, I look after all the gardens, whether it’s maintaining or replanting, revamping… we put out hanging baskets and planters and window boxes on the (Fairy Lake) bridge, and anything else that comes up,” he said.
Before the flowers make it to the great outdoors, they are grown in a greenhouse by Dwyer, who also chooses what will be featured each year.
“It still has to look good... it’s colourful when it does go out” he said.
In terms of what gets chosen, Dwyer said there are a few factors that determine what they use. The biggest is maintenance.
Typically the town hires summer students to help care for the plants and gardens, but he said last year they didn’t have any students and this year they’ll only have a few.
There are some planter boxes with built-in water reservoirs that can go for two weeks without needing any additional attention, but for the remainder of the flowers Dwyer said, “It doesn’t make sense to put them out if nobody’s watering them. So the plants I use can tolerate the elements, you know, heat tolerance.”
Another factor is what’s available. Due to the pandemic, he said there have been some issues with ordering, meaning this year they’ve had to scale back the number of planters going in on the sidewalks.
There are going to be 238, but normally they aim for 300 planters. There will be 300 hanging baskets and 24 window boxes to enjoy.
Dwyer also said they consider plants that are friendly to butterflies, bees and birds. As a result, for the first time ever, millet will be used as a centrepiece for some of the planters.
“In the greenhouse, it’s not really an attractive plant but when it gets outside, the foliage does get a little brighter because it’s a sun-loving plant,” he said.
In the fall, the seeds from the millet will dry up and birds will come chow down on them, so Dwyer said, “There are two things in mind: bringing people and plants (together) and bringing the whole ecosystem together.”
The final factor is the residents. Not only do they want the boxes to look good, but this year Dwyer said he focused on aromatic experience by using citronella in some containers.
While the plant isn’t known for creating beautiful blooms, the horticulturist said when people walking by brush against it, it will release a nice scent for them to enjoy.
“That’s just a fun part of putting out the containers,” he said.
Dwyer said the big draw for people is usually the planter boxes along the bridge on Water Street.
There will also be planters and hanging baskets on both sides of Main Street going all the way up to Davis Drive. Baskets will also be installed toward the trail by Fairy Lake.
Planters are placed at various buildings like the municipal offices, Newmarket Chamber of Commerce, Elman W. Campbell Museum, the Seniors Meeting Place and youth centre.
“Anywhere that we have a municipal building, we try to make it look good,” Dwyer said.
Once installed, residents will be able to enjoy the blooms until at least September.
