Inside Rideau Hall’s Greenhouses –… | National Capital Commission

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Transcript

Tobi Nussbaum: Hello there, hi, I’m Tobi Nussbaum, CEO of the National Capital Commission, and in today’s episode of Capital Stories, we’re going to learn about these amazing greenhouses that are hosted in Rideau Hall, but serve all of the NCC’s official residences, and including, of course, Rideau Hall itself, and Rideau Cottage, and Harrington Lake, and Stornoway, and The Farm. And we know that Rideau Hall, of course, has been the official residence of Canada’s governors general for over 150 years. It is a beautiful, 32-hectare estate in the heart of Ottawa that features everything from tall evergreens, sugar maples… we have a totem, we have an inukshuk, there are over 150 trees planted by royalty and foreign dignitaries from all over the world. There are, of course, also, greenhouses at Rideau Hall that many people don't know, and they are both utilitarian and beautiful in terms of the experience you have by walking through them. And today, I’m happy to be joined by Kathleen Minkowski, who is our supervisor of gardens and greenhouses, and Kathleen, you’re very lucky because I would say you have probably one of the best offices of anyone at the NCC, considering you call this your office. So, I’m really intrigued. Firstly, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how long you’ve been working at the NCC, and what prompted you to apply to this amazing job?

Kathleen Minkowski: Absolutely, yeah, for sure. So, I’ve worked with the NCC for about six years now, and I’ve always kind of worked in the industry of landscaping and horticulture, working on flower farms, kind of travelling around the world, and I came to Ottawa about seven, eight years ago, and I found one of the positions, a contract position back then, and then everything’s just sort of evolved; and I’ve come to where I am today, and I feel extremely lucky, because it is an incredible opportunity and such a unique role here.

Tobi Nussbaum: Fantastic. Now, can you help us sort of situate, we’re sitting in a greenhouse… can you tell us about this greenhouse, and tell us about the other greenhouses that are all connected and what their functions are?

Kathleen Minkowski: Absolutely. So, this is greenhouse number one. It is our main showhouse. It was built in 1926, so it’s reaching about 100 years old now. So, originally, its original intent was to be enjoyed by the occupants of Rideau Hall, and historically, it was used for cut flowers. There were binaries on the property, citrus collections, and then all of our other working houses were used to grow plants and kind of cycle through the plants that were used, as well as the plants that were used in all of the residences.

Tobi Nussbaum: Okay, and then there’s adjoining greenhouses as well, right?

Kathleen Minkowski: Yeah.

Tobi Nussbaum: And they all have slightly different functions?

Kathleen Minkowski: They do, yeah. So, the Palm House is showhouse number two. It has more tropical plants, if you will, including bananas, cocoa trees, pineapples, bromeliads, and then we have greenhouse three, four, five, and six. So, three and four are set at cooler temperatures, five and six are a bit warmer, and that’s sort of where we take plants to take a break and rest after being in the showhouses, and it also stores our seasonal plants as well, which we change out over the course of the year.

Tobi Nussbaum: Okay, and so different greenhouses are set at different temperatures. How do you control the temperature of each of the greenhouses?

Kathleen Minkowski: Yeah, we have a program system called Priva, and so that’s how we moderate the internal climate in the greenhouses, and that’s monitored by our greenhouse technicians every day.

Tobi Nussbaum: And that’s using, I mean… would it be about opening windows or not opening windows? There’s not actually heating systems in them, are there?

Kathleen Minkowski: We do have one here in the basement of the greenhouses, but then, since the greenhouses are so old, a lot of the ventilation and the windows, they are operated manually.

Tobi Nussbaum: Okay, great. So, I’ve had a chance to look through this greenhouse. You call it a show greenhouse?

Kathleen Minkowski: A showhouse.

Tobi Nussbaum: And I’m always intrigued because there are many flowers and plants that I don’t have in my own house, or I don’t see around the lands and parks of the NCC. So, can you tell us a little bit about some of the more unusual varieties, and if there are any stories behind them? Maybe I’ll start with, you know, what is your favourite plant in this greenhouse?

Kathleen Minkowski: Oh my gosh, there are so many to choose from. I feel like our orchid display that we have in late winter, early spring is pretty incredible. But a plant that is of interest, I think a lot of people may have heard of it, is our “jade collection” that was donated by Yousuf Karsh. He’s a famous, or was, a famous Ottawa photographer, well known for taking portraits of Queen Elizabeth as a princess, or Winston Churchill. And he donated those over 40 years ago, and they’re estimated to be about 150 years old, I would say. So, we’ve taken care of those, or our greenhouse team has taken care of them over the years. But we also have a cymbidium orchid that was left by Adrienne Clarkson. And over the years, we’ve created about 10 plants from the original.

Tobi Nussbaum: Oh wow.

Kathleen Minkowski: And of course, Adrienne Clarkson is known for converting the private backyards from annuals to all perennials, and creating an extensive peony collection as well. And like I mentioned, we have a citrus collection, so we’ve got lemons, oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, and those would be used by the staff kitchen, or the kitchen staff in Rideau Hall.

Tobi Nussbaum: Okay.

Kathleen Minkowski: So yeah, we have a lot of unique plants here that are taken care of by our staff. We’ll propagate them and try and save all of our collections.

Tobi Nussbaum: And this is, you can tell I’m not a horticulturist by the question I’m about to ask, but are they all perennials—or are there any annuals in the greenhouse as well?

Kathleen Minkowski: We have both. So, we have all of our core plants that act as the structure. Our trees are podocarpus, or cypress, and then we’ll have filler plants like ferns, and we’ll use annuals. We’ll have azaleas in the spring, hydrangeas, bulbs, chrysanthemums, and then in the wintertime, we’ll use poinsettias.

Tobi Nussbaum: Okay, and do we grow our own annuals here out of bulbs and seeds?

Kathleen Minkowski: We do. So our bulb and spring show, we start all the bulbs in the fall, and we overwinter them in our root cellar here. And then a lot of the annuals that we use in here, or in our planters at events, or in the cut flower garden, we’ll start from seed and then use them for all of those purposes.

Tobi Nussbaum: Oh, isn’t that great? So, you mentioned that the kitchen staff use some of the fruit that we grow. You mentioned grapefruit, oranges, and lemons. Are those the...

Kathleen Minkowski: And limes as well.

Tobi Nussbaum: And limes. Do we have herbs at all?

Kathleen Minkowski: Absolutely, yeah. In the wintertime, we’ll have them in the greenhouses so that the kitchen staff can come out and use them to enjoy in the house. But we also start all of the herbs and the vegetables in the greenhouses that are then transplanted out into our vegetable garden.

Tobi Nussbaum: Now, speaking of vegetable garden, I presume that is mostly a summer activity and that’s outside?

Kathleen Minkowski: Yes, it is.

Tobi Nussbaum: And it’s also part of your responsibilities?

Kathleen Minkowski: For sure, yeah. So, like I mentioned, everything is planted out in the spring, which is a huge ordeal. May is very busy out there, but our team does a great job. And they also have a cut flower garden section, which is a big program for our floral team here. And all of the herbs and the vegetables and flowers are used inside of all the official residences.

Tobi Nussbaum: Great. Now, we’re here on a beautiful summer day. What would it be like if we were to be having this conversation in the middle of February? What would be different?

Kathleen Minkowski: Well, first off, with the structure of the greenhouse, since it is about 100 years old, it’s had a lot of wear and tear over the years. And it is a mostly wooden structure as well. So, in Ottawa, as you know, we have extreme temperatures, weather conditions, harsh winters. So, that’s definitely had an effect on the greenhouse. But we are very lucky that it’s climate controlled. So, yes, there is not as much available in the winter in terms of vegetable and cut flowers, but we have the luxury of being able to grow some of it in the wintertime. And we’ll still have our beautiful Christmas display set up in the winter. So, it’s still able to be enjoyed year-round.

Tobi Nussbaum: Great. Now, although these are not open to the public on a regular basis, I believe there are a few times in the year where the public is invited to explore the greenhouses. Is that right?

Kathleen Minkowski: Absolutely. So, with Open Doors Ottawa, it’s typically the first week of June and the long weekends of July, August and September. So, it’s open to the public then, as well as the backyard gardens. And those are opportunities for people to come and enjoy all of the hard work that our team does every day. And we hope that we’re showcasing Canadian horticulture so that it’s enjoyed by all Canadians in perpetuity.

Tobi Nussbaum: That’s wonderful. And if the governor general is hosting events, are the guests of those events also able to see the showhouses?

Kathleen Minkowski: Absolutely. Yeah, so that’s when we’ll open the private backyard gardens and all of the showhouses, and they’re able to walk through at their leisure and enjoy all of the plants.

Tobi Nussbaum: I’ve seen, I think one of the fairly famous photos, of Jeanne Sauvé and François Mitterrand, the then President of France, sitting, I don’t know if it was exactly in these chairs or this table, but there is a photo of them in the greenhouses. But are you aware in the time that you’ve worked here… of the greenhouse being used for that kind of more intimate hosting opportunity?

Kathleen Minkowski: For sure, yeah. There’ll be some private dinners that are hosted in here and our team is definitely involved with the setup for that. As well as whenever there are major events like Order of Canada, we make sure that everything is looking beautiful and tidy. At Christmas time, you know, there’ll be family visiting, and so we’ll have a beautiful Christmas tree in here, as well as all of the governor generals and their spouses, their family. There’s some historic photos of them in here as well.

Tobi Nussbaum: Fantastic. Is there anything else that you think people listening to us or watching us right now would want to know?

Kathleen Minkowski: Well, I think maybe what some people might not know too, at Rideau Hall, the public grounds are open for enjoyment. So there’s a skating rink on-site, weather permitting, and…

Tobi Nussbaum: I guess lots of trees on the public grounds, right?

Kathleen Minkowski: That’s true.

Tobi Nussbaum: Because, I mean, in terms of the landscaping that happens on the public grounds, that isn’t necessarily your responsibility. We have other colleagues who are looking after that. But do you have any role in sort of looking at the planting plan for the public gardens as well?

Kathleen Minkowski: For sure, yeah. So most of the gardens that we work on have already been here historically. So, a lot of what we do is maintain. But on the occasion that there is a plant installation, we like to keep everything in-house. And so, a lot of my co-workers are very well-versed in designing and they’ll create a planting plan. And we have a lot of students in the summertime that will help planting all of that out. And then we have our Canadian Heritage Rose Garden as well. That’s a beautiful feature on the property. That garden addition started about 26 years ago. So that’s a beautiful place in the public area for the public to visit.

Tobi Nussbaum: Fantastic. Kathleen, thank you. Thank you for sharing all this. And I am a little envious that you get to come to work here every day. But you guys do a wonderful job and [I] really appreciate you chatting with me today.

Kathleen Minkowski: Thank you very much.