The International Peace Garden held their debut Santa Day this past Saturday, and visitors got in on a sneak peek at the cacti and succulent conservatory in it's current stage of transplanting the thousands of plants!

Director of Horticulture & Conservatory and Curator of Living Collections, Johannes Olwage, has been tending to the world-class collection for about 14 years and has watched the collection grow from before Minot resident, Don Vitko, donated the original collection to the Peace Garden in 2010.  Vitko dedicated over 50 years to this personal collection that was housed in Minot, N Dakota.  It was the 2010 flooding of the Pembina River that prompted the move of the giant collection to the Peace Garden.

"We've got well over 5,000 plants in the collection of which 4,000 are unique species or cultivars," shares Olwage. "We've got plants from all the countries in North and South America, and probably about 2/3 of Africa, and that's the majority of our collection.  And then we have a few Asian plants and a few Australian."

In addition to the cacti and succulents the Conservatory is also a home for quite a number of trees and bulbs.  "The only thing that ties all these plants together is that they're from dry areas of the world and they have adapted to those dry places."

Olwage says it was amazing to finally open their doors to the public to show the plants' new home, even though it isn't complete.  "After all this time, putting the plants in place and nobody being able to see them, but also just finally putting them in a home that will allow them to grow to their healthiest possible selves, and to interpret them properly, so people can understand the story behind the plants as well."

"It's a very, very beautiful building and I think everyone is going to enjoy the feeling of being in here as well," he adds.

The designing the building so the plants have optimal conditions to grow, and bloom was important.  Olwage says the sun and the heat are the most important factors for the plants to thrive.  The back insulated masonry wall absorbs the heat during the day and slowly releases the heat at night.  The cement walkways will eventually be heated, and a thermal curtain way up at the ceiling closes for night and acts like a false ceiling, keeping the heat in the room.

"To allow all this thermal mass to absorb heat and release it at night," he says.

Though there are some blooms at the Conservatory now, the peak bloom season begins in May.  However, Olwage says a visit to the Peace Garden's Conservatory at any time of the year is a very special experience to be surrounded by unique plants, to see exotic blooms not familiar to most of us, and to be in a warm setting in the midst of winter.

The moving of the plants will continue throughout the winter season, as more features will be added to the Conservatory room.  Visit the International Peace Garden website for all upcoming events, including the Conservatory's Grand Opening celebration in 2024.

Please listen to more with Johannes Olwage below!

Director of Horticulture & Conservatory and Curator of Living Collections, Johannes Olwage, poses for a picture with Horticulturalist at the Conservatory, Jonah Neufeld, plus a photo gallery of Saturday's sneak peek!

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