Scientist to recreate Mabel Bell’s 100-year old gardens in Cape Breton
There’s no doubt Alexander Graham Bell has left an indelible mark on history, but his wife Mabel was also a trailblazer. Now, almost 100 years after her death, a Nova Scotia scientist is recreating her ecologically significant gardens.
Located between Beinn Bhreagh Mountain and Bras D’Or Lake, Beinn Bhreagh is a 19th century mansion and the historic home of Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell.
In the back of the grand estate is where some of Mabel’s gardens grew. In fact, apple trees she planted more than a century ago are still standing.
Alana Pindar, a research scientist, says Mabel’s understanding of ecology and the environment was well ahead of her time.
"I've learned that she has been probably one of the strongest women in science that has not been celebrated as much as she possibly should be,” said Pindar.
Pindar is working on recreating Mabel’s gardens.
Mary Tulle, chair of the Alexander Graham Bell Foundation, says the project is possible thanks to lessons from the past.
"The trustees of the Bell family gave us the opportunity to have a number of documents scanned and looked at,” explained Tulle.
Among those documents were some of Mabel old journals, which include detailed landscape plans. Tulle says they are being used as a template to replicate the old gardens at the Bell Museum.
"If she was to comment on what was happening today, 100 years later, how thrilled she would be. Humbly thrilled that the future has caught up to the past,” Tulle said.
The idea is that this century-old project can positively affect the next 100 years. The goal is to help teach people about conservation and growing their own food, in an effort to try and stave off things like climate change.
"The first seed is literally being planted on recreating a garden,” Tulle said. “(The hope is) that for generations, and starting with our children of today, to be able to come and learn how to plant, how to harvest."
Pindar says she can almost feel the scientist's guiding presence when she's at Beinn Bhreagh working on the garden restoration.
“Her journal entries and her designs of her landscape are so precise, it is almost like she wanted this replicated,” Pindar said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Chants of 'shame on you' greet guests arriving for the annual White House correspondents' dinner
An election-year roast of U.S. President Joe Biden before journalists, celebrities and politicians at the annual White House correspondents' dinner Saturday.
What is a 'halal mortgage'? Does it make housing more accessible?
The 2024 federal budget announced on April 16 included plans to introduce “halal mortgages” as a way to increase access to home ownership.
Here's where Canadians are living abroad: report
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
Deadly six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 sparked by road rage incident
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Harvey Weinstein hospitalized after return to New York from upstate prison
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer said Saturday that the onetime movie mogul has been hospitalized for a battery of tests after his return to New York City following an appeals court ruling nullifying his 2020 rape conviction.
'We are declaring our readiness': No decision made yet as Poland declares it's ready to host nuclear weapons
Polish President Andrzej Duda says while no decision has been made around whether Poland will host nuclear weapons as part of an expansion of the NATO alliance’s nuclear sharing program, his country is willing and prepared to do so.
Central Alberta queer groups react to request from Red Deer-South to reinstate Jennifer Johnson to UCP caucus
A number of LGBQT+2s groups in Central Alberta are pushing back against a request from the Red Deer South UCP constituency to reinstate MLA Jennifer Johnson into the UCP caucus.