It may look like a section at Butchart Gardens, but one Victoria backyard is the pride and joy of Ellis Achtem.
“Well, my wife has indicated very clearly that if I want her out weeding in the garden, I’ll have to learn how to vacuum. So accordingly, I’m the only one in the garden, but fortunately, I’m never on the vacuum so, that’s good,” said Achtem, jokingly.
The retired lawyer admits he’s hired professional landscaping help through the years, but to this day, the 83-year-old still gets his hands dirty. Achtem says a few decades ago, he started sharing his supply.
“I started making [flower] baskets about 30 years ago,” said Achtem.
He then started selling those flower baskets with all proceeds going to the Mount St. Mary Hospital, a long-term care home in Victoria.
“It’s a 200 bed, long-term care facility that has an 80-year history in Victoria,” said Sara John Fowler, CEO of Mount St. Mary Hospital.
As of today, Achtem’s flowers have blossomed into nearly one hundred thousand dollars in donations.
“Ellis Achtem is one of our champions. Ellis’ generosity has enriched greatly the lives of hundreds of people who have lived with us through the years,” said Fowler.
“There’s a lot of reasons I do it, but surely I feel good that some good is coming from it,” said Achtem, a former board member at St. Mary’s.
Achtem’s Spring seasonal routine of growing and giving has planted a seed of generosity in others.
“I had one lady in here a little while ago bought about 22dollars worth of stuff and gave me almost five times that just because it’s going to the hospital,” said Achtem.
Mount St. Mary Hospital is government-funded but relies on donations for any extra care for its patients. According to Fowler, the current COVID-19 lockdown has only heightened the need for donations, with patients requiring added care and staff adapting to the pandemic. This year, some of Achtem’s funds will go towards, quite fittingly, a sensory garden for the hospital’s patients living with dementia.
“They’ll be able to come out, walk in the rain, sit under the umbrella in the sunshine, create their own gardens and have wonderful nature,” said Fowler.
And as his flowers continue to bloom, Achtem says he won’t stop giving any time soon.
“I’ll keep doing it until, I guess, I fall over,” said Achtem.
Kevin Charach
