THE ROSE BED - Sea to Sky Meeting Management Inc.

Interview with Lifetime
Member “Queenie” Morton
By Dale Akerstrom
On a sunny afternoon in March, I went
out to Langley to have a visit with one of
the VRS’s Lifetime members, “Queenie”
Morton. The VRS has about 10 Lifetime
Members, a designation which recognizes an
elite group of members who have had at least
15 years of continuous membership in the
VRS, have held at least 2 positions on the VRS
Executive, and have demonstrated ongoing
dedication to the VRS. It is the highest honour
the VRS bestows upon its members, and only
one Lifetime Member can be appointed in any
one year.
Queenie Morton is certainly special in that she
joined the VRS in (drum roll, please!) 1950, i.e.
the year after the VRS was formed! She has
been a member continuously since then, and
is the only person who has been a member of
the VRS almost since its inception. She was
inducted into the ranks of Lifetime Members in
the 1970’s.
I asked her what made her decide to join the
VRS. She said that she grew up in Winnipeg,
where her father got her interested in gardening.
Winnipeg gardening in the 1920’s and 1930’s,
of course, was more about food and flowers
than roses, but Queenie was ”very fond of”
roses. She moved with her family to Vancouver
in 1935, when she was 21 years old, and she
realized that in Vancouver’s mild climate,
she could grow many varieties of roses. She
married her husband, C.W. Morton, in 1937, and
in their long life of over 70 years together, they
always had a garden, with roses prominently
featured. Some of her favourites are Chicago
Peace, Miss Canada, and Grandpa Dickson.
She noted that many popular varieties of roses
have changed over the years, so that the ones
she reads about in the Rose Bed these days
are often new to her, and some she remembers
as favourites are unknown to most members.
She also had a lot of dahlias and calla lilies,
and added to her gardening knowledge through
her memberships in the West Van (where she
and her husband lived for most of their life
together) Garden Club, the Richmond Garden
Club when they lived there, and the Natural
History Society. Of course, the VRS is the only
gardening organization that she has remained
a member of throughout her long gardening
life.
At 95 years old this year, she attributes, among
other things, her lifetime interest in gardening
-- “fresh air, exercise, and doing something you
love” -- to her good health and longevity. An
excellent recipe! Although she no longer has
a garden to care for at the senior’s complex
she moved into a year ago, she still keeps
up on gardening techniques and information
through reading. A current issue of “Canadian
Gardening” magazine was on her coffee table
when I visited her, as well as numerous books
on Roses and Gardening in her library. She
avidly reads every issue of the Rose Bed, and
6 June 2009
The Rose Bed