‘Fun and a little bit ridiculous’: This cult Canadian album was made for plants. Now Toronto can hear it among them

Fifty years after Canadian composer Mort Garson created his pioneering electronic album, Mother Earth’s Plantasia, the Polaris Music Prize is inviting listeners to experience the aural love letter to plants at Toronto’s Allan Gardens. 

On Sept. 2, Plantasia in the Gardens, as it is called, will transform the downtown botanical conservatory and greenhouses into an unconventional listening room. The pay-what-you-can tickets are available here.

“This record is a fascinating piece of Canada’s electronic music history that people don’t really know about, and when they learn more about it, they kind of fall in love with it,” Aaron Brophy, Polaris Music Prize communications manager, tells Now. “These songs were created for each plant that’s literally the name of the song. like ‘Ode to an African Violet’ and ‘Music to Soothe the Savage Snake Plant.’”

The vinyl playback and panel, which runs from 6 to 9 p.m., is presented in partnership with New York label Sacred Bones Records, which reissued Garson’s album in 2019, along with volunteer-led Friends of Allan Gardens, and Sirius XM.

Chris Wilson, Polaris’ festival producer, tells Now that Sacred Bones Records has been presenting events in the U.S. around the 50^th anniversary of Mother Earth’s Plantasia, and wanted to bring that celebration to Toronto.

“They wanted to do one here because there’s definitely a following of individuals who love the album and wanted to be able to introduce it to a wider audience here that knows Polaris but also to the broader community,” Wilson tells Now.

Plantasia in the Gardens is more than wandering around looking at plants, while the album plays. 

“Friends of Allan Gardens will be part of the introduction, in terms of a panel that speaks to plants and the influence of the album on their own work, and then one of the individuals who sits within the Polaris ecosystem, will speak more to the electronic music side.

“So, there’ll be a talk portion, and then people will have an opportunity to roam freely through Allan Gardens while the album plays as a listening session. It’s an opportunity to experience the album the way in which Mort intended it to be.”

The instrumental, Moog-driven album, apparently intended to be played for growing plants, is up for the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize for the second consecutive year. 

“One of the things our juries love to do with the Heritage Prize is unearth and celebrate notable records that people maybe don’t know about,” Brophy says. “We all know about Neil Young and Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. They’ve all had albums celebrated through this process, and our people love to also uncover these hidden gems.”

Garson, who was born in Saint John, New Brunswick and studied at the Juilliard School of Music, died on Jan. 4, 2008 at age 83. He didn’t just write unique music for plants; he co-wrote songs for the likes of Cliff Richard and Brenda Lee, worked with Doris Day, Mel Torme, Paul Revere & The Raiders, and many others. 

After meeting electronics engineer Robert Moog in 1967, Garson bought one of the first modular synthesizers ever made. He then moved away from arranging traditional pop music to experimenting with electronic music. Mother Earth’s Plantasia is “warm earth music for plants…and the people who love them,” it reads on the cover art.

“We have no idea if it’s going to get nominated again; we have no idea if it’s going to win,” Brophy says. “But we figured we had the opportunity to do something. This might be our only chance to do something fun and a little bit ridiculous.”

The award recognizes classic Canadian albums that were released before Polaris began in 2006. The winner is determined by Polaris jury pool of music critics, as well as by public vote and will be announced at the Polaris Music Prize gala on Sept. 22 at Massey Hall, alongside the main attraction – the spotlight on the 10 shortlisted albums for Canadian album of the year, and ultimate winner.