Canada Blooms: The Toronto Flower & Garden Festival is on right now. Remarkably I was able to stay away until Day Two. I have been especially winter-weary the past two weeks. While the show as a whole didn't do much for me, this was nevertheless just the jolt of colour I needed. As expected, the flowers were all just gorgeous. Here are some of my favourites.
This year's theme was Flower Power. Gardens and displays were supposed to reflect the spirit of the 60s. I thought this peace symbol captured the theme perfectly.
A closer look at the peace symbol revealed just how many roses were jam-packed into this display.
As far as themed gardens went, I liked the Heart and Stroke display. It featured Foxgloves (a natural choice for the foxglove's connection to heart medications.)
The Heart and Stroke Display also included strawberries, lots of them. A reminder that healthy eating leads to healthy living.
This tulip display gets a thumbs up for sheer volume. There must have been a thousand tulips here, maybe more. There's definitely something to be said for mass, monochromatic plantings. But what would you do with this in your garden once the blooms are done and the foliage starts to fade? It would be a lot of work to disguise all those fading flowers.
There were many, many living wall displays. From a distance, they all made a good impression. I wasn't too impressed with them up close though. The frames that hold the actual plant material looked pretty much like old milk crates to me. Maybe with a little more time, the plants would fill in and improve the appearance of the frames. 
One of the more whimsical features of the show was a display of old shoes planted with flowers. This one was super cute. I have lots more pictures to share. Stay tuned for more from Canada Blooms.
7 comments:
I've got mixed feelings about the show. Seems like a hard idea to follow. I can see them using the psycho colors of hippies and such. I'm going to use orange and pink in my gardens this year so that inspired me. I can't wait to see more pics so I can see how they pulled this theme off. I bet it was a challenge. I like the boots best too.
I am enjoying seeing the photos of Canada Blooms, on your blog and a couple of others. I find it interesting that there are ideas there that I have had in my garden for ages ... like planting in old shoes and boots and the teapot water fall. Looking forward to seeing more as it isn't a show that I am able to attend without spending lots of money just to get there.
I love these photos! Beautiful :)
Hi anna...have to agree about pulling off this theme...not sure if it worked.
Hi crafty...when I saw those boots I totally thought of you. some of the shoe plantings in your garden would have fit in perfectly and given all of the competitors a run for their money.
Hi marie...it really was beautiful.
cheers
irena
The show??
Not very interesting,
sure I loved the flowers, the arrangements, the decorated shoes
and house entrances. The market place is getting bigger every year.
I have posted some pictures and more to come..
I agree with crafty gardener, the "WOW" factor was missing.
Still no solution for the Emerald Ashborer, I was told by the Parks Department. TreeAzin from Bioforest Technology Inc. is not officially approved.
My concern are our Ash trees and not the colour combination of the flowers right now..
As Mayor Miller pointed out, there is no monetary help from the City for home owners to cut down their Ash trees. We estimate the cost of more than $10.000..for cutting and removing our trees.
Hopefully we don't have to do that.
I was interested to read your posts about Canada Blooms. It is advertised so much, even here, that I thought it would be spectacular. I would have enjoyed seeing the shoe display, but it doesn't sound as if the show was very inspirational.
It's great that you received a subscription to 'A Gardening Life' and free admission for working. Now I have ice cream on the brain!!
hi guild-rez...I'm going to have to read up some more on the emerald ashborer. I had no idea it was such a big problem. That is a huge expense to have to take down your trees.
kate, i really did have fun. the show had lots of beautiful things to look at...as far as inspiration ...the ice cream inspired thoughts of summer.
irena
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