March 15, 2011
Canada Blooms ready to wow the public
Over 100,000 visitors are expected to pass through Canada Blooms this year.
Canada Blooms has become this country’s largest and most prestigious flower and garden festival. The 2011 version promises to build on that standing.

The 15th annual version of Canada Blooms will again have a strong Landscape Ontario presence. The Green for Life garden, which Tim Kearney (see accompanying story) and his team of volunteers are building, will dwarf all previous gardens at Blooms. This year’s version will measure 9,000 square feet. This compares to last year’s garden which required 5,300 square feet.

The other major change to Landscape Ontario’s garden is it will be the entrance point for the estimated 100,000 people who will attend the five-day event from Mar. 16 to 20.

This is the second year that Canada Blooms will call the Direct Energy Centre home. Last year visitors responded with overwhelming approval of the new venue, after Canada Blooms had called the Metro Toronto Convention Centre home for a number of years.

Canada Blooms 2011 will feature six acres of gardens and more than 100,000 square feet of marketplace, with over 200 hours of seminars, workshops and demonstrations, and a special children’s area.

The festival’s theme is ‘Rhythms’ as part of the celebration of the Juno’s 40th anniversary. Five celebrity gardens built by award-winning Ontario landscape/designers will focus on the Juno theme.

Special nights include St. Patrick’s Day special performances on the evening of Mar. 16, Industry Night and Awards Program on Mar. 17, and Tourism Spain Night, hosted by CTS-TV, on Mar. 18. Juno award-winner Carolyn Dawn Johnson will perform at the Preview Party and on Mar. 17 at 2 p.m. in the Children’s Amphitheatre and 4:30 p.m. on the Green for Life celebrity stage.

Other highlights of the show include: Garden Club of Toronto’s Horticultural and Design Competition; vote for your favourite garden in the People’s Garden Award; Skills Canada Student Contest in landscape gardening; Mark Cullen and Denis Flanagan conduct the Canadian Gardening Seminar Series each morning, and the Niagara Wine Garden offers award winning Ontario wine, paired with fine Canadian cheeses by the Dairy Farmers of Canada.

Canada Blooms is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wed. to Sat., and to 6 p.m. on Sun. For more information, go to www.canadablooms.com.  At-the-door tickets are $18; seniors and students $16, and children 12 and under are free.

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