I visited the Canada Blooms show in downtown Toronto yesterday, thanks to the Bradfield Travel Agency that ran a day trip by bus from my nearest town, Alliston. The show is great! Maybe not up to Philadelphia Flower Show standards, but still amazing considering how far off spring really is. TONS of flowers, interesting "idea" gardens, new plants, nurseries I had never heard of, plenty of variety in the lecture series, and even decent food at the cafes. I came home laden with brochures, catalogues, seed packets, and books.
Canada Blooms show
sounds like you had fun....take any pics???
I was in such a hurry to catch the bus, I forgot to pack my camera. I was kicking myself all day! But I'm a lousy photographer, so my mental lapse may have been for the best. Some things you can't capture on film, anyway, like the murmur of thousands of excited gardeners milling around in an enormous exhibition hall packed with things to "oooh" and "ahhh" over.
June, you are just a tease! LOL
Did you enjoy it, though? Were the crowds huge? I remember going a few years back and we took in the breakfast and they take you around before all the crowds get there. That was great. What was your favourite standout?
Sandy
Although there were loads of people there, it was easy to move around. I skipped seeing a couple of the show gardens that had long, slow, line-ups, but most of the lines were moving quite briskly. My favourite garden would have to be the one next to the Home Depot stand, and I think it was sponsored by Home Depot. It was divided into four sections representing Earth, Air, Water, and Fire, connected by a "Medicine Wheel" patio. If I remember rightly, the Earth section was planted with vegetables and had a display of dried herbs, Air had sand dunes and desert plants, Water had a stream ending in a beaver dam, and Fire had a walled enclosure with seating. Around edge of the central patio stood irregularly-shaped rocks that had been painted to transform them into animals. The alcove also contained some great wall hangings made of metal. There were so many little details to see that I snuck off the main trail and explored each section up close.
I too went to the Canada Blooms show, but on Saturday. It was great, I can home with bags of stuff, including SEEDS! I thought my sholders were going to fall off from all the bags I was carrying :)
My favorite display garden was.....maybe you know the one I mean June? It was a company selling decking and faux wicker furniture, there was a pond and Japanese maples with tons of bronze carex grass...and there was a wooden ramp going up the side. Sorry for my vauge discription, however it was really nice and I too forgot my camera and kicked myself all day.
Did you check out the Richters display? I got me a cute little apple scented geranium and a packet of mixed scented geranium seeds.
Steven
I didn't purchase any plants at the show because I'm about to go away on vacation for two weeks, which would mean my non-gardening spouse would have to care for them in my absence. He already has two pages of instructions on how to water the houseplants and the seed trays, and adjust the temperature in the greenhouse, and I didn't want to increase the workload! But as soon as I get back from my trip, I shall be buying from some of the nursery catalogues I picked up. The Acorus Restoration catalogue is already full of yellow sticky notes indicating the plants that I must have.