Canada Blooms. March 13-22, 2015

Canada Blooms opens next Friday!  This is Canada’s largest flower and garden festival. I look forward to this festival every year as it provides a great opportunity for me to meet a great number of Canadian gardeners under one roof AND to get inspired myself by the feature gardens that have been installed there.

Each year at Canada Blooms my botanical buddy, Denis Flanagan, joins me for an overview of the festival. Over the years we have learned that there are a few ‘tricks’ to covering the event while making the very best use of your time.

The co-location with the National Home makes it even more important for you to plan your day (or ‘days’) at ‘Blooms!

• Wear flat soled shoes. There is lots of walking. If you need a wheelchair, you can book one through the Canada Blooms office.
• Bring a small digital camera. Your visual record of your visit will inspire you for months!
• Plan your day ahead of time. We have invested heavily in our website so that you can get an overview of the events on each day, the feature gardens, the ‘floral hall’, marketplace and of course places to eat. Think about where you want to go first, last and in between.
• To avoid crowds and line ups, plan to visit the feature gardens either first thing in the morning or mid to late afternoon. Typically the evening hours are quieter and easier to navigate your way around.
• Bring your gardening questions. Master gardeners are on hand to answer them as are many Landscape Ontario professionals from the trade.
• Buy your tickets on line early to avoid the possible delay at the ticket counter www.canadablooms.com

Rest up the night before as this is the largest event of its kind in all of North America. With over 8 acres of total space devoted to both Canada Blooms and the National Home Show, you will want to be running on all cylinders!

I am looking forward to the ‘Marketplace’: this is where you can buy stuff for your garden. Plants, seeds, bulbs and cut flowers are available in abundance. Pick Ontario is there with bouquets of flowers that will knock your gardening socks off. There are clothes for gardeners, hats, garden décor items, outdoor furniture, garden tools and you name it. Quite possibly this is the largest assemblage of garden ‘stuff’ anywhere in Canada at any one time.

Have fun and look for Denis and me there – we would love to meet you!

- Mark