BizBash Magazine has named Canada Blooms and the National Home Show one of the Top 100 Events in Toronto in 2017, and named #5 for Trade Shows & Conventions. Canada Blooms and the National Home Show together create Canada’s largest home and garden event in North America and our 2018 festival will be held held March 9-18 at the Enercare Centre.

In 2017, the co-located event saw over 174,000 visitors who discovered the joys of horticulture through gardens, floral designs, Canada's largest juried flower show and competition, over 100 presentations, special features, as well as 750 exhibitors.

~ Photo: Garden 'Old Fashion Fun' by Garden Retreats, Photo by David Ohashi

Landscape designer Melanie Rekola says, "horticulture is a very science based practice and I’ve always had a love for science (and science fiction!) The adaptably of plant life is truly amazing. A Daylily can be uprooted and upside down all winter long and can still manage to poke out some leaves in springtime. A tree native to Japan can be content planted in a garden halfway around the world. The point is life wants to keep living. It’s this life force that I find so captivating. When I heard that Canada Blooms 2018 was movie themed I saw the perfect place to merge sci-fi with horticulture. Will we transplant plant life from other planets to Earth in future? Will our earthly vegetation be transported to other planets? Perhaps…

Horticulture is the final frontier. As gardeners it’s our mission to seek out new life and boldly plant as no one has planted before. Set your phasors to stun. The Star Trek Garden will transport you to an alternate ecosphere filled with out-of-this-world florae and space-age elements. Resistance is futile; you will be assimilated into the future world of gardening!"

~ Photo: Star Trek Rose Pink Celosia Spicata from Rotary Botanical Gardens, Wisconsin

Many congratulations to the thirty-five Canadians who competed in the recent WAFA WORLD FOWER SHOW “Flowers in Paradise” in Barbados last June.

Thirteen ribbons were brought home to Canada
2 Gold - Sandra Williamson and Ursula Eley
2 Silver - Trudy Grantham and Barbara Bedell
4 Bronze - Judy James, Shirleyan English, Lorraine Peters and Mary-Anne Vercammen
5 Commended - Claudette Smith, Audrey Van Holst, Sue Clarkson, Donalda Kelk, and Lindy Fedchun

We look forward to seeing these Canadian international winners here, at the TORONTO FLOWER SHOW at Canada Blooms, in March 2018!

From magazines to blogs, and Instagram posts in between, it’s hard not to notice how popular Fiddle Leaf Fig plants (Ficus lyrata) have become. But what happens when you’re in love with the design aesthetic of a plant but not sure how to care for it? Read below for some tips from everyone’s favourite plant expert here at Jill Jensen Botanicals, Randy.

Ficus lyrata are surprisingly easy to care for. Like most plants they enjoy a schedule, and benefit best from sticking to one. They do best in bright but filtered light (think a West or South facing window) and need to stay moist.

But what does “stay moist” actually mean? Well, throw away your measuring cups because these plants enjoy being watered well, meaning there is no sure way to water it each week. A good rule of thumb is to use your finger and place it down in the soil a few inches. Does the soil stick to your finger and leave you a bit dirty? Or, are you able to easily pull it out with little residue? If your answer is the first then you’re likely okay to wait a few more days before watering. However, if your answer is the second one, then perhaps its time to fill up a jug and give your plant baby some H20. Keep in mind it’s important that your plants have great drainage, and are not sitting in water.

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We invite you to follow us on Instagram @jilljensenbotanicals for pictures from the greenhouse!

Reprinted in part from the upcoming Fall 2017 edition of "The Gardener for Canadian Climates" magazine.

To me, daffodils are the sunniest, most upbeat spring flowering bulbs. Their nodding heads, with the trumpet-shaped cup surrounded by a ring of petals, seem particularly full of personality.

Daffodils are hardy, spring-blooming bulbs in the same family as amaryllis. Originally from the mountain meadows of southern Europe, they have been found in gardens all over Europe for centuries. Early North American pioneers brought daffodil bulbs with them to the New World to remind them of the gardens they left behind in Europe.

How to grow daffodils:
Plant daffodil bulbs as soon as you start seeing them in stores. This may be the end of August or early September in cooler areas, but much later in warmer areas. Daffodils need at least six weeks to root before the ground starts getting too cold. If you’ve missed this window, plant anyway (sometimes those half-price bags of bulbs at the grocery store in late October are just too hard to pass up). Your bulbs will do better in the ground than they will in storage for the winter. Just don’t hold out much hope for bulbs planted less than a few weeks before the frost starts staying in the ground.

Continue reading full article....

PLEASE NOTE: The Gardener for Canadian Climates magazine will award 4 free yearly subscriptions to our readership. The winners will be notified shortly.

To celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary, the Master Gardeners of Ontario sponsored a nation-wide contest that saw the Bunchberry (Cornus Canadensis), known as quatre–temps in French and kawiscowimin in Cree, as the winner.

Since the beginning of the National Flower Contest, the little white flower has held the lead with an average of 80 per cent of the on-line vote, says Maureen Hulbert, Executive Director, Toronto Master Gardeners, who spearheaded the contest. Since it was announced in March, almost 10,000 Canadians took up the challenge to help select our national flower.

Bunchberry changes with the seasons with white flowers in late spring, summer red berries and great fall colour. One of the smallest members of the dogwood (Cornus) family, bunchberry forms a low, carpet-like mat of leaves, up to four inches tall, usually in the understory of moist and shady woods. In late spring, it produces showy flowers which appear a few inches above the mat of leaves. These white “flowers” are actually modified leaves called bracts, which attract pollinators to the tiny actual flowers in the centre. It is largely self-sterile, which means it is dependent on pollinators for sexual reproduction – bumblebees, solitary bees, bee flies and syrphid flies.

The Master Gardeners have submitted an online petition to Parliament to have the winner declared Canada’s official National Flower. To add your signature to the petition, click the link below. For more information, contact Maureen at maureen@downtoearthtoronto.com.

~ Photo: Bunchberry by Todd Bolan

In our Get Happy! themed summer issue we had the opportunity to chat with former Harrowsmith columnist and pastoral bon vivant Dan Needles. Sit back with a tall iced coffee this morning and enjoy an exclusive link to the interview here: Country Guy. Be sure to look for Needles in the haystack in our upcoming debut of a magazine-sized PRINT copy of the Winter 2017-18 issue.

If you subscribe now (or send a subscription to a friend), you'll be automatically entered in a draw for a chance to win a copy of Dan's latest book True Confessions of the Ninth Concession: The Harrowsmith Years (title released August 26, 2017).

Prepare to be amazed at MosaiCanada 150/Gatineau 2017
MosaiCanada 150/Gatineau 2017, (www.mosaicanada.ca) Canada 150 floral exhibition is being held (free attendance) from July 1st to October 15, 2017 in Jacques Cartier Park, Gatineau (QC), in partnership with the National Capital Commission. The exhibit features 32 mosaïculture artworks, comprised of 120 structures representing Canadian Confederation, the Founding Peoples, the First Nations and our Canadian Heritage to celebrate Canada's 150th Anniversary. From Anne of Green Gables, to an Inuit Drum Dancer, a RCMP officer on his horse, Mother Earth, Glenn Gould’s Piano, Paul Henderson’s goal at the Summit Series, Puffins, Polar Bear, Muskoxen and many more!

An initative of Mosaïcultures Internationales (MIM) de Montreal, MosaiCanada 150/ Gatineau 2017 is funded by Canadian Heritage, the Government of Quebec and the Ville de Gatineau. MIM is a non-profit corporation which organized the first international mosaïculture competition in 2000 for the city of Montréal. Since then, it has developed and fine-tuned its unique expertise in designing, mounting and maintaining mosaïculture exhibitions, gardens and works in Canada, the United States, Europe, Japan, China and Turkey which have attracted over 10 million visitors.

The legacy of MosaiCanada 150/Gatineau 2017 will be worthy of Canada’s 150th Anniversary. In addition to mosaïculture artwork donated to each province and territory, some structures such as Jos Montferrand will remain in the National Capital Region. The exchange of horticultural knowledge will benefit gardeners throughout Canada …and showcase their achievements!

~ Photo: Courtesy of Communities in Bloom

Canada Blooms would like to offer hardy congratulations to Bill Moody, recipient of the Ontario Volunteer Service Award earlier this year, for his volunteer service at the festival.

Bill Moody has been volunteering for a number of years at Canada Blooms and he tells us that one of the best things about being a volunteer at Canada Blooms is meeting new and returning friends.

Also recognized this year were Jacqui Miller, Mya Huynh, Jan Winkelmolen, Dan Vanderkruk and Trudy Grantham. Canada Blooms would like to congratulate and thank Bill, Jacqui, Mya, Jan, Dan, Trudy and ALL the wonderful volunteers that have helped us out through the years for donating their time and expertise to create a world class event year after year.

If you are interested in volunteering, online registration for 2018 will start mid-October.

Reprinted from the Highway of Heroes Newsletter

Highway of Heroes Living Tribute honouring a fallen soldier in Niagara
White Oaks Resort and Spa in Niagara on the Lake is one of the first businesses in the Niagara region to donate to the Trees for Heroes Campaign by making a donation to plant some of the 117,000 trees along the Highway of Heroes . With a tree generously donated from Ridgeview Garden Centre in Beamsville, a ceremonial tree planting commemorating this tribute and honouring a Niagara fallen war hero took place on June 27th on the property at White Oaks.

To read the full article by Paul Forsyth click here

If you would like to help the Highway of Heroes Living Tribute, consider joining the RUN FOR REMEMBRANCE taking place Sunday, October 22, 2017. Runners of all ages and skill levels are welcome, click below for more details.

Horticultural expert, Denis Flanagan tells us "Canada Blooms has certainly benefited from the popularity of garden tourism. I often speak with people at the festival from many different countries, we all love to experience, photograph and bring back ideas to try out in our own gardens. I am excited to tell you about a tour I will be leading in 2018, May 17 - 30 we will be sailing from New York on the fabulous Queen Mary Cunard Liner and as part of the activities on board I will be giving some garden lectures including a presentation on 20 years of gardens of Canada Blooms. After landing in Southampton we will be spending a day at the world famous Chelsea Flower show in London and then tour several gardens in Southern England before flying home to Toronto. For more information send me an e-mail dflanagan@landscapeontario.com"

Shape Your Space!
Make your unique space feel like home with advice, ideas, & inspiration from the Toronto Fall Home Show. Get expert tips from industry pros and celebrity experts, plus shop great deals with over 300 retailers on September 15-17 at the Enercare Centre, Exhibition Place.

Here is a Special Offer for our Canada Blooms friends, 2 for 1 admission (on Adult tickets only, available until August 18) when you buy your tickets online – enter promo code “BLOOMS”.

Don't forget to visit our contest page to enter for a chance to win a four pack of tickets to the Toronto Fall Home Show.

Edible Weekends at the Royal Botanical Gardens
Visit the Discovery Cart in Veggie Village to learn more about tasty plants that are easy to grow and use in a wide variety of dishes. RBG’s Greenhouse Café presents cooking demonstrations on Sunday afternoons, while recipes are available at the Discovery Cart all weekend. Don't miss the cooking demonstrations, 1:30 p.m. on Sundays
Saturday and Sunday (until August 27)
10:00AM to 4:00PM at Veggie Village, Hendrie Park

Documentary Screening Series at the Toronto Botanical Garden
Each feature-length film will explore issues relevant to horticulture today in relation to the larger ecological world. Expand your perspective while enjoying some great films in the Weston Family Library. Popcorn and refreshments will be available for purchase. Tickets available online or at the door while spaces last.
September 23, 4:00-5:30 pm: Growing Cities
October 21, 4:00-5:30 pm: Mother Nature's Child: Growing Outdoors in the Media Age
November 25, 4:00-5:30 pm: Le semeur (The Sower)
Get your tickets today!