Our Nation’s capital blooms to life over Spring with the world-class Floriade offering an incredible program of events inspired by the theme Passion.
Held in Canberra’s Commonwealth Park from 13 September to 12 October, Floriade offers incredible flower displays, gardening tips from experts, inspirational musical performances, culinary demonstrations and children’s entertainment. t showcases one million flowers in bloom, welcomes more than 400,000 local, interstate and international visitors each year and entry is free
For head gardener Andrew Forster, getting more than one million bulbs to bloom on cue is no easy feat; it takes a lot of planning and preparation.
“Our preparation started back in February/March with the help of about 25 gardeners to mark out garden bed patterns and dig out all the pathways. The gardening team do a wonderful job of making Commonwealth Park look fantastic during Floriade,” Andrew says.
“The first bulbs were planted in early April, starting with the Pac-Man garden, as it’s located in the coldest area in the park. We finished planting at the end of May. This year we have a mix of bulbs – Tulips, Daffodils, Dutch Iris, Grape Hyacinth, Tritelia, Pansies, Violas, English Daisies, Poppies and Chrysanthemums. “Our mix of bulbs and flowers were chosen from the Floriade design team based on their ability to last for the whole 30 days of Floriade.
“The elevated garden beds are also interesting – I’ve seen an aerial photograph of the 3D Teddy Bear garden, which will look great once in bloom. This year’s flower beds reflect a literal representation of things that people are passionate about.
“Removal of the flowers at the end of Floriade is almost as big as planting them in the first place. So on the last night, volunteers are invited to have a dig and take some bulbs home. All the soil goes back to Martins Fertilizers in Yass who screen it and re-sell it as a Floriade mix.”
For more information, including the program of events, go to click here.
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