I walked into the Toronto Convention Centre Saturday morning to be greeted by the glorious scent of spring.
The smell of hyacinths was overwhelming, and overwhelmingly welcome.
Canada Blooms is the huge spring flower show that features everything you might want to experience in gardening. Plus scads of free line-ups.
Even though we arrived right at the 10 a.m. opening, the wait to see some of the more coveted display gardens was so long that it wasn't worth the effort.
I wanted to pick up an "El Desperado" day lily from Arcadian Daylilies but a woman at the booth told me they were long gone. You have to come during the week when it opens if you want most of the "hot" products. Gardening, alas, like everything else these days, is the subject of rampant fadism. Everyone has to have the very latest cultivar.
Frankly, it's hard to tell the difference between Amber Waves, Peach Flambé, Marmalade or the latest variant on the orange-pink-brown tinged coral bell that hits the market. But that doesn't seem to matter.
Having said that, the best booth at the show was the Ontario Landscape Architects' Association site which featured a bunch of introductions (new perennial favourites you could say). Their catalogue, which normally goes to dealers, is worth the price of admission alone.
Most of the display gardens suffered from overwhelming sameness. Too many architects in the planning picture and not enough gardeners.
If you missed Canada Blooms, there's another chance to preview spring this weekend in our own backyard. The Successful Gardening Show rolls into The International Centre Thursday for the weekend. Lots of great ideas, with more of a bent towards environmental sustainability, especially along "Green Street."