Get all our updates on contest, blogs and all else BT!
Follow BT on Twitter: BTtoronto
Thanks to our incredible BT winners who made our morning at Blue Mountain awesome! Lots of exciting stuff happening at Blue Mountain during March break, for more information visit:
Special thanks to Columbia (link) for the great jacket and hat.
Have a safe and happy weekend,
Jenn
Today I set out to build the Disney Fairy Garden @ Canada Blooms. As I’m writing this the arrival of 5 trailer loads of materials are being unloading @ the Direct Energy Centre. I’m tired just thinking about it but the good thing is we have a team of over 30 including experienced trade, students and garden enthusiast helping with the build. This is our weekend and the build schedule:
Friday:
Retaining Walls
Plant cedars
Walkways
Place pond forming
Rough in lighting conduit
Install art backdrop-phase 1(interior)
Cut out gigantic leaves for maze
Paint leaves
Conduit for gigantic stems for maze-& apply noodles
Fill garden beds
Saturday
Finish walkway
Install garden edger
Install columns & Mickey Dome
Install dancing water fountain
Fill pond & test
Install out screen artwork
Place tufa rocks for fairy topiaries
Place cottage
Sunday
Planting
Accessories
Fairy houses
Install fairy topiaries
Sod & turf topiaries (10pm)
Green eaves on cottage
Add Disney product
Fabric application
Monday
Add cut flowers to eaves
Garland around dancing water fountain
Clean
Touch ups
Furnish
Final walk through
Tuesday
Ice sculpture placement- 11is
Revive us off the concrete floor!#!
Judging
Opening Night Party
Wednesday:
Canada Blooms opens to the public
WISH US LUCK!!
HERE IS OUR PRESS RELEASE:
Disney Fairies bring magic to Canada Blooms
Disney Consumer Products Canada in collaboration with Teamscape.ca and Landscape Ontario bring magic to Canada Blooms in 2010
TORONTO, March 11 /CNW/ – For the first time ever Canada Blooms welcomes Disney Fairies to Toronto with The Magical World of Tinker Bell experience. This four season garden takes you through the talents of each Disney Fairies character – Rosetta the Garden Fairy, Silvermist the Water Fairy, Iridessa the Light Fairy, Fawn the Animal Fairy and, of course, the most popular Disney Fairies character of all, Tinker Bell a Tinker Fairy. Built through the eyes of a child, this garden is meant to inspire the senses, evoke the magic of pixie dust and celebrate the passion of children and their creative minds.
Teamscape member Frank Ferragine, also known as Frankie Flowers of CityTV’s Breakfast Television and CityLine, says, “This garden will bring out the child in all of us with magical twists, an interactive children’s play area and a beautiful floral explosion!”
On the collaboration with Teamscape for this project, Janice Lau-Pearson, national marketing manager Disney Consumer Products Canada said, “In the world of Pixie Hollow, the Disney Fairies are in charge of bringing the four seasons to the Mainland through their unique talents. This magical creation by Teamscape.ca brings that experience to life in a fun and interactive way.” In addition to the garden experience, there will be face painting, a colouring station, Disney Fairies activities CD giveaway and photo opportunities with Disney Fairies characters.
Canada Blooms 2010 Festival Information
Dates: Wednesday, March 17 to Sunday, March 21, 2010
Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Wednesday to Saturday); 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
(Sunday)
Venue: The Direct Energy Centre, Toronto Ontario
Tickets: Available online at www.canadablooms.com and at participating
garden centres for a special advanced discount price of $16;
At the door adults $18, seniors $16, students $16, children 12
and under are free
Canada Blooms is a not-for-profit volunteer-driven event which promotes awareness of horticulture and offers a platform to showcase outstanding floral and landscape products and services. To date, over $500,000 in proceeds from the Canada Blooms show have been reinvested into community horticultural projects. This year proceeds from Canada Blooms will benefit charitable horticultural organizations across Ontario.
About Disney Fairies
——————–
Disney Fairies is rooted in Disney’s rich heritage of children’s storytelling. The franchise builds upon the enormous popularity of Tinker Bell and introduces girls to her secret, magical world and a new circle of enchanting fairy friends – Fawn, Iridessa, Rosetta and Silvermist – each with an incredibly diverse talent, personality and look. Launched just a few years ago, the $850 million franchise boasts a thriving publishing and lifestyle merchandising program. To date, over 575 Disney Fairies books and over 125 Tinker Bell movie books have published worldwide in 60 countries and 35 languages, selling nearly 18 million copies; Disney Fairies magazines have sold over 7.5 million copies in 28 countries and an array of products from apparel and toys to electronics, home décor and stationery has extended storylines into many girls’ homes across the globe. DisneyFairies.com is now available in more than 20 territories across North America, Latin America, EMEA and Asia Pacific. Fans have created more than 16 million personalized Fairy avatars to date that can now take flight in the virtual world of Pixie Hollow. Disney theme parks have also launched a Pixie Hollow attraction where fans can meet the Disney Fairies characters. The Disney Fairies characters are highlighted in the production of Disney On Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy, and additionally, Tinker Bell is in four other Disney On Ice shows touring the world. Following the success of Walt Disney Pictures Tinker Bell on Disney Blu-ray and hi-def DVD, Disney released Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure in 2009 as the second title in the series. In Fall 2010, Disney will release the third title in the DVD series entitled Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue.
So are tiny little small flies buzzing around your home and creeping you out? If so you have either two things: Fruit Flies or Fungus Gnats. Often they get confused for each other but here is a way to identify them and control them:
Fruit Flies:
Identification: Tiny almost flea like flies hovering around ripen fruit, empty and open beer bottles, vinegar and your wine glass…if so you got fruit flies.
Fruit Flies feed on the fermentation / yeast of ripening fruit essentially I guess we could call them alcoholics. The number one way to ride your home of them is to discard over ripen fruit and open alcohol or vinegar containers. Things like wet mops, and open water will also provide ideal habitat for a fruit fly.
Homemade fruit fly trap:
Take an empty 1 liter pop bottle and place some ripen fruit, beer, or wine in the base. Create a funnel out of wax paper or paper and place at the top of the bottle. Make sure the funnel opening is big enough to allow fruit flies in but not out. The fruit flies will be attracted to your bait (booze) and fly in but for some reason will not fly out.
You can do the same by covering a plastic container with plastic wrap and poke some holes in it with a pen. I almost forgot put a banana peel into the container before covering. They will fly in but not fly out.
Finally Fruit Flies do have some benefit ..to science that to the field of genetics. The short, ten-day life cycle of the fruit fly, its avid ability to reproduce, and its large chromosomes make the insect an ideal specimen for laboratory experiments in heredity.
Fungus Gnats:
Identification: If you have several indoor plants and every time you move or walk close to them a small cluster of small flies emerge ..you have Fungus Gnats.
Fungus Gnats require moist conditions and feed on decaying leaves and such. It seems those plants with higher percentage of peat in their soil mix have a great frequency of fungus gnats.
Control:
Clean plants and remove decaying leaves from the base of the plant along the soil line of the pot.
Water properly: Reduce watering and allow plants to dry out in between watering this will create strong roots and healthier plants!!
Purchase Yellow Sticky Strips. Gnats will be attracted them due to the yellow colour and get stuck!!
Some feel that if you sink pots in water for a long duration of time you will help to drown larvae however my feeling is your just create better habitat for them due to the moisture left in the pot!!
BREAKING GARDEN NEWS:
MARTHA STEWART WILL BE VISITING CANADA BLOOMS SATURDAY MARCH 20, 2010..I will keep you posted on details.
Get all our updates on contest, blogs and all else BT!
Follow BT on Twitter: BTtoronto
Mayor of Niagara Falls Ted Salci had no idea that he would be going down a Water Slide yesterday morning in his suit. Click the Play Button to check it out.
Please go to Project Share to donate!
Take Care
Jenn Valentyne
The last few days have been crazy! Last weekend I had a wonderful weekend in Stratford speaking at their 10th Annual Garden Festival – those attending gave me a warm welcome by singing happy B-day (See attached video). I also got to enjoy some of the great places in Stratford including a wonderful cheese boutique called the Milky Whey www.themilkywhey.ca a fantastic inn called the Mercer Inn www.mercerhallinn.com and a wonderful meal at Keystone Alley Café www.keystonealley.com. Stratford is such a great place to visit!!
The thing consuming almost all my time is the building of the Canada Blooms Disney Fairy Garden. I must say building a garden out of season does come up with some challenges. I’ve been everywhere looking for plants including Dundas/Waterdown to a great 3 generation nursery Connon Nurseries aka Neil V. Holdings www.connonnurseries.com but it doesn’t stop their I’ve sourced some funky cedars and birch from Oregon and with the help of the Ontario Turf Associations we’ve turned some wire frames into some very cool looking creatures. All and all Canada Blooms this year should be very unique at least our garden will!!
Finally I really want to stress to everyone out there enjoying the weather. Spring is in the air but cooler weather is likely to return. You can go out and clean up the yard by picking up broken stems, branches and leaves but remember it’s way to early to do things like applying grass seed, fertilizer or planting …be patience…my advice purchase some potted spring bulbs to enjoy indoors!!
Off to find some colour for Blooms enjoy the day!!!
Who saw this one coming? I’m blue over Avatar’s big loss (Ben Stiller stole my idea…teehee)….The Hurt Locker swept last night’s Academy Award show with 6 wins over Avatar’s 3. The big shock is that the exes’ (Bigelow vs Cameron) were going in with 9 nods each and Hurt Locker took the biggies of the night (Best Director and Best Picture). Could it be the academy’s way of saying “listen James…we know this is the biggest selling movie of all time, that’s enough of a reward for you…time to give shine to your ex who managed to pull off a deeply moving film on a few pennies…”…seems to be the case.
How else can one explain Sandra Bullock beating out Meryl Streep? Much like Julia Roberts…the rom com actress proved her acting chops and the Academy wanted to salute her over tried and true ‘touched’ actresses like Meryl (who will no doubt be nominated several more times before her career is through).
That said….congratulations to all the winners….and fashion winners too! Loved Jennifer Lopez, Meryl Streep was divine in white and the ageless Demi Moore in her rust number? Stunner! Kate Winslet was perfection from head to toe.
And kudos to a dry and hilarious co-hosting gig by Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin….loved the humour they brought to the show. Fave moment? Ben Stiller rambling about putting his tail and hair into a dragon….too funny.
Check out CityNews at 6pm tonight for my full story and Oscar Wrap (from hair nightmares, to fashion faux pas and the biggest Oscar Snubs…)….and don’t forget to watch Molly and Jason get hitched tonight! We will have your full wrap on all of that tomorrow on BT!
P.S. A big shout out to the fabulous new friends and fans I met in London over the weekend…you made my stay there so enjoyable and you were such a warm crowd…thank-you for your love and support! See you in the morning,
Dina
Get all our updates on contest, blogs and all else BT!
Follow BT on Twitter: BTtoronto
Today we had a Birthday Pizza Party for Kevin & Frank’s Birthday. They couldn’t attend but it was a good excuse for a little break in the middle of the day. Check out the video.
Last night I went to the Alice in Wonderland Premiere with my Son. It was Awesome and we both loved it. Amazing 3D Special effects! Helena Bonham Carter Rocked the part of Red Queen. Johnny was an incredible Mad Hatter. We had a really nice Mommy & Son night (Dinner & a Movie). Check out Mo’s Blog
This morning we went to Rogers Centre to promote Disney on Ice – Let’s Celebrate. Go to BT Bites to check it out. It’s an amazing show for the whole Family.
Finally…I’d like to say a Special So Long to Brian Weldon – Promo God!! We will miss you here at City but we will always be friends. I will miss you saying….”That was good but let’s try it again”.
Take Care
Jenn
