A few changes recently sprouted up in this 15th year of Trail Community in Bloom (CiB).
But its gardeners assure the city will be adorned in red and white for Canada 150 and new character-features will be unveiled before summer.
Notably, since 2002 Bill Garnett from Columbia Valley Greenhouses has been CiB’s chief horticulturist and garden designer. This year, Garnett is unable to participate so the contract for 200 garden baskets was awarded to Georama Growers out of Nelson.
“We phoned every local nursery but they just don’t have the capacity to grow (what is needed),” Dan Rodlie, CiB chair, told the Trail Times. “We only got one bid in, so we went with it. And we know it is good quality.”
The group’s $110,000 budget was approved by council this week following Rodlie’s detailed presentation during the Monday governance meeting. With funding now in place, Rodlie says planning for new blooms and the search for a new water contractor will soon be underway.
“It’s a lot of work,” he said. “We have a lot of volunteers but to get them organized (and) watering all the baskets?
“We had to come up with a plan, so we will be looking for someone to water the baskets,” Rodlie added. “And we will be hiring people to work the flower beds … We are already working on a few points, but now that we have our budget, we will be meeting next week to see where we go from here.”
This year’s Canada 150 theme will soon be peeking through the ground around town - thousands of red and white tulips have been planted throughout the city including beds by Trail City Hall, the Cenotaph and the Family Statue.
“They should all be poking up pretty quick,” Rodlie said. “We just need a little more sun, a little more heat.”
Over the last 15 years, the volunteer-run program has been primarily funded by the city. The difference the group has made since 2002 has not gone unnoticed - visually stunning garden beds, sustainable planting initiatives, memorable back yard garden tours, resident associations and clean up of roadsides, the covered stairs and long forgotten parks have blossomed community pride and lifted Trail’s greening reputation locally and beyond.
“CiB has made a huge difference to this community through all their planning and actions to not only bring about national and international recognition, but also one that considerably enhances the beauty of our city making us all proud of the community in which we live,” Trail Mayor Mike Martin shared. “The committee is a hard working group of volunteers who work tirelessly on behalf of the community and coordinate this work through the contributions of Public Works staff towards enhancing the beauty of our city.”
The efforts of CiB along with the financial support of the City of Trail has made a huge difference to our city … one standout has been the White Garden on the beautiful Esplanade, Martin said.
“In addition the group has engaged with many other community groups in their events and projects,” he added. “This will be a special year as Canada celebrates its 150th birthday and the CiB group is looking into some additional banners to recognize this occasion.
“Although the competition provides some goal posts to strive for, the underlying benefit is the enhanced beauty and pride within the community as well as sustained practices which protect our environment."
Prepping for CiB judges arrival in July 2016
(Above photo from Trail Times July 8, 2016 edition: Kate Horton of MB Landscape spread bark mulch around the plants in Jubilee Park. With the Communities in Bloom judges coming to Trail July 22-24, work is under way on the White Garden in the park.)