Bloomin' Beautiful!

Ah…the beginning of March…must mean it’s the start of Epcot’s 23rd annual International Flower & Garden Festival!  Though the grounds are always beautiful any time of year, they are taken to a new level during the Festival.  It lasts 90 days, and this year’s theme is “Fresh Food, Fun, & Flowers” featuring Daisy Duck at
the entrance with Donald and nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie appearing at the other end of the garden.  Each year there are some new exhibits and topiaries like Chip & Dale having a picnic and this wonderful Ranger Mickey Mouse that was done as a tribute to the National Park Service’s centennial anniversary this year!

One of my favorite places to visit during the Festival is the butterfly pavilion.  I love walking through taking in all of the flowers, foliage, and many varieties of butterflies freely fluttering around everywhere.  If you look closely at the photo of the black and white one in flight (at right...click to
   enlarge), you can actually see its outstretched legs getting ready for that landing!  There are several displays that educate everyone on aspects of a butterfly’s life cycle, the meaning of their different colorations, the flight paths of the Monarch, and so much more
   including a box that has some butterflies in the chrysalis stage and beyond.  It’s not a very big area with mesh “walls” and beaded entry curtains, and since Russ can take it or leave it, he usually waits outside people watching.

 

  Another cool “butterfly” this year is a topiary that was made entirely of seeds.  Wish I had taken a picture of the description so I could share more about it!  There was also a bumblebee similarly made but I didn’t get a very good picture of it…maybe next time.

 

Though there are HGTV and DIY experts on hand every weekend offering presentations on gardening and home improvement, and plenty of food booths (more each year it seems), the main attraction are the nearly 100 topiaries.  Many are themed together like this one of Captain Hook ready for battle with Peter Pan high up on the rooftop while the hungry crocodile keeps an eye on the Captain!  However some are standalones like Buzz Lightyear located appropriately in front of the Mission Space ride but here are several  others for you to enjoy.

 

Besides the topiaries there are 30 million blooms that blanket the park which require two complete crop rotations during this bloomin' beautiful celebration to keep the displays fresh.  There are more than 500,000 plants, trees, and shrubs planted for the event including floating mini-gardens, container gardens, “flower towers”, and so much more.  Stay posted for more images from the festival!