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Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival 2008 |
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Written by Louis Mongello
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Floral fun is
"beachy keen" with topiary surf, sand and popular Disney characters
during the 15th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival
March 19-June 1 at Walt Disney World Resort. Among this year's fun
festival facts:
30 million blooms dress the park throughout the festival, which runs 75 colorful days.
As part of this year's Fun in the Sun theme, Goofy
rides a perfect floral wave while Mickey Mouse and gal pal Minnie soak
up sun and sand -- all as intricately designed topiaries. Other topiary
whimsy includes: a volleyball beach scene with Donald Duck and Daisy, a
frolicking green Pluto and a colorful "lifeguard" Stitch from "Lilo and
Stitch."
More than 70 topiaries will include beloved Disney
characters like Lady and the Tramp and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
The Three Caballeros -- Donald Duck, parrot Jose Carioca and Panchito,
the Mexican charro rooster -- also come to life as topiaries to
celebrate their Epcot show, "Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three
Caballeros" in the Mexico pavilion.
The largest character topiary at this year's festival is Goofy, which towers 14 feet above guests on a six-foot wave.
More than 500 native butterflies representing up to 10
species reside in Minnie's Magnificent Butterfly Garden, a gazebo-type
enclosure filled with lush plants and measuring more than 40 feet in
diameter. Guests can stroll through the screened habitat to view the
colorful butterflies. Among the garden's two dozen nectar plants are
Cape Royal plumbago, passion flower, coral honeysuckle, blazing star,
butterfly bush, scarlet milkweed and canna lily.
300,000 bedding plants are installed for the festival.
Three butterfly topiaries are on display. Also, Doc,
Grumpy and the rest of the seven dwarfs appear at the Germany showcase
with intricate topiary detail that includes beards of palm fiber.
Perfume bottle topiaries represent Guerlain perfumes in the Fragrance
Garden at the France pavilion.
At least 25 different plants, grasses and mosses of
various colors, including pink and red begonias, dusty miller, palm
fiber, palm seeds, ficus and lichen, are used to create and define
features of the festival topiaries. More color has been added to the
topiaries than in any previous topiary presentation.
More than 15 floral, herbal and spice ingredients of
10 popular perfumes are revealed in the Fragrance Garden presented by
Guerlain at the France pavilion. Guests can sniff the enduring
fragrance Shalimar to discover botanical notes that include lemon,
Arabian jasmine and vanilla. Some components of nine other Guerlain
fragrances include mimosa, magnolia, rose, nutmeg and vetivergrass.
Nearly 40 varieties of trees, plants and flowers are featured in this year's Key to Outdoor Living garden,
an upscale outdoor living area presented by Dupont Garden Systems with
the laid-back ambiance of Key West near the Morocco pavilion, including
an innovative kids play zone. Forty-five "flower towers" of impatiens line Innoventions Plaza.
100 floating mini-gardens of multi-hued impatiens, each three
feet in diameter, provide splashes of color on two ponds that border
the walkway between Future World and World Showcase.
750 container gardens of flowers, herbs, plants and vegetables in clay pots, barrels and urns enhance the landscape throughout Epcot.
300 Walt Disney World horticulturists are needed to
install the festival landscape, topiaries and many exhibits; 100 Epcot
horticulturists maintain topiaries and other festival displays.
It takes one full year to prepare for the annual festival.
The festival's Flower Power is bolstered by
thrice-daily appearances of musical hit makers of the 1960s and '70s
including The Guess Who, Davy Jones, Paul Revere and the Raiders,
Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone, and Petula Clark -- a total of
22 acts this year.
Tags: Epcot Flower & Garden Festival
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