What’s growing inside Barrie’s greenhouse will soon be outside in city parks for all to enjoy.
“Everything you see in our parks is grown here,” said David Walters, a grower with the parks and forestry department, looking around at rows and rows of plants at the greenhouse at Barrie Operations Centre. “The world was made to be beautiful. That’s our mandate.”
What’s growing inside at the Ferndale Drive North greenhouse are 25,000 begonias, 18,000 petunias, tulips, pansies, marigolds, lantana and many others.
“This is not a conservatory, it’s mostly production,” said Walters, who had been growing city flowers and plants for 31 years. “It’s mostly summer annuals that we are growing.”
Most will go to Barrie’s waterfront, including Centennial and Heritage parks, along with the downtown.
“Flowers are value-added to the cultural experience of living in the city,” Walters said. “We’re blessed to have greenspace in Barrie.”
The city is also preparing to welcome back the Communities in Bloom judges again this summer, after their tour was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Barrie has received multiple Communities in Bloom awards in the past, including Five Bloom Gold, highest ranking award to overall winner in the Circle of Excellence and National Capital Commission Excellence in Floral from the National Communities in Bloom judges.
“We almost always win,” Walters said.
