Floriade claims victory

We eschewed Floriade this year and, after ant’s advice, headed up to the Tulip Top Gardens for a picnic amid the soothing sounds of DJ and the Karismakatz instead. Sublime! I actually forgot my camera (whoops) but took a few pics on the phone … I’ll get them up and if any are any good, I’ll put up a link. Was nice not to have to battle the crowds.

L

Yes, we were saddened by the waste as we were walking out the gates. Even if they’d let us pick a bunch. It just seemed really wrong. Many of them hadn’t even bloomed.

What is utterly disgusting, is the lack of a Bulb Grab! Goddammit. That was the best part of Floriade, but after the stunning success of the first year, they canned it. Typical.

Can you imagine how much they could charge for tickets to watch it from the stands? People would travel from overseas to watch the magnificent spectacle. I’m amazed the Romans didn’t think of it and include it in their circuses.

Floriade would be merely the lead-up, to The Great Canberra Bulb Grab.

I think, the same as when someone is in hospital, you get too many all at once. It would be nice to have it kind of spread out a bit so you could enjoy it. I think a living plant is nice, particularly something like a tree that you can plant out somewhere or a bonsai you can keep inside to remind you of the person. But once again you wouldn’t want too many trees, that’s for sure!

When my niece died, people donated plants for a special garden. She loved gardening.

But donations are a wonderful idea.

Granny said :

People like flowers at funerals because beauty eases pain, Overheard. That’s why art and music and ballet and nature are all so soothing when life is hard.

I sort of get that, Granny. It still just irks me no end. Because I know how much the damn things cost and they’re just so fleeting it seems a waste. I much prefer the ‘in lieu of flowers please send a donation to’.

And I know at workplaces it’s almost Pavlovian to get flowers for a bereaved workmate. Which is why when I suffered two deaths in my immediate family I straight away, almost in the same breath as I informed colleagues I’d be gone for a week or so, I said ‘Please, NO flowers’.

But that’s just a personal thing.

People like flowers at funerals because beauty eases pain, Overheard. That’s why art and music and ballet and nature are all so soothing when life is hard.

sepi said :

Love Floriade, Love Flowers, Love my garden.

There’s a lot worse ways to use a bit of water I reckon.

True, and the community aspect is the positive outcome out of Floriade, which is why I’m only midly irritated by it, not stomping (physically or metaphorically) on the whole deal.

In fact, I was expounding my slight annoyance to someone from Getup at the pub later this afternoon, and she made the point that Floriade engenders a community gathering where people might come along and maybe learn something about water use reduction or green initiatives.

I hope so.

Personally, I suspect the hearts and minds that really need to be captured were plonked on the couch sucking back VBs and watching the cars going round at Mt Panorama, or the cricket.

Love Floriade, Love Flowers, Love my garden.

There’s a lot worse ways to use a bit of water I reckon.

All over, red rover.

And it’s spelt ar$e in this country.

Now usually I don’t jump on spelling here, but Americanisms just absolutely $hit me to tears.

Has it finished yet?

I don’t touch the place during Floriade… pain in the a$$.

Is that the Dutch organ with the ‘mousetrap’ that makes the clicking sound?

I’m usually a fairly calm and collected sort of a chap, but that @#$%^&* mousetrap always induced near homicidal tendencies in me.

Blech!

I like the fact that you put people into the shots, Granny. While I actually took a couple of landscape shots last Friday or Saturday or something — no, Wednesday en route to the radio station, at Kingston Foreshore — I could never quite understand the fascination for taking endless pics of farnarkling flowers (which for me now = hoovers for precious water).

And as I’ve said elswhere, we all grieve in our own ways, but flowers at funerals etc. just seem to be a boon for the florists. Donating to a good cause is a better way to go, but I stress that’s purely a personal view.

We got there about 10am today; the place had started to fill up.
Heard a rumour today that the organist that has always been there might not be there next year.

Well I finally got there on the last day at the last hour and took a gazillion photographs so I can bore all my facebook friends … *heh heh heh* … well, I don’t have that many actually!

We had a lot of laughs inventing silly poses, and sat out overlooking the tulips for afternoon tea. My only regret is that we didn’t get to go on the ferris wheel this year. I like the smaller ones. You still get the fun without all the fear!

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I walked through Floriade for the first time this year at about 9am today. And I stress ‘through’ because I only paused on the one in to banter with the volunteers on the gate, and again on the way out to banter with a volunteer, who interestingly has worked a lot in the Climate Change international policy area.

The place was very quiet and mostly devoid of people. I could have diverted myself for hours, but there were places to go and events to MC. Even then the staff were counting down with eight hours to go before the place shut down for the year.

Then I traipsed back through this afternoon at about 3.30pm. Still quite a few people around, and I’ll spare you my judgemental opinions on the booths, the crowd, the people, the individuals, the waste, and all else that made me walk very quickly, almost run, to the exit.

Oh

my

God.

To just draw a quick analogy, and stop me if I’ve said this before, but my dentist told me last week that he’s ripped out his whole garden and gotten rid of all the plants and flowers that were in it, sucking up all the water. A ‘foxglove’ (insert shrug here) he said, is just basically a bunch of water surrounded by a bit of cellulose tissue.

Big up to Tony the dentist. He’s now got lots of natives and water-less-for-the-draining-thereof.

I made mention of this to the lovely volunteers on the entry gate who proudly told me that it was all greener than green at Floriade, and they had permission to hoover the water out of Lake Hurley Burley.

I said I didn’t know enough to comment. So I didn’t. And I won’t.

But it was food (or drink) for thought.