Next in line in our Canada Blooms reasons why series:

3. Escape from winter

The Ides of March are approaching. The snowdrops and bluebells are buried under the foot or more of snow on the ground in Toronto.

And then there is Canada Blooms; Canada Blooms, where the hyacinths fly for the winter. We go to fill our noses with scent, our eyes with a colour that isn’t snow-white. And this year’s show has plenty of both.

The Heart & Stroke Foundation exhibit, where these particular hyacinths roost, is one of the first booths to the right as you enter. It features raised container beds of lavender and hyacinths, all the better to smell you with, my dear. Plus the sound of running (as in, unfrozen) water.

Ahhhhh. Mmmmmmmm.

The splashy, 70s flashback of colour in the opening photo is a common theme in the designers’ interpretation of Flower Power. Be prepared to see things like Op Art or Andy Warholesque backdrops, or cement retaining walls painted Pepto Bismol pink.

Even the waterfalls get into the act.

Are you awake yet?

The impact of all this overload is therapy for the impoverished senses. Not just for the colours and floral scents, even the smell of garden soil.

Personally, I love the smell of well-aerated garden compost. One year I even gave my sister Sarah a bottle of the Demeter Fragrance called Dirt for her birthday (some of which she kindly shared with me). Though I’ll also note that I once wore it to a client meeting, during which the person next to me subtly shifted their chair away.

To a real gardener, however, it’s nectar. Right there under all those tulips.