The Evergreen Fair

November 18, 2009

The Evergreen fair was a two-day event, part of a much larger Evergreen Festival, which will continue over the next couple of weeks.

It was hosted by fashionable florist, Elaine Martin of Vintage Gardener, in the Fermenting Cellar of the historic Distillery District.

Elaine's studio is situated right in the heart of the Distillery District.

When I arrived, I found Patricia Cramp minding the store. She gave me directions to find the Fermenting Cellar, which was just down the lane and under the spectacular outdoor sculpture.

I decided to photograph some of the beautiful thing in the shop. The shop wasn't large but it was crammed with interesting and unusual objects for the garden and floral arrangement.

After a while I headed down to the hall to see the fair. There I found Elaine working hard to get all the last minute details finished.

The hall had been laid out with a series of floral stands displaying all aspect of her shop with specific carts focused on projects that the garden lover could do at home.

There were unusual and beautiful objects everywhere you looked.

Jessica Cimo particularly liked the imported terra cotta grey hound. She commented that it was too beautiful for the garden and wanted it inside her house where she could admire it all the time.

Various suppliers were also represented. Maria Notarangelo, Ontario Sales Rep. for Bleu Lavande, had a huge selection of lavender products for sale.

Before long a demonstration of decorating with evergreens began. Here Elaine is assisted by her son Daniel Martin and Budding Gardener Tara Nolan, Web-Editor of Canadian Gardening online.

Elaine explained which evergreens combinations worked together to create the best effects.

Daniel Martin, Elaine Martin, and Tara Nolan share a moment between demonstrations.

I was amazed at the diversity of material there was to use.

There was a whole series of lectures that were taking place that afternoon. Later, Tara was speaking and demonstrating how to best use Amaryllis and Paper Whites for decorating.

Before long I had to head off to another event, but before I left I was fortunate to meet television design host Ambrose Price who was speaking about how to bring glamour to holiday decorating.

Considering that Ambrose has a flair for the dramatic, I asked him if I could take his picture in front of some of the extraordinary sculpture on display in the laneway outside.

If you have a chance to participate in the rest of the Evergreen Festival, I'm sure you will find there is plenty to see and enjoy.

If you are hosting a garden related event in the GTA and would like it covered in gardentoronto.ca or would like to place an e-poster about it on our Events Calendar, just contact me. I am always delighted to promote anything gardening in Toronto.

Mark

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