Why the bloom is never off the rose at Epcot’s International Flower & Garden Festival

Since Epcot’s International Flower & Garden Festival is
now headed into the home stretch (this celebration of Spring in Central Florida
officially wraps up on May 31st with a Flower Power Concert starring Tony
Orlando), you’d think that at least some of the blooms that are currently on
display inside of this futuristic theme park would be wilting.

“How is that possible?,” you ask. It’s simple, really.
They’re not the same bedding plants that Epcot started out with when Flower
& Garden initially opened back on March 18th.

“When Walt Disney World made the decision to turn Flower
& Garden into a 75-day-long festival, we knew that our bedding plants
wouldn’t be able to make it through the entire run of the show,” explained Eric
Darden, horticultural manager of the show. “Which is why we then made plans to
swap out all of our winter bedding plants with warmer season flowers in
mid-April.”

This work is typically done in the early morning hours. With
Epcot’s gardeners coming in between 3 – 5 a.m. and then using gas-powered
augurs and portable light towers to help speed them through their early morning
task.

“They quickly pull out the original bedding plant, rake that
space and refertilize,” Eric continued. “Then they slap in a new flat of
bedding plants. And you’ve then got a garden that’s just as colorful as the
first one was.”

As a direct result of this practice … Well, it’s like you
get two Flower and Garden Festivals in one. Darden talked about how some local
gardening enthusiasts make a point of visiting the show when it first opens in
March and then returning to Epcot in late April / early May just to see what
changes have been made within the park.

“We do try and match colors,” Eric admitted. “But given how
vibrant the violas are, sometimes that’s just not possible. So sometimes
there’ll be subtle changes. While in other cases, the changes to the Park’s
bedding plants can be quite dramatic.”

Of course, as the 2009 International Flower & Garden
Festival draws to close, Darden’s already been in meetings for next year’s
event. Which he promises will be just as this year’s fest.

“I’m not at liberty to discuss the theme. All I can do is
tell you that I’ve already been in meeting with the Company’s key creatives,”
Eric said. “We’re just starting the approval process and begun setting
deadlines for next year’s show. Beyond that, all I can say is that our
character topiaries – which the public really seems to love – will be back, bigger & better than ever in 2010.”

And could next year’s International Flower & Garden
Festival possibly push out beyond this year’s 75 day run?

“You know, it wasn’t all that long ago that Flower &
Garden was just a 38-day-long event,” Darden remembered. “But then it got
extended to 45 days, and then 60 days in 2007. So if the Company wants us to
push the Festival out beyond 75 days, I’m sure that we could figure out how to
make that happen. Maybe we’d then have to a third planting. Replace those warmer weather bedding plants
with something that can really take the Florida heat.”

Which would give Central Florida residents a third reason to
return to Epcot each spring.

The 16th Annual Epcot International Flower & Garden
Festival continues through next Sunday night, May 31st. For further information
on this theme park’s hours and the schedule of events at this year’s fest,
please click on this link.