October 18, 2016 - The City of Thunder Bay is the fortunate recipient of two of 150 "Canada 150 Celebration Gardens" being distributed across Canada by the Canadian Garden Council to commemorate Canada's sesquicentennial in 2017.

Thunder Bay's Soroptimist International Friendship Gardens, and Pioneer Ridge Home for the Aged, have each received 1,000 tulip bulbs - 500 red and 500 white - to be used to create "Celebration Gardens" which will bloom next year. Pioneer ridge's Celebration Garden will be planted later this fall.

A public Planting Celebration took place at the Soroptimist International Friendship Gardens on Monday. Schoolchildren from nearby St. Paul's School, and seniors from Pioneer Ridge also attended. The garden is located in the northwest corner of the International Friendship Gardens.

"We feel very fortunate," said Mike Dixon, Thunder Bay's Supervisor of Horticulture and Forestry, "I understand there were over 400 applications for the Canada 150 Celebration Gardens. It will be a beautiful garden plot in the spring."

Vesey's Bulbs of PEI generously donated the tulip bulbs for the Celebration Gardens program. Other sponsors incude Canadian Garden Council, Canada Post, Canadian Nursery Landscape Association, Niagara Parks Commission, GardenMaking magazine, Landscape Ontario, Ontario Garden Council, Baxter Travel Media, Enterprise Canada, Gardens BC, Québec Gardens Association and VIA Rail Canada .

Thunder Bay's two Celebration Gardens are symbolically linked to a planting of 25,000 bulbs at Niagara Falls - part of the Flagship 150th Celebration Gardens Promenade.

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Contact:          Wendy O'Connor, Communications Officer, 474-4810 or woconnor@thunderbay.ca