Mile Of Flowers Marking 56 Years This Evening

The Mile of Flowers is back, marking 56 years of filling Cliffe Avenue boulevards with colourful blooms.

They’ll need some help in getting things in the ground tonight.

Volunteers from the community are invited to fill the garden beds on both sides of Cliffe Avenue from 8th to 21st Streets with summer flowers provided by the City of Courtenay.

No prior experience is required – just pick an open spot and start planting. Participants are asked to bring garden gloves and a trowel or spoon for digging.

Typically, between 200 and 500 volunteers are needed.The Plant-in starts at 5 p.m. and goes on until around 7 p.m.

The Mile of Flowers is a tradition dating back to 1967, when Kathleen Kirk set out to commemorate Canada’s centennial year.

That year she planted 7,800 seedlings as a welcome to tourists.

What began as the initiative of one woman now involves hundreds of volunteers and around 30,000 flowers.

For more information, please contact City of Courtenay at 250-334-4441, email info@courtenay.ca or visit Mile of Flowers.