EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival

Spring comes early in Florida, especially at Disney World’s EPCOT Resort where the annual Flower and Garden Festival brings Disney characters to life.

The EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival begins every year in early March when snow is still on the ground in many parts of the country. The Holy Grail of garden shows, EPCOT’s festival offers the usual fare for gardeners and home improvement enthusiasts with stunning landscape displays and advice from top gardeners, but it’s the character topiaries who take center stage. And no wonder. This is Disney after all.

Dozens of Disney characters come to life at EPCOT. It is the largest display of character topiaries anywhere in the world and can only be seen during the 2 and half months that the festival runs. Fleshing out each topiary takes the skill of gardeners, horticulturalists, irrigation specialists and even welders to create the metal frame and install the plants and fauna that bring each character to life. All told, it can take close to 60,000 blooms to make a Disney topiary and hundreds of bedding plants to create the scene they call home.

Each year a new theme brings a host of characters into the limelight, some often coming out of hibernation just for the event. While Mickey and his friends are standard fixtures, Bambi, Thumper, Chip, Dale and more recently, Mater, have all made appearances in the park. You never know who you might meet, turning the corner or walking down a main thoroughfare. A 14 foot tall Goofy became the tallest topiary ever in 2008. Other years, it’s about the special effects. In 1997, chipmunks blew bubbles, potted plants squirted unsuspecting guests, and jewels from the mine of the Seven Dwarfs glowed at night.

Despite the proliferation of character topiaries, there are other reasons to visit the flower and garden Festival. In addition to seminars with experts in the realm of gardening, the 2011 collaboration with HGTV brought a new world of inspiration to gardeners and landscape enthusiasts as popular television design specialists such as Brian Patrick Flynn and Taniya Naya addressed topics like mobile gardens and adding value to your home. Each year, the festival also tackles issues of sustainability with seminars offered on green gardening and displays that highlight the principles of green living.

Topping off select nights during the festival is the Flower Power concert series. Past years have seen artists such as Davy Jones, Gary Puckett and The Lovin’ Spoonfuls take center stage in the America Gardens Theater overlooking the World Showcase Lagoon. The concerts are free to EPCOT resort guests, but seating is limited, so it’s a good idea to arrive a little early.

With amazing topiaries, the awe-inspiring landscape design that is only Disney, and the Flower Power Concert Series, spring may be the best time yet to visit Disney.