City of Parksville crews have planted approximately 13,400 annual flowers, bringing splashes of colour through Parksville.
The popular Pym Street flower bed is planted this year with a Canada flag pattern, according to a news release by the city.
The red of the maple leaf and side bands are a mix of zinnias, 'Zahara Red' and 'Zahara Fire' and for the white background, the plants are helichrysum 'Silver Ribbons', dusty miller 'New Look,' and ageratum 'Aloha White.' Some 3,500 plants went into the Pym Street bed this year.
"Our staff take great pride in their work to beautify the city and are planting flowers and landscaping in several areas of Parksville," the city said in the release. "Getting much of the planting attention at this time of year is the Pym Street garden and Parksville Community Park as well as downtown."
While planting annuals, crews spruce up shrub and flower beds, mow and refresh plant material at locations throughout the city. Crews will continue maintaining the areas throughout summer. Some of these annuals are mixed with perennial plantings.
In total, there are 133 hanging baskets, 23 planters and 13,400 annuals were planted into 18 beds with one new bed this year.
The mix of plants chosen throughout the city considers deer resistance, water needs and site-specific conditions.
The core species of annuals which make up the planting in beds throughout the city are agastache, ageratum, begonias, lantana, marigolds, salvias and zinnias. These are the usual tried and true varieties but with a few new species or variety included in the mix.
