The North Peace Horticultural Society's 17th Annual Flower Show blooms this weekend at the North Peace Cultural Centre.

“It’s to show off what can be grown in the Peace Country,” said event organizer Cathy Wilkenson.

Saturday and Sunday will be filled with a variety of exhibitions and competitions showcasing the north’s flower life.

“Everybody says, ‘Oh, you live in the land of ice and snow. You can’t grow anything.’ I’m originally from Victoria, and to be honest, I find the colours in the flowers quite a bit more vibrant than I did down in the coast. I think it’s because of the longer daylight hours. I was amazed with the vibrancy up here.”

The event has several different categories, including an arrangement division, children’s display, art division, house plant section and photography division. Many of these sections are open to interpretation, such as the house plant section, in which participants can include garden ornaments, or the art division, in which participants can use flowers in original ways to create their displays.

Each section will be judged by trained judges from the Alberta Horticultural Association.

The show also features orchids and a men’s section.

“It’s quite a popular event,” said Wilkenson, noting that it has grown each year.

“There’s the odd year the weather doesn’t cooperate and the entries go down a bit, but for the most part we have increased every year. We’re the largest show in most of Alberta and all the way down to Vancouver, and we were basically the top show last year in all of Alberta and B.C.”

She said the weather hasn’t cooperated very well this year with the flowers, but she still expects to see a lot of beautiful displays. She wants to educate the public on flowers in the Peace.

“I think it’s a really important event in the city. It encompasses all ages, from small children right up to seniors. We are finding more and more young people interested in gardening and interested in the landscape side of it, which helps make our city more beautiful.”

People from all over have come to view past years’ shows, including one particular group from California who were very impressed with the flowers the Peace offered," said Wilkenson

“They were in town, saw that there was a flower show and thought that would be a good thing to go to. They were absolutely amazed at what could be grown here.”

Wilkenson added that although the weekend’s show doesn’t include vegetables, her purpose is to promote local growing of all plant life.

“I just think it’s an important event to keep the public interested and knowing that they can grow things themselves.”

Admission is free. People can enter their flowers and displays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.

The flower show will be open from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the North Peace Cultural Centre. Contact Russ or Cathy Wilkenson for more information at 250-263-9593.