Everywhere you turn at the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, which runs through May 20th, there are colorful flowers and manicured topiaries. We had a chance to walk through Epcot last month and witness the festival in full bloom. The park is filled with more than 100 topiaries – including more than 75 Disney characters, such favorite classics as “Toy Story,” “Cars” and “Fantasia.
But in addition to being the ultimate place of fun, the 75-day flower and garden festival also offers educational presentations at the Festival Center. The curious gardener can sharpen their skills with programs led by master gardeners, Disney horticulturists and other experts from the Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences at the University of Florida.
The festival is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through May 20th. Gardening experts are on the greenhouse stage at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday-Thursday and at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Friday-Sunday. The upcoming programs include:
- “Kids Love Bugs,” with Ed Rehrig May 1;
- “Pest Management-Pest Friendly,” with Ed Rehrig May 2 and 16;
- “Gardens from Dusk to Dawn,” May 3;
- “The Edible Landscape,” with Tom MacCubbin, May 4-6;
- “Telling Stories through Flowers,” with Ricardo Bansho Carrasco, May 11-13;
- “Fashionable Fabulous Containers,” with Lewis Brehm, May 18-20.
Kids will especially enjoy the Pixie Hollow Fairy Garden, designed for 2- to 5-year-olds, with topiaries of favorite fairy characters and play areas; Bambi’s Butterfly House, where little ones can experience hundreds of native butterflies and see some favorite characters from “Bambi”; and water wise herbs and vegetables, backyard play garden, Toy Story Alphabet Garden and Haiti: Garden of Many Colors.
For more information, visit the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival’s website here or become fans on Facebook here.
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