By James Rayner
In early December, the Walking Club visited the Yorkville area of Toronto to view more than 30 floral installations called Fleurs de Villes, featuring the works of Toronto’s favourite florists. I had seen an ad for this event on the subway but didn’t have any details. Members of the Walking Club were pleasantly surprised and greatly impressed by the beauty displayed and the work involved in setting up these items. It has been difficult to choose representative photos of the works, but I have managed to choose some of the best for your viewing pleasure.
We started our tour at the Hotel W, which is on Bloor St. just east of the former Bay store. The information that I had said to proceed to the sixth floor, which we did. The elevators opened onto an open area with a bar, terrace and restaurant. In the middle was our first item to view. (All displays had a number and a card showing the title and the plants involved in their creation.) There we also received copies of the official brochure with a walking map showing the location of each installation.
Our next stop was the lobby of 2 Bloor St. E. where there was a floral telephone booth.
Over to Holt-Renfrew we went to see “Unwrap the Wonder”.
And “Holiday Toboggan”.
I wasn’t aware of it, but there is a tunnel under Bloor St. from Holt-Renfrew to the Manulife Centre.
In the tunnel and beyond were several more displays, one of which was “Holiday Heart” where we took a group photo.
There were several holiday mannequins:
There also was a holiday swing.
There was even Mr. and Mrs. Floral Clause:
And, of course, Santa needs reindeer:
Next, we stepped outside to admire the entrance to the Manulife Centre.
We then went up Bay Street, past Pusateri’s, but I couldn’t get a good shot of their entrance because of the angle of the sun. But I did manage to capture the Queen of Candy Cane Lane in Yorkville Park.
Next was up Hazelton to Yorkville Village complex, the former Hazelton Lanes, where it was warm! There were several mannequins, notably Tessa Virtue and Elvis Stojko.
In front of the oh so Chi-Chi Hazelton Hotel we found the Louis Roederer Champagne mannequin (empty bottles, I hope).
The dress was made of dried lunaria, a.k.a. silver dollars.
The Snow queen reigned in Yorkville Lane.
We crossed over Avenue Road to the Park Hyatt (formerly the Park Plaza) Hotel to see the Nutcracker Ballet Mannequin. Some tutu!
We returned to Bloor St. and finished the walk at 151 Bloor St. West…
…and then in front of the Colonnade. This display was one of the favourites. Personally, I was impressed by the flowing floral scarf giving the impression of wind caused by the speed of the sleigh.
Probus Club of Kingsway-Islington 