Canberra is being transformed into a feast of colour this week. It will be brighter and seem more hopeful.
Hundreds of wheelbarrows, big pots and even bigger pots, filled with blooming flowers, are being set out in public spaces.
The cancellation of the Floriade flower festival means the flowers meant for the festival will now greet Canberrans outside supermarkets, vaccination centres and other public areas.
"Everything is starting to flower. It's really nice," head gardener Shannon Walker said as she and nine staff started loading and delivering the pots.
The containers come in three sizes, all filled with flowers coming into bloom: 37 wheelbarrows, 153 pots like the large terracotta ones in garden centres and nearly 185 even bigger ones.
The transfer of the flowers by truck will take a week but by Friday, Canberra should look different and much brighter - spring-like even.
There will be hyacinths, daffodils, kale, ranunculus, tulips, jonquil (a type of daffodil), irises, poppies and pansies, all providing a feast of colour.
The display right across the city is happening because Floriade was cancelled for the second year in a row. It is usually held in September and October.
The ACT government deemed the gathering of crowds too dangerous during the pandemic.
Some bulbs were planted in the usual site at Commonwealth Park but most were kept and cultivated in the nursery - until this week.
Last year, community groups also dressed the city up with their own herbaceous offerings. It's not clear if that will happen this year, given the unpredictable path of the pandemic and its restrictions on movement.
