New residents welcomed at fall flower show

They also opened the 74th annual Fall Flower Show. "Tonight's one of our many traditions in Westmount," said Mayor Karin Marks, opening the evening and noting it was an occasion for newcomers to meet other Westmounters. It was also an opportunity to honour residents who get involved in community organizations, on committees and at public events.

For newcomers to the City, Marks pointed out some of the unique characteristics of Westmount. "There really is such a strong sense of community here," she said. "People are friendly, they make it obvious they like living here and they get involved … For those of you who are new to the community, I hope you'll have the experience that will convince you that is what's special about us."

She also pointed out that Westmount has become multicultural and no longer fits the stereotype image it had decades ago. "We're very lucky to have people from all walks of life, to have people from different nationalities, to have different linguistic groups represented here," she said.

"It is no longer the kind of community that it was maybe 60 or 70 years ago — the bastion of English Quebec. If you walk around the community, you'll hear Spanish, you'll hear Chinese, you'll hear Italian and you'll hear French. Perhaps not quite as frequently as English, but almost. And that, too, is part of the beauty of Westmount."

She said Westmount succeeds in combining the best of urban and suburban life. "We are very fortunate to be an urban suburb. We have the benefits of suburbia — the best benefits of it — the quietness of a nice community and also all of the benefits of living really in an urban centre."

The plants in the flower show were all grown over the past summer using only biological means of pest control. The display was set up for the exhibition by the greenhouse personnel, Hélène Bazinet, Lauren Nurse and Sébastien Raymond, with the assistance of other Public Works Department staff.

The recently-renovated greenhouse was furnished with tall foliage plants, including palm trees, datura, birds of paradise and banana trees in the waterfall area. New plants in the fish pond greenhouse include staghorn ferns, palms and anthuriums. There are also 10 different kinds of chrysanthemum — including the spectacular 'Zizzle' and 'Kiko' varieties — for a total of 1,200 pots.

In the connecting greenhouses are an assortment of colourful plants like azaleas, coleus, alocasia, begonias and aphelandra. The floral exhibition will be open daily to the general public for the next three weeks, Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.