Time to deliver: 18,000 blooms are carnival ready

THE nursery started the distribution of its flowers yesterday, delivering 18,000 potted plants to sites around Toowoomba for the Carnival of Flowers.

THE Ramsay Street Nursery started the distribution of its flowers yesterday, delivering 18,000 potted plants to sites around Toowoomba in preparation for the Carnival of Flowers.

The beautiful blooms will now be incorporated into floats and displays used at the Heritage Bank Festival of Food and Wine, according to nursery supervisor Lisa Churchward.

"We started (planting) back in July and just worked until the beginning of August, and then it's just picking and pruning so we are back in full bloom for this weekend," Ms Churchward said.

"We had the food and wine truck come and we loaded in some greenery and a few thousand potted colour.

"Our main aim is to get them the best for the day and then deliver them in good order and hopefully they will look after them."

What's the trick to keeping 18,000 plants alive and well, especially in less than ideal weather?

"We try to keep the sheds' temperature controlled through winter and we use drippers which allows for more flowers with a longer bloom, it just looks so much better," Ms Churchward said.

She said the council-operated nursery grew everything from petunias to poppies, some of which were also used to beautify Toowoomba's gardens.

The flowers will be on display at the Heritage Bank Festival of Food and Wine, running from Friday to Sunday at Queens Park, and during the Carnival of Flowers parade on Saturday.

Originally published as Time to deliver: 18,000 blooms are carnival ready