The President's Choice (P.C.) Lawn and Garden launch—which started as a small gathering to introduce the new line of P.C. plants and flowers to a select group of garden writers each spring—has evolved into an event that now highlights the latest dining sets, barbecues, and plants available at Loblaw stores across Canada. On Wednesday, more than 100 media representatives attended this year's launch, held at the Arta Gallery in the Distillery District.
"We have been, for the past seven or eight years, gathering together a group of gardening writers and introducing them to the new products we are carrying in our stores," said Peter Cantley, vice president of floral and garden for Loblaw Companies. "We have used this event as a launching pad for new plants and garden accessories, and over the past three years it has morphed into a broader event. It's all about entertaining in the garden now."
To illustrate the company's new products and the various settings in which the lawn furniture, barbecues, and garden accessories can be used, Loblaws called on stylist Janette Ewen to create a series of themed vignettes for the event. Ewen grouped the products into five vignettes designed with a target customer in mind: the gourmet, the urbanite, the socialite, the conversationalist, and the kids.
Ewen used the P.C. resin wicker bistro set and a portable charcoal Kettle BBQ to show guests how to dress a small outdoor space in an urban setting. She surrounded the P.C. kids patio set—a steel powder-coated set with easy-to-clean fabric—with items like blueberry plants and high-traffic premium lawn seed mix in a display called Just for Kids and paired products like edible garden herb planters with the high-efficiency eco-gas grill and the P.C. Newport aluminum dining set to create the ideal outdoor setting for a gourmet.
Organizers served a combination of P.C. food—chicken spring rolls with Memories of Thailand Fiery Dipping Sauce—along with additional catering provided by Daniel et Daniel Event Creation & Catering. Servers concocted Greek, Caesar, and udon noodle salads by tossing the ingredients in a martini shaker and displaying them in cocktail glasses at a salad bar. At a risotto station, servers offered risotto with asparagus, fiddleheads and baby snow pea sprouts served with grated Parmesan cheese.
Cantley's top picks for the garden were displayed in a tent outside the gallery. Guests were given gift bags filled with P.C. items at the conclusion of the event and were told to help themselves to as many plants as they could carry.
