Floral traffic flow Water-smart pots help flowers thrive on busy boulevards By: Photography by Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press Posted:

Winnipeg streets, often criticized for growing potholes, are now home to pots filled with canna lilies, petunias, marigolds and more.

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This article was published 15/08/2025 (400 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg streets, often criticized for growing potholes, are now home to pots filled with canna lilies, petunias, marigolds and more.

The city’s parks and open spaces division spends $200,000 annually on its floral program, with designs reviewed each year by its gardeners.

If this summer’s boulevards appear to be blooming ever brighter than usual, it might have something to do with new planters, which have a water reservoir at the bottom.

The city is swapping its old concrete planters for new models, like these, that include water reservoirs at the bottom. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
The city is swapping its old concrete planters for new models, like these, that include water reservoirs at the bottom. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)

Fun floral fact: The tall red flowers in the centre of the planters are canna lilies, and each could be more than a decade old; the city saves the rhizomes to plant anew each spring.

Jordan Hoff, head gardener for Winnipeg South, deadheads and checks up on the boulevard plantings at Roblin and Moray. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
Jordan Hoff, head gardener for Winnipeg South, deadheads and checks up on the boulevard plantings at Roblin and Moray. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
A Rudbeckia blossom. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
A Rudbeckia blossom. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
Water drips from a gomphrena flower, also known as globe amaranths. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
Water drips from a gomphrena flower, also known as globe amaranths. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
The leaf of a canna lily. The city overwinters the lily rhizomes to reuse every year, so some plants are more than a decade old. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
The leaf of a canna lily. The city overwinters the lily rhizomes to reuse every year, so some plants are more than a decade old. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
A canna lily blooms in the boulevard plantings at Roblin and Moray. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
A canna lily blooms in the boulevard plantings at Roblin and Moray. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
The shadow of an insect on the leaf of a canna lily. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
The shadow of an insect on the leaf of a canna lily. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
Jordan Hoff deadheads marigolds. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
Jordan Hoff deadheads marigolds. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
Marigolds bloom. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
Marigolds bloom. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
A pink celosia bloom. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
A pink celosia bloom. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
A zinnia bloom. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
A zinnia bloom. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
A common eastern bumblebee heads over to the salvia. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
A common eastern bumblebee heads over to the salvia. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
A common eastern bumblebee enjoys the salvia. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
A common eastern bumblebee enjoys the salvia. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
Traffic whizzes past a lush boulevard planter at Roblin and Moray. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
Traffic whizzes past a lush boulevard planter at Roblin and Moray. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
Mikaela MacKenzie

Mikaela MacKenzie
Photojournalist

Mikaela MacKenzie loves meeting people, experiencing new things, and learning something every day. That's what drove her to pursue a career as a visual journalist — photographers get a hands-on, boots-on-the-ground look at the world.

   Read full biography

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