A blooming good time at upcoming garden shows in Stratford, Toronto

   One-Tank Trip for Feb. 25/12

   (c) By Jim Fox

   Even after a not-so-difficult winter weather-wise, it’s always nice to look forward to spring.

   Get a head start on spring sensations by tiptoeing through the tulips, daffodils, roses, daisies, pansies and petunias.

   They will be in abundance along with other gems of the earth at two highly anticipated garden shows in Stratford and Toronto.

Flower displays burst with the colours of spring at the Stratford Garden Festival.

   Blooming good time

   “Celebrating Our Roots,” conveying an intertwining of nature and music, is this year’s theme for the Stratford Garden Festival next Thursday through Sunday (March 1 to 4).

   The landscapers will “draw their inspiration from the vast resource of our musical roots” in creating their gardens, said Deedee Herman of the hosting Lung Association, Huron-Perth.

   In its 12th year, the event at the Stratford Rotary Complex (353 McCarthy Rd.) features “lots of new exhibitors as well as returning favourites,” she said.

Family Day Weekend in Ontario, a time for fun

   One-Tank Trip for Feb. 11/12

  

   (c) By Jim Fox

   Here are ways to keep everyone happy on the Family Day Weekend in Ontario.

   This includes outdoor adventures in parks, indoor Kids-Fests and Snowman Mania – in spite of the absence of winter.

Family Day weekend events include cruising along the 300-metre skate path at Arrowhead Provincial Park north of Huntsville. (Ontario Parks photo)

   Walk on the wild side

    - Ontario Parks suggests the following including Winter in the Wild at Algonquin Provincial Park.

   The Saturday (Feb. 18) event starts with a guided morning bird walk, lunch at the visitor centre and a visit to the "Collection Room" with natural history items including bird and animal skins, pinned insect and plant specimens, some of which are 80-years old.

Love is in the air for Valentine's Day celebrations

   One-Tank Trip for Feb. 4/12

   (c) By Jim Fox

   Love is in the air as Valentine’s Day approaches and here are a few suggestions that turned up in the One-Tank Trip E-mail in-box.

   Do not disturb

   “Why not take time out from our silly schedules for a little romance at a hideaway for two and fall ‘inn’ love again?” asks Laurel Armstrong, a tourism industry representative in Southwestern Ontario.

   On behalf of Ontario's Finest Hotels, Inn and Spas, she reports there are “25 Valentine’s Heartening Getaways” available.

Lovers can check into the Valentine’s package available at the Little Inn of Bayfield.

   “From a romantic and cozy lakeside inn to the luxury of a world-class spa housed in an historic mansion, Ontario’s Finest Hotels, Inns and Spas offer couples with romantic notions an unparalleled variety of memorable locations and those special-extras packages in special settings,” said Kathy Nichol, executive director.