Beijing Blooms: Olympic Flower Power

Before we went out to shoot this story on Olympic flowers, I honestly thought that Beijing Olympic organizers would just dial 1-800-FLORIST before the competitions and voila! Bouquet of pretty flowers...

I also thought: OK there, (counter-clockwise eye roll)...This is sports news, what the heck does pollen and petals have to do with sports unless we're talking about a footballer going off the pitch because the opposition decided to put Poison Ivy in his jockstrap?

But after doing a little research, I realized that I had never really thought about it. Let's face it, "Crisis with Chrysanthemums" doesn't exactly top the headlines for hard hitting Olympic coverage. Flowers are one of those background elements we often take for granted. We assume that no real work goes into them because God made them that way! Combine a handful of dirt, overnight precipitation and some sunflower seeds and there you have it -- a Green Olympics.

"No, no, no! Not so simple," says the Bear.

We know the city's been preoccupied with venue construction, new subway lines, and keeping traffic and pollution in check -- but preparations are also being made in the realm of details.

About 60 million flowering plants will be used to cover parts of the city for the August Olympics.

60 per cent of the flowers bred are from abroad
40 per cent are native to China.

1,500 Varieties. 132 Colours.

3000 bouquets will be given away to winning Olympic athletes, 4000 bundles to Paralympic athletes.

Flowers selected for Olympic Games can apparently withstand tough weather conditions and bloom in Beijing's heat and humidity come August.

Operation Beijing Bloom started threes ago: From Cross-breeding plants, bouquet arrangement and flower design contests, to hiring and firing landscape architects.  Horticulturists and botanists have been on standby for the big event.

I sign off with a poem:

Roses are red,
Violets are Blue,
Flowers are ready
and Beijing is too!

Marigold, Peonies,
can't forget the Lotus,
Beijing will be covered,
it'll be hard not to notice

Athletes will be decked out
with more than just medals,
Once they step up on the
podium, a bouquet of pretty petals!

If you're prone to allergies,
better get some Reactine,
Flower Power airs next week,
be sure to tune in!

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