Vancouver Outdoor Adventure and Travel Show

I'm an outdoor enthusiast so, generally speaking, I'm always looking to  any outdoor recommendations, events or to do some fun outdoor activities together with our friends.

I can't wait for this weekend to visit at Vancouver Convention Centre  the BC's largest "The Outdoor Adventure & Travel Show". It will be a great way to have some fun and to connect the outdoor community with the adventure seekers (like us). We are looking to find some pre-season deals from local and international firms with presence in show's pavilions : Off-road Adventures, Running and Triathlon; BoardSports, Bikes, Health and Fitness, Camping, Travel And Vacation Destinations.

Another strength of this show if you are a passionate photographer, will be to participate at Travel Photography Workshops and to learn some tips about travel photographs. (this is one of our targets)
 

Saikei with PJM rhododendron and Ashenzi firm's logo for Vancouver's Outdoor Adventure and Travel Show

The best attraction for us will be to see Terry Grant, Saturday at 1.00 pm. Who doesn't like the MANTRACKER? Especially in the beautiful British Columbia, the province famous for its stunning wilderness, Terry Grant, with his instincts, skills and charm, is adored by both adults and children. Our kids love to see again and again his adventures and sometimes, unconsciously, they imitate the tones, gestures, body posture and expression of him.

        



Well.... In this post I did not only intend to do  a review of this event. My intention is to tell you about our new challenge to link our products with the green image of  "Ashenzi" products.

Ashenzi  is a manufacturer of comfortable outdoor clothing and gear products located in Vancouver. They will participate in "The Outdoor Adventure & Travel Show"  at booth #1020 (March 19th - 20th, 2011).




Few days ago, they invited us to bring in "a touch of green" when decorating their stand, and to rent them for this event one arrangement with potted plants and rocks.

Ashenzi roots, as they define themselves, was inspired by women climbers experiences from all over the world. They aims to design high-quality climbing clothing  and to meet the demands of female rock climbers. So, knowing their passion for climbing, my thoughts flew to an arrangement with some steep rocks on which their logo appear as a large banner. On that rock ... I can see a person climbing, don't you?
 

We drew on paper a concept of one outdoor miniature garden  and we decided how will look, what rocks will be used and where will be situated the rocks, and which miniature bonsai will be planted in it.
As central piece we promoted one scented-leaf Rhododendron x "P.J.M" bonsai.

P.J.M. Rhododendron bonsai

P.J.M. rhododendron is considered one of the hardiest rhododendrons, being very tolerable at large variations of temperatures and light conditions. It was  developed by Ed Mezzit at Weston Nurseries as a result of many hybridization,  and named "P.J.M." in 1945 after his dad Peter J. Mezitt. 
It is also one of the tiniest rhododendron looking more delicate than traditional rhodo's (this one has only 20 cm high) very used in rock gardens, flowerbeds and as landscaping accent plant near dwarfed sub-alpine evergreen trees.


Its compact and dense foliage is dark semi-evergreen, with green color in summer and mahogany color in fall-winter.

Rhododendron P.J.M. flower buds

Its elliptical-shaped leaves are aromatic if are crushed, with a mild tone of black pepper, limes and candy?! (Unfortunately rhododendrons and azaleas are mildly toxic - they are not edible!) .


P.J.M. rhodo  is an abundant spring-blooming shrub, with small lavender-pink flowers and as you see in the picture, this one has already a lot of flowering stems with flower buds... so perhaps after  the show will be  very attractive for butterflies and hummingbirds, too :-).    

Saikei with P.J.M. rhododendron for Vancouver's Outdoor Adventure and Travel Show

As a second choice, we've redone the design of one saikei with asparagus fern, preparing it to the show. This one is an indoor saikei (for sure the plants will not be affected by the indoor climate from the show) and we trimmed the asparagus ferns branches to make visible their logo on the  "mountain" wall.

Saikei with Asparagus Ferns rearranged for Vancouver's Outdoor Adventure and Travel Show

Whatever will be their choice,  I hope it will be appreciated at the show (my final retouch will give it a fresh look tomorrow morning before show).
I will give an update about this event and perhaps next week I'll make another post  with many pictures about some outdoor attractions I'll find at  "The Outdoor Adventure & Travel Show".

Update: April 18th - finally the PJM rhododendron is in bloom: you can see its small lavender-pink flowers in the picture - unfortunately you can not smell them ;-), but I can tell you that they are very fragrant, with limes and candy notes...

PJM Rhododendron lavender-pink  flowers