The Communities in Bloom program is looking for towns, villages and cities to participate in the 2017 program.

The Manitoba Communities in Bloom program provides a comprehensive evaluation beneficial to community development. It encourages all sectors of the community to work together to develop best practices to achieve clean, green sustainable communities that celebrate their heritage and unique potential.

"We've had great success over the years with more than 60 communities taking part and we now average about 17 communities every year," said President Don Budinsky of Winnipeg.

Communities are divided into categories according to population to determine the registration fee and are evaluated on the accomplishments of their whole team (municipal, private, corporate and institutional).

"This year we've added a novice category as a way of getting newcomers into the program. Instead of having to focus on six judging criteria the novice division focuses on just three."

Manitoba's Bloom program held its first edition in 1995 and, at the end of the 1995 season, 29 participating Canadian municipalities were honoured at the first awards ceremonies on Parliament Hill. Manitoba was represented by Brandon, Morden, Morris, and Winnipeg.


The Evaluation assesses the following six categories:

*Tidiness Effort: Maintenance of buildings and structures, removal of litter, weeds and graffiti
 
*Environmental Action: Waste reduction, sewage disposal, recycling, composting, integrated pest management (IPM) and water conservation

*Heritage Conservation: Efforts to preserve built heritage; natural and cultural heritage

*Urban Forestry: Existence of long and short term planning, by-laws and standards for planting suitable trees, appropriate care practices
Landscaped Areas:

*Community efforts to make plants an element of surroundings; colour, texture, regional suitability, native species and maintenance

*Floral Displays: General beautification with beds, containers and ornamental displays