APRIL 6 AND 7 AT THE SHOPS ON EL PASEO
The International Desert Flower, Fragrance and Garden Show will bloom once again at The Shops on El Paseo April 6 and 7. The event celebrates the natural beauty of the area and pays tribute to The Living Desert, which promotes education, preservation and appreciation of the world’s deserts.
On Saturday, April 6th from 10 am – 5 pm and Sunday, April 7th from 12 pm – 5 pm, guests on El Paseo can enjoy an exclusive desert plant sale by the Palo Verde Garden Center — The Living Desert’s botanical garden — combined with floral and landscape displays, international fragrance debuts, fashion presentations, live music and green energy exhibits. Saturday and Sunday’s events are free and open to the public.
Famed international fragrance companies will be debuting their scents in this year’s unique event including Ramon Monegal of Barcelona ,and Maison Francis Kurkdjian and Atelier – both from Paris. Ramón Monegal comes from a long and distinguished line of the most important perfumers in Barcelona and Spain. He represents the fourth generation of the founders of the house of Myrurgia, which was the official purveyor of the Spanish Royal Family, and the most important international perfumer in Spain. Maison Francis Kurkdjian houses a unique fragrance collection, with a rarely matched quest for sophistication and elegance using the purest and rarest essential oils. Atelier Cologne, one of last year’s participants returns by popular demand with fragrances inspired by the original eau de cologne recipe—created in 1709 from a mixture of citrus and herbal ingredients. Guests will also be able to experience new fragrances from Ralph Lauren, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Burberry and Escada. There will also be special fashion presentations by Leggiadro and Chico’s as well as new sunglass designs by Optical Shop of Aspen. Guests visiting Rangoni Firenze Shoes will receive special fragrance samples. Participating stores will be distributing complimentary miniature succulents to guests each day while supplies last.
The centerpiece of the weekend festivities will be the plant sale by The Palo Verde Garden Center at The Living Desert. The center evolved as The Living Desert members started requesting the rare and hard to find native desert plants seen in their botanical gardens. Today, the Palo Verde Garden Center remains unique among California nurseries. During the season, visitors will find the most complete collection of Southwest native and desert adapted plants in the region. Many of the plants sold here may not be found anywhere else.
The Lotus Garden Center will be this year’s Featured Florist. Founded in 2009, the luxury floral studio and garden center is located just off El Paseo and has quickly become one of the most popular floral and garden centers in the Valley providing spectacular arrangements and zen-like environments. Expert floral designer John Southorn, who has worked with some of the top florists in San Francisco before joining Lotus, will be creating spectacular creative designs as the centerpiece of this year’s show. In addition to spectacular flower displays, the Lotus Garden Center will also display unique potted plants and fountains.
The 2013 edition of the show will be powered by Renova Solar. Renova will be presenting examples of the area’s most state of the art solar installations. Established in 2006 in Palm Desert, Renova’s goal is to integrate solar into residential and commercial buildings for a long-term, efficient, clean, stable and sustainable, renewable energy supply solution. They are committed to contributing to future sustainable energy growth through the application of the most advanced eco-intelligent and eco-friendly options in solar technology, installation processes and applications. Renova Solar will receive the festival’s inaugural GREEN Award for their efforts in sustainable energy.
RGA Landscape Architects will present unique and varied landscape concepts utilizing supergraphics of their work combined with live plants from the Palo Verde Garden Center as a focal point to this year’s show. Since their founding in 1977 in Palm Desert, RGA has provided landscape architectural services not only to the Coachella Valley, but to Southern California and provinces of Liaoning, Guangdong and Sichuan in China. RGA is a recognized expert in the design of water efficient landscapes as well as the design of hardscape elements in plazas, water features and parks and a member of the U.S. Green Building Council. Their LEED certified projects achieve the best in water efficiency and are also award-winning landscape architectural designs. They are also industry leaders in the use of solar powered irrigation controllers and photovoltaic landscape lighting.
Leisure Wheels Quadracycles of Palm Springs will be test-driving their all-new Rhoadescars – four-wheel bikes that drive like a car. As California’s first dealer of this exciting, made in the USA vehicle, the Quadracycle offers a green transportation alternative for 1-4 riders in recreational and industrial models. Solar power can also be added to create a hybrid pedal-solar vehicle.
Nissan Palm Springs will be debuting the new all electric Nissan Leaf. In addition to The Living Desert and Palo Verde Garden Center, other partners include Catalan Restaurant, KNEWS 94.3, EZ 1031. EAGLE 106.9 and CRUSH 103.9
On Saturday, STRING PLANET will perform from 12-5 pm. In their music, classical and inventive composing meet an exotic and eclectic pop groove to create a unique form of world music. On Sunday, flamenco guitarists Jose Prieto and Victor Torres from Madrid, Spain will appear on the mainstage from 2 -4 pm.
Events and exhibitions will be held in the “Dome,” a temporary 60-foot futuristic and modern inflatable architectural structure in the parking lot between Ocotillo and Monterey just south of El Paseo. For more information please visit www.desertflowerandgardenshow.com
