A multiple event is taking place in the beautiful courtyard gardens of the Acanthus Blue Hotel in Garitsa Bay, Corfu Town.
A number of experts will be in attendance to answer all manner of gardening questions for you whilst you enjoy drinks from the bar and complimentary canapes in a space that for this evening only will be decorated with paintings by artist Lesley Beaupre, including new works that have been inspired with the Garden Festival, and ’The Art of Gardening” in mind.
Plants – Care and Couture: Hear Spiros Mamalos talk about indoor plants and quite possibly those that are outside too. Spiros to those who don’t already know him, is responsible for numerous new gardens in Corfu, the go-to of property developers who need an expert on Mediterranean planting and the intrigues of post-build mayhem. With his nephew Dimitri he also runs the huge Biogarden Mamalos nurseries at Halikounas … where you can also buy Bio fruit and vegetables from their dedicated shop. Spiros will also hold a Q&A session for which we would love if you would submit questions in advance, (our take on “Gardener’s Question Time” for those who know that BBC Radio 4 program).
A Question of Light – David Zimos from CorfuElectric is not only a well-known electrician in Corfu but makes custom garden lighting structures too. He will be welcoming questions about ways to be more creative in both the positioning and form of lighting in and around plants whether inside, outside or on a balcony.
Watering in today’s environmentally conscious world - Kevork Voskeritchian from IHAS.gr (Intelligent Home Automation Systems) will be demonstrating how we can be intelligent about irrigation, how technology can help the watering of gardens to be done in a more sustainable and automated way using sensor-driven rather than timer-driven controls. How we can incorporate any number of other variants such as weather forecasts and special plant requirements to use water in the best way possible.
Art on the Easel- Artist Lesley Beaupré will add the “Earth” of a Corfu garden to our event’s mix of “Light and Water”. But don’t expect simple botanical illustrations in this series of new works created with the Garden Festival in mind. Beaupré is known for her colourful, often whimsical, sometimes mystical portrayal of her world and its creatures. Five years ago her world became a stremma of land in central Corfu, where amongst its singing, squeaking and slithering creatures are the ghosts of donkeys, some peculiar cats and a little black dog. Soil was added to the paint under her fingernails, seeds to her palette, a hoe and fork to her toolkit of brushes, a potential food forest to her portfolio. “Ah” she says, “the Art of Gardening.
The Venue: The Acanthus Blue is a perfect space to welcome you. Wondrous, sculptural, blown glass lanterns light the seating spaces, the sound of trickling water features add to the calm, and carefully curated plants are cleverly lit with bespoke lamps to enhance and define their forms. Even its name is perfect for a Garden Festival venue, the acanthus leaf being long-used in Greek civilisation as a decorative motif and the source of inspiration for the sculptor Callimachus, who created the Corinthian capital. We are very grateful to the Acanthus Blue for letting us use this wonderful space.
The hotel will be providing complimentary canapés and is also generously donating 20% of all proceeds from drinks to the Festival charity - Melissa. Drinks can be purchased from the bar.
Reserve Your Spot/Place a Question: To secure your place please email us, cgfbooking@gmail.com and include any question for Spiros Mamalos, should you have one.
