Beautiful and talented this great land of Canada is! Nature at it's finest and musical talent all around us. Let's talk Canada blooms first.
While we don't have a national flower, as the Ontario provincial flower and one of the most intriguing flowers in Canada, the Trillium is here and gone each spring just as the trees start to bud. They are a beautiful flower, about the size of child’s palm, and have three or six petals. The colours of a Trillium are dependant on the soil from which it grows and the most common ones seen in Ontario are white petals with a yellow stamen, pink petals with yellow stamen, white and brilliant pink centred petals with pink and/or white stamen, and red, burgundy, or deep fuchsia petals with grey and/or cream stamen. Walking through a forest in early spring, just as the world is transitioning from winter, and seeing the Earthen floor covered in blanket of white is simply breathtaking.
Commonly overlooked, the mighty tulip deserves a nod. According to the official website of the Canadian Tulip Festival, it was “established to celebrate the historic Royal gift of tulips from the Dutch to Canadians as a symbol of international friendship while preserving the legacy of the role of the Canadian troops in the liberation of Europe, and the birth of Dutch Princess Margriet in Ottawa during World War II—the only royal personage ever born in Canada.” As one of the world’s largest tulip festivals, Ottawa hosts half a million visitors that come to enjoy the more than 1 million flowers in bloom.
Canada hosts it's largest flower show, Canada Blooms, in Toronto each spring!
Now, let's talk music. While we could be here all day as we have such a vast musical fabric, we'll touch on a few! The music that has come from Canada reflects the diversity that we strive upon as a country. Artists such as Drake, Michael Buble, Neil Young (our very own Director of Customer Happiness Jen's cousin!) and Celine Dion are inspirations that have shaped this country showing the world who we really are. The music industry in Canada is vastly growing as it is now the sixth largest music industry in the world. Canadian artists such as Joni Mitchell, Shania Twain, Bryan Adams, Anne Murray, Sarah MacLachlan, The Barenaked Ladies, The Tragically Hip, Rush, Alanis Morrisette, Justin Bieber, and The Weeknd and SO MANY MORE have dominated music charts for decades. The diverse landscape of the Canadian music scene features everything from jazz to rock to country and everything in between. In 2016 we lost Leonard Cohen, musician and poet, however his words will fill our hearts for years to come. Here's our favourite :)
This hour we want to share a prize package that includes our brand new summer issue, our brand new Celebrate Canada stamps we revealed earlier today along with our loonie and toonie for one lucky winner!
you can preorder until July 7 here!
you can subscribe here!
For an opportunity to win this hour's prizes be sure to leave a comment below by July 7th and we will randomly select one lucky winner this hour to win them! After leaving your comment here we hope you'll take a moment to visit us on Facebook and Instagram (@sctmagazine) and leave a comment there as well for THREE chances to win! We'll be compiling all the comments each hour.
Next hour we will share a little Canadian mystery :)
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Fun Fact: Contrary to popular belief, lacross, not hockey, is the national sport! One more? Roughly 30% of Canada's total landmass is occupied by forest. Makes for great photo ops.
Well, I haven't had to miss the trillium's in Canada as we have then here in Michigan.
Adorable stamp set...Love that Moose!!!
Happy Birthday Canada!!!
Posted by: Lynn Gauthier | July 01, 2017 at 04:07 PM
Love the stamp set, especially the moose. Real maple syrup is absolutely the best. Happy Canada Day!
Posted by: Michele Berg | July 01, 2017 at 04:08 PM
What beautiful flowers! I love these sets of stamps and dies! I would use them to scrap an across the border poutine run! TFS!
Posted by: Barb macaskill | July 01, 2017 at 04:09 PM
I am born and raised in Ontaio and have never seen a trillium! I will keep looking each Spring!
Posted by: Debbie | July 01, 2017 at 04:13 PM
Beautiful flower, love the bear in the stamp set and the maple leaf.
Posted by: paullette truslow | July 01, 2017 at 04:13 PM
Love the floral themed post. Keep up the good work.
Posted by: Janet MacKay | July 01, 2017 at 04:15 PM
I'd love to visit!
Posted by: Sue MacGowan | July 01, 2017 at 04:18 PM
Beautiful flowers. Saskatchewan's provincial flower is the Tiger Lily!
Posted by: Amber M. | July 01, 2017 at 04:24 PM
There is nothing more Canadian right now than the Canada Stamp and Die set. So great for making cards, tags and scrapbooking, to name a few projects this set would work with.
Posted by: Jo-ann | July 01, 2017 at 04:25 PM
Beautiful flowers! Thanks for all the great trivia!
Posted by: Karen Carvell | July 01, 2017 at 04:26 PM
Love what you're doing here today. Lots of great information. Thanks. and I would love to win the new die and stamp set. They look awesome and I did not get my Summer issue yet so I need it.
Posted by: Colleen | July 01, 2017 at 04:26 PM
Can't wait for the mystery.
Posted by: Sheryll Matheson | July 01, 2017 at 04:27 PM
Here in NWO, Northwest Ontario, we have a small nodding trillium that blooms in sprig, easily missed but still beautiful. I remember the first time I saw a large swath of large trilliums while visiting Barrie, inspiring.
Posted by: Dee Brown | July 01, 2017 at 04:29 PM
Waiting for the mystery. Every hour has been very interesting.
Posted by: Patricia Steer | July 01, 2017 at 04:29 PM
We have SO many talented musicians that come from Canada. My favourite rendition of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah was sung by k.d. lang at the Vancouver Olympics.
Posted by: missgailly | July 01, 2017 at 04:30 PM
Love the trilliums in my garden!
We are blessed to have so many talented artists in Canada!! What amazing prizes!
Posted by: Linda Smith | July 01, 2017 at 04:33 PM
Love the stamp set and Dies, Love your magazine and love my Country and everything that makes it beautiful and blessed!! Oh Canada we stand on guard for thee!!
Happy Canada Day to you!!!
Posted by: Amy Morris | July 01, 2017 at 04:35 PM
Love what you are sharing, and the fun facts..who knew!?? Thanks for the day and the opportunity to win!
Posted by: Jennifer Reynard | July 01, 2017 at 04:35 PM
Would love to visit the flower show.
Happy Birthday Canada and thank you SCT for hosting today's celebration and generous prizes.
Posted by: lisa808 | July 01, 2017 at 04:35 PM
I am really appreciating all the wonderful things I'm reading about Canada in your posts today. Our neighbor to the north is awesome!
Posted by: Kim Innis | July 01, 2017 at 04:35 PM
Such gorgeous flowers!
Posted by: Kristen Kirkland | July 01, 2017 at 04:36 PM
Oh yeah, Canada's flowers are amazing. Every time I visit Canada, I make a "Canada Flowers" layout. Thanks for the opportunity to win! Happy Birthday Canada! Bonne Anniversaire au Canada!
Posted by: Karen Lingel | July 01, 2017 at 04:39 PM
Love all the colourful flowers and this truly Canadian stamp and die set is awesome. Love it. We have some Canadian that are so talented and to name just one would not be fair. We have talent and we enjoy them.
Posted by: BevB | July 01, 2017 at 04:40 PM
Love trilliums! Thanks for reminding us about our flora.
Posted by: Janice | July 01, 2017 at 04:41 PM
You are just so full f amazing facts about our beloved country today. Thank you.
Posted by: Diane W | July 01, 2017 at 04:47 PM