In the spirit of Magical Gatherings -- a program that helps extended families and friends plan group vacations at Walt Disney World Resort -- the festival showcases new topiary displays of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto and Donald Duck grouped in a Magical Gathering of their own. Tinker Bell, the online icon of the www.disneyworld.com/magicalgatherings Web-based vacation-planning tools, spreads some topiary pixie dust of her own throughout the festival.

Flower Power concerts return to America Gardens Theatre in the park’s World Showcase with nightly musical entertainment from the 1960s and '70s. Throughout the park, guests can attend gardening seminars and demonstrations and browse among colorful displays that include an herb and spice garden at the Morocco showcase and a wild geese topiary display at the Canada pavilion.

Other highlights include:

• A River Restoration Garden focusing on the importance of water conservation and wetlands restoration via a meandering water display lush with native Florida plants.
• Dozens of fragrant rose varieties developed through the centuries in a display that touches on the history of roses.
• A "see and sniff" Fragrance Garden at the France pavilion highlighting flowers in many perfumes.
• Disney’s DogGone Maze, a whimsical play area for children.
• An Ultimate Backyard Garden display exploring the trend of gardeners' enjoying their home gardens as a retreat or entertainment venue.

“We’ll talk about how to enjoy living in your garden, not just working in it,” says Eric Darden, horticulture manager of the festival. “More and more people are starting to really use their gardens and backyards and enjoy spending time in them. We’re going to show outdoor living ideas as well as planning ideas.”

Each festival weekend will be themed with special speakers and events, including an Art in the Garden Weekend with regional artists performing their art in the park, and an I Dig Bugs Weekend, featuring insect experts and multiple ladybug and butterfly releases.

“Even though we release ladybugs and butterflies every day of the festival, the I Dig Bugs Weekend is very popular with kids who can’t get enough of the bugs,” Darden says.

Epcot guests who can’t get enough of the park’s exotic floral displays, gardening tips, child-friendly planting sessions and other festival activities can make plans for multiple visits to the 11th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival by calling 407/W-DISNEY. The festival is included in regular Epcot admission.

Gardening Greats Offer Inside Scoop At 11th Annual
Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

• Paul James (April 16-18) -- Host of HGTV's "Gardening By the Yard," James uses his horticulture knowledge to live up to the name "the Gardener Guy." James answers gardening questions and provides helpful insights to this favorite pastime.
• Eric Grissell (April 23-25) -- Expert entomologist Eric Grissell has a passion for insects and gardens. Grissel has worked and traveled around the world teaching and researching the "lesser known inhabitants of our gardens," and he is author of Insects and Gardens: In Pursuit of Garden Ecology. Grissel reveals the benefits of hard-working garden insects.
• Judi Betts (April 30-May 2) -- Judi Betts is a renowned watercolor artist, lecturer and author of two books: Watercolor...Let's Think About It, and Painting...A Quest Toward Xtraord!nary. For several years, Betts has participated in the festival's Art in the Garden Weekend, where her watercolor paintings have been featured. Betts, who is listed in Who's Who in American Art, offers us new visual insights into gardens and landscapes.
• Richard Johnson (May 7-9) -- Guerlain perfume specialist Richard Johnson offers insights into the world of fragrance and the intimate relationship between plants and perfume, such as those displayed at the Fragrance Garden located at the France pavilion.
• P. Allen Smith (May 14-16) -- A garden designer and horticulturist, Smith appears on the weekly syndicated TV show "P. Allen Smith Gardens" on ABC and during 90-second gardening tips on The Weather Channel. A certified Fellow of The Royal Horticultural Society, Smith is committed to furthering awareness about the environment. His first book, P. Allen Smith's Garden Home, was published in 2003. Smith will demonstrate how to create simple, yet elegant and eye-catching, garden elements.
• Jane Kirkland (May 21-23) -- Jane Kirkland is a best-selling author, speaker, columnist, photographer, nature enthusiast and radio personality. Her acclaimed Take a Walk® nature adventure book series has earned endorsements from the National Science Teacher Association and The National Arbor Day Foundation. Kirkland will show guests how fun a family tree walk can be.
• Rosemary McCreary (May 28-30) -- The author of Tabletop Gardens, Houseplants, and Taylor's 50 Best Shrubs, Rosemary McCreary demonstrates how to build exciting indoor gardens. In addition to teaching horticulture in the California Master Gardening program, McCreary writes a weekly garden column in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and has appeared on HGTV.
• Tom MacCubbin (June 4-6) -- Central Florida gardening authority Tom MacCubbin, author of Better Lawns and Gardens, demonstrates how to fill gardens with good things to eat. MacCubbin has hosted his own radio show, broadcast on 20-plus stations throughout Florida, for more than 12 years. He is a featured Orlando Sentinel columnist and has hosted gardening shows on regional public television stations.

Disney Green-Thumb Experts Plant Ideas For Home-Grown Garden Magic

The "Disney Gardening at Home" series also will feature presentations about easy-to-make floral wreaths, how to keep a garden pest-free, and how to save time and money in the garden. The programs take place in the Festival Center at Innoventions West in Future World each Monday through Thursday from April 19 through June 3 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Here's the lineup:

• April 19-22: "Adding Style With Containers" -- How to make a garden come alive with the perfect container combinations by using contrast, harmony, and movement, with Disney's Mohamad Hamden and Luz Munoz.
• April 26-29: "Birds, Beasts and Other Relatives" -- How to turn a yard into a wildlife haven while attracting, recognizing and appreciating the wonders of nature, by Disney's Grenville Roles.
• May 3-6: "Creative Wreaths For All Seasons" -- Ways to translate nature's beauty to the home year-round in the form of easy-to-make floral wreaths, by Disney's Mary Morlando and the Walt Disney World Florist.
• May 10-13: "Big Show, Little Dough" -- Tips on stretching resources and cultivating gardening creativity at home, by Disney's Heather Will-Browne.
• May 17-20: "Plants With Flavor" -- How to add fresh garden flavor to any meal, with ideas on using herbs to incorporate international flair in everyday dishes, with Disney's Michele Ingram Cole and Chef Darryl Mickler.
• May 24-27: "Bug Patrol" -- Ways to control garden pests with integrated pest management techniques that keep a garden healthy, by Disney's Ray Locke and Kathryn Shimer.
• May 31-June 3: "A Gardener's Kit" -- Essential tools every gardener should own to make gardening tasks easier, with details on selection, use, storage and care, by Disney's Debbie Mola Mickler and Rob Williams.

Children of All Ages Dig the Fun at Epcot Flower Fest

When they aren't exploring Disney's DogGone Maze or the Space Garden in Future World, children and their families can stop by the festival's Wildlife Garden to watch a ladybug or butterfly release.

Entertainment and activities for the whole family are on tap throughout the event, with highlights including a "See and Sniff" Fragrance Garden at the France showcase, an Ultimate Backyard Garden Display, new Disney character topiaries and the Flower Power concert series starring pop hit-makers of the 1960s and '70s. Thirty million multi-hued blossoms will paint the Epcot landscape with color. Just for kids:

• A new, expanded Disney's DogGone Maze, with shaded digging areas that include mini-backhoes, tunnels, climbing structures and a garden of canine topiaries such as Pluto, Lady and the Tramp, and even Stitch (who thinks he's a dog!).
• The big kids' Space Garden, which challenges children to imagine what plants could look like on planets that might support life. The centerpiece is a 40-foot by 13-foot futuristic rope climbing structure.
• Daily butterfly releases (11 a.m.) and ladybug releases (12:30 and 2:30 p.m.) at the Wildlife Garden, which also features three large butterfly topiaries. A child is selected to help with each release.
• Kidcot Fun Stops at every World Showcase country that entertain children with a lineup of creative activities linked to each country's culture.
• Special festival weekends for kids and their families, including the I Dig Bugs Weekend April 23-25, Mother's Day Weekend May 7-9 and the FamilyFun Weekend May 21-23.

Walt Disney World Horticulture Highlights
The Ultimate Backyard Garden and
Shares Top Gardening Tips

At the 2004 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival April 16-June 6, Disney horticulturists and Home Depot deliver The Ultimate Backyard Garden display where guests can see and explore what's hot in outdoor living. Designed to give guests the feeling of entering the backyard of their dreams, The Ultimate Backyard Garden, located between the France and Morocco pavilions in World Showcase, provides a close look at fun ways to enhance outdoor living spaces with spas, patios and decks, tool sheds, veggie gardens, small greenhouses, kids' play areas, barbeque nooks, tropical seating areas and decorative water displays.

"For many people, the only time they spend in the garden is when they are working in it," says Eric Darden, horticultural manager of the festival. "We want to give our festival guests great ideas on how they can make their yard more livable and expand how they use it."

Not only are Walt Disney World horticulturalists sharing ideas on how to live in a garden, but also how to turn you green -- your thumb, that is. Disney's expert horticultural staff is handing out its list of Top 10 Gardening Tips for 2004. As the 11th annual festival gets underway, gardeners sharpened their toolbox of tricks and came up with the following growing and landscaping guidelines.

• Avoid runoff problems by resisting the urge to place a water garden at the low point of your garden.
• Spiff up your front yard by adding colorful flowers around your mailbox -- select those that don't require a lot of water so your hose won't drag across blooms.
• To grow vegetables in a container, select "bush" type plants. These are the plants that don't climb (like a vine) when they grow or get too tall.
• Get advice from your local extension agent about plants that do well where you live.
• Know your insects -- the good and the bad -- so you don't destroy one to control the other. Good insects include ladybugs and predatory mites. Bad insects include spider mites and mealy bugs.
• Stagger the planting dates of vegetables and flowers so you have a bounty of food and flowers throughout the season.
• Go native! Plant native species to cut down on water requirements and pest problems.
• Invite friendly wildlife like birds and squirrels into your garden by providing food sources, water and places for animals to seek shelter.
• Look for simple garden projects that can be done in a day to add interest to your landscape such as creating a water garden in a bucket.
• Know the mature size of trees and shrubs before you plant them -- a small tree when purchased can cause problems years later if planted too close to a house or driveway.

Horticulturalists Share the Story of Roses
At 11th Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

Maintaining the resorts' rose plants keeps Walt Disney World gardeners very busy throughout the year. It's a prickly job, but with more than 13,000 rose plants at their fingertips, Disney horticulturists are planting, pruning, fertilizing and rooting to guarantee the best blooms and biggest splashes of color for guests. Making sure the plants are "show ready" means following gardener guidelines. Here are a few rose care "secrets" from Disney experts:

• Planting: Roses need a very sunny location to produce fuller bushes, blooms and growth. Pick a spot for planting that has sun all day long. To plant, dig a hole just a bit larger than the root ball. Add a bit of peat moss to the hole to encourage root growth. Plant the rose at ground level, not too deep. Use a stake -- roses tend to be wobbly when they are newly grafted, and the stake provides critical support. Fertilize around the root ball and water to dissolve the particles before mulching the planting bed.
• Pruning: Walt Disney World roses are cut back in spring (for an Easter show) and in early fall (for the holidays). Roses should be cut back at least once a year. Cut dead blooms off three-leaf clusters above the last cut on the stem and well below the bloom. This provides plenty of room for new blooms and gives the bush vertical space to grow. When pruning the bush for shape, clip cross-over branching from the center to promote a stronger bush. Prune bush about 15 inches from ground level into an open "cup" shape to promote air flow and reduce disease vulnerability.
• Fertilizer: Regular fertilization is a must, and several commercial fertilizers are formulated just for roses. On most roses, Disney gardeners use 10-5-8; promoting both foliage and flower.
• Pests: The biggest problem Disney gardeners encounter with roses are the Red Spider Mite during the dry season and Black Spot during the rainy season. Using a miticide on an "as needed" basis and rotating fungicides weekly will control both problems. Biocontrol methods such as predatory mites are being used with excellent results in controlling the Red Spider Mite in Disney rose beds. When spraying miticide, remember to spray under the leaves where bugs tend to cluster.
• Rootstock: In Florida, there are two rootstocks that are recommended for rose growers -- Fortuniana and Dr. Huey. Plantings grown in these rootstocks should improve your chances for success and minimize your odds of small worms like nematodes becoming a pest.