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Country Gardens owner Carmen Sim invited to international horticultural show

Located between Ponoka and Bashaw, the greenhouse owner is taking in a lifetime trip
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Carmen Sim, owner of Country Gardens and Greenhouse, is heading to Europe for the horticultural trip of a lifetime. She was invited to attend IPM Essen in Germany, which features over 1,500 exhibitors and runs from Jan. 23 to 26. Photo submitted

One area greenhouse owner has been selected for a special trip.

Carmen Sim, owner of Country Gardens and Greenhouse, is among a group of Canadian greenhouse owners that have been invited to fly to a horticultural trade show in Germany. It’s called IPM Essen and features over 1,500 exhibitors and runs from Jan. 23 to 26.

“They usually take the big greenhouses and the big garden centres,” explained Sim.

There’s four Alberta greenhouse owners who are part of this contingent.

“The four of us that are going are all fairly integrated with Alberta Agriculture and Alberta Greenhouses Association so it’s kind of cool,” said Sim.

The four have to pay for the flights but once at the event, their trip is paid for. It’s also the professional development experience of a lifetime.

“We’ll bring back a lot of new and innovative technologies that are just coming into Canada,” said Sim.

“They tour us around different garden centres. We also get to go to an IPM (integrated pest management) where they grow the good bugs to take care of the bad bugs,” she explained.

Being a small garden centre that gets this kind of invite is not something one sees every day, explained Sim. To receive a personal invite is a big deal.

“They value what we say and who we know,” said Sim.

Sim will be Tweeting her experience and can be followed at @flowersnfriends.