One million sunflowers are in full bloom at Mississauga’s waterfront

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Published August 10, 2022 at 10:57 am

sunflowerlakeview

If you like sunflowers, you’ll find a million of them in full bloom these days on the site of a huge new community starting to take shape on the east end of Mississauga’s waterfront.

Lakeview Village, a 177-acre community that will transform the city’s waterfront, is hosting its fourth annual sunflower bloom event, which is in full swing along with weekly music concerts that wrap up next week.

The developer of the site, Lakeview Community Partners Limited (LCPL), say people are invited to visit and experience the field’s “captivating beauty” as the sunflowers cast the waterfront area in a golden hue.

“In addition to their visual appeal, the field of sunflowers serve another crucial purpose: to encourage the restoration of the site’s native habitat and nature conservancy,” LCPL officials say, adding people should make the trip to see the sunflowers sooner rather than later as they won’t be in bloom much longer.

Visitors to the waterfront community can also enjoy another couple of musical performances this summer as the free Sunsets & Sounds concert series winds down.

Amid the backdrop of the one million sunflowers, award-winning piano player, singer and composer Tyler Yarema & His Rhythm will perform tonight (Aug. 10).

Also a Juno Award-winner, Yarema has played on more than 50 albums ranging in genres from blues and jazz to reggae and pop. And last year he joined the legendary Downchild Blues Band.

Rounding out the concert series on Aug. 17 is Canadian icon and “Canada’s Queen of R&B/Soul” Jully Black.

CBC Music named Black one of the “25 Greatest Canadian Singers Ever.”

LCPL officials stress that the sunflowers are much more than simply a pleasure to the eye.

“While the sunflowers are a stunning attraction that animate the construction site of Canada’s most sustainable future waterfront community, they also play a key function in the developer’s ongoing efforts to restore the natural ecosystem following decades of damage from the coal-fired power plant which formerly operated on the site,” they say.

“As phytoremediators, sunflowers actively support the rehabilitation of native species such as butterflies, bugs and bees while optimizing soil, pollinating other plants and supporting other forms of local of wildlife.”

When completed, the Lakeview Village community will feature transit-connected housing, office space, retail, restaurants, trails, parks, greenspace and cultural and recreational amenities.

The community will also be connected to the nearby 64-acre Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area, named for the late city councillor who worked to bring the project to fruition.

Lakeview Village is located at 985 Hyrdro Rd.

 

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