President's Choice® Lawn & Garden Insider's Report® Offers Groundbreaking Garden Discoveries for 2011!

BRAMPTON, ON, May 26, 2011 /CNW/ - Just in time for planting season, the 2011 President's Choice^® Lawn & Garden Insider's Report^® is in stores tomorrow! Available from mid-May until the end of August, Loblaw banner stores' Garden Centres across the country offer all of your go-to garden favourites, plus an exciting range of new MUST TRY! North American and Canadian exclusives like the trendy variegated pink-petaled President's Choice^® Dahlia Dahlinova Hypnotica^® Cherish Pink and exquisitely coloured NEW PC^® Super Gigantico™ Red Fox Dragone™ Sunset Begonia.

"Whether you're a novice or a seasoned pro, our garden experts are always looking for new and innovative ways to get our customers excited about gardening," says Peter Cantley, vice-president, floral and garden, Loblaw Companies Limited. "This year, we've dug up the hottest trends and brought unbelievable new and exclusive products to our Garden Centres. They're sure to bring excitement and colourful flare to Canadian gardens."

100% Canadian Grown
Each year, Loblaw partners with more than twenty-five Canadian growers for its Garden Centres and has worked with some for over two generations. "Loblaw values the expertise of our growers and when our garden experts travel the world for emerging trends, some of our Canadian growers travel with us," says Peter Cantley, vice-president, floral and garden Loblaw Companies Limited. "In many cases, these growers act as advisors to Loblaw regarding selection of products that will suit both the Canadian climate and customer preferences."

Forest Glen Greenhouses, a Central Nova Scotia-based grower has been partners with Loblaw for more than 25 years, supplying their very first crop from their modest greenhouse facility to a local SaveEasy store in 1985. Today, they continue to grow exclusively for the Atlantic Superstore^® chain from their beautiful five-acre complex and oversee President's Choice® specialty products sold to 54+ Atlantic Superstore^® locations in the three Maritime provinces.

"We are extremely proud to be associated with Loblaw as growers of their incredibly high quality plants and we have grown so much as a business through our relationship," says Judy Thompson, President, Forest Glen Greenhouses. "Since we are constantly striving to learn more and be better at what we do, we have wholeheartedly followed the example set forth by Loblaw in terms of their commitment to the environment. We are proud to say that since our participation as a President's Choice specialty grower we have expanded and invested in technology to become more efficient and environmentally friendly. We also participate in the pot recycling program and have reduced our carbon emissions by using alternative heating fuels."

North American exclusive!
Be one of the lucky few on the continent to enjoy this dazzling new PC^® Super Gigantico™ Red Fox Dragone™ Sunset Begonia. When this beauty was revealed for the first time, Peter Cantley and his team took one look and had to have it! Having a North American exclusive makes it even more spectacular. With big dreamy blooms and the hues of creamy yellow and pink, it glows like a romantic sunset.

Black magic!
Last year, horticulturists grew the world's first-ever black petunia and Loblaw garden experts were captivated by its beauty. This year, they're excited to introduce the Farmer's Market™ Black Velvet Petunia. Gardeners have been waiting for black blooms forever because the colour combinations are endless. Lush and velvety, this is a vigorous plant that will add instant drama to your garden. And of course, black goes with everything!

Pump up the patio
In Florida, Loblaw garden experts discovered tropical plants pruned into designer shapes they've never seen before like the exotic 2-Ball Hibiscus that blooms with tropical colour all season. Also part of the tropical mix is the Ixora Maui Bush, a lush evergreen with deep red or yellow tropical flowers and the exotic Hawaiian-style Columnar Hibiscus that is meticulously groomed to grow tall and narrow. All exclusive to Loblaw in Canada, these beauties can't be grown in Canada due to their tropical nature - however they've been acclimatized here in Canada. Perfect for condo or apartment dwellers, they will add life and colour to balconies without taking up a lot of space. When the cold weather comes, these plants can transition indoors to brighten a room all year long.

Garden Fresh Salad - literally!
Home growing is all the rage right now and the NEW PC^® Simply Salad Bowl will surely be a hit. Great for decks, balconies and porches, just snip the greens to create fresh salads. They'll grow back again and again. Choose from three mixes: Global Gourmet, Alfresco Mix and City Garden.

Patio-ready veggies!
PC already offers great tomato and pepper plants but now they can be grown more conveniently by adding a vegetable cage. PC^® Patio Planters with Cage make gardening easy and ensure vegetables grow upwards. The cage is attached to the pot so it won't fall out and acts as a handle for easy transport. That's good thinking and good value.

Bright idea!
Exclusive in Canada, the NEW PC^® Solar Illuminated Planters are sleek and stylish and trendy in Europe right now. Use them to bring instant ambience to your garden, to illuminate walkways for nighttime visibility or to hold and chill beverages! Best of all, they're solar powered so it needs no other power source and they turn on automatically at dusk. Loblaw Garden Centres also carry a beautiful range of planters to suit any space or taste; choose from traditional, classic or contemporary silhouettes, in a variety of looks, from sandstone, to wood and more.

Recycling
Loblaw is about more than just making backyards beautiful - it wants to make the whole planet more beautiful! In 2008, as part of its commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility, Loblaw launched Canada's first and only national recycling program for gardeners. Exclusive to Loblaw banner stores, gardeners across the country can drop off their used plastic pots and flats which are not accepted by the Blue Box program. These plastic products are recycled to create new pots for next season. The program has already recycled more than two million pounds of plastics, and every pot counts! To learn more, visit loblaw.ca/csr.

Learn More
Canadian gardeners can find expert assistance at Loblaw Garden Centres and helpful tips from the Loblaw master gardener on Facebook, just search for President's Choice. For an online version of the President's Choice^® Lawn & Garden Insider's Report^® go to www.pc.ca.

President's Choice^® products are available at Atlantic Superstore^®, SaveEasy^®, Freshmart^®, nofrills^® and more. Product pricing and availability may vary by banner and region. For more information, visit pc.ca.

About Loblaw Companies Limited
Loblaw Companies Limited, a subsidiary of George Weston Limited, is Canada's largest food distributor and a leading provider of drugstore, general merchandise and financial products and services. Loblaw is one of the largest private sector employers in Canada. With more than 1,000 corporate and franchised stores from coast to coast, Loblaw and its franchisees employ more than 136,000 full-time and part-time employees. Through its portfolio of store formats, Loblaw is committed to providing Canadians with a wide, growing and successful range of products and services to meet the everyday household demands of Canadian customers. Loblaw is known for the quality, innovation and value of its food offering. It offers Canada's strongest control (private) label program, including the unique President's Choice^®, no name^® and Joe Fresh Style^® brands. In addition, the Company makes available to customers President's Choice Financial^® services and offers the PC^® points loyalty program.

Product samples, regional versions of the President's Choice^® Lawn & Garden Insider's Report^® and high-resolution images are available.