Xmas day

Hmmmm.....is it a shawl, or a table runner? I'm gonna call it both!!!!!

Nuts

This frog was covered in dried peas and nut shells.

Day of the Iguana

Can't remember whose float this was, but here is an example of how each figure is coated with plant material. Every plant used must be the color you want: nothing can be dyed.

Flower Warehouse

Each venue had a huge flower warehouse. The red roses here are all in individual vials, and the vials and all are used when they are put into the floats. The flowers will last longer that way. (These pictures were taken on Saturday before the parade on Monday.)

Duarte

The Duarte float is a fire tower. This float smelled great because of the trees on it. We wondered why some float designer hadn't just started growing a float (with real plants and flowers) a couple of years ago, and just drove the portable garden down the parade route.

Palmdale float

The baby turtle from the Palmdale float.

Cutting Flowers

The prep work on the flowers for the floats was very labor intensive. At each float venue, dozens of workers were cutting up flowers or seeds or, on one float, potatoes, for use as decoratcions.

Union Station Ticket Counter

We took the train to Pasadena to see the floats, and took a quick look around Union Station. This is the old ticket counter section of the building, which is being renovated.