22nd Marigolds Project underway in Saint John

Main Street in the north end of Saint John is a little brighter after the launch of the annual Marigolds Project on Thursday.

Hundreds of elementary school students from Millidgeville North School, Princess Elizabeth School and Centennial School got their hands dirty for the event, planting up to 40,000 marigolds in the centre median of one of the city’s busiest routes.

It’s the 22nd year for the project, which runs for three weeks.

READ MORE: The Marigold Project celebrates 20 years in Saint John

Founder Barry Ogden said 70 schools in the Saint John area will plant about 200,000 marigolds at 67 different sites this year.

“We’re told by visitors – we get a 250,000 cruise ship visitors – that it’s one of the things everybody talks about,” Ogden said. “It’s one of our number one tourist attractions, the Marigolds and Murals.

“When visitors come here, they love this story, that children are growing marigolds and then planting them and painting murals to make their city better.”

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WATCH: The Marigold Project ‘just keeps growing’

2:08 The Marigold Project ‘just keeps growing’: founder Barry Ogden

Student gardeners enjoyed having time away from class.

“It’s really pretty,” said Frances Freill, a Grade 4 student Millidgeville North School participating in her fifth Marigolds Project. “I think it just makes everything pop a little bit more. So I think it’s really pretty.”

READ MORE: Repurposing flowers and paying it forward is the goal of a new project in Toronto

Amina Abdalla Muhamed planted marigolds for the first time. She is a newcomer to Saint John from Somalia and a Grade 4 student at Princess Elizabeth School.

“I like (it) so much,” Muhamed said. “I like to do it and I like my friends to do it, too.”

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Ogden said this year’s event will break its own Guinness World Record – for the sixth straight year – for the number of students planting flowers at the same time.