More than half a million people are visiting Toowoomba's Carnival of Flowers which started as a labour of love on the Darling Downs decades ago and is still blossoming. A man's promise to keep his late wife's flower-filled garden open to the public is still one of the features of the exhibit, 75 years on.
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00:00Getting down and dirty.
00:04I'm in there all the time. It's my life now.
00:0895-year-old Les Stepson has been entering into the Carnival of Flowers home garden competition
00:14for more than 30 years. He and his beloved wife won many prizes for their efforts.
00:20I work in the garden and Faye, she didn't do any manual work.
00:25She'd come out here and she'd criticise me and I'd have to do it her way.
00:29We were great mates.
00:31But this is the first year without her by his side.
00:35She died after a fall last October.
00:38This year, I did it on behalf. I dedicated it to Faye.
00:42She's a wonderful person. I miss her.
00:44Right across to Wumba, the gardens are blooming as part of the Carnival of Flowers.
00:49Now in its 75th year, organisers say the month-long event is a massive economic driver for the Darling Downs.
00:56So this year it's expected to bring in in excess of $25 million to our region.
01:01That's $25 million into our cafes, into our pubs, into the news agency, into the pharmacy.
01:07Come and visit Petals. The blooms are blooming just for you.
01:12Les is ready to open up his and Faye's garden to the public.
01:15I talk to her out there.
01:17I'm going to plant this, don't plant that. I can tell her, you know.
01:21I talk to myself out there.
01:23If somebody goes past and hears me say, you're going off with rock.
01:27A floral tribute to his lost love.