Communities in Bloom will be sending judges to see how Portage la Prairie stacks up at a national level.

Kathy McFarlane, chair of the Communities in Bloom committee, says they'll be stopping by on the 24th of July, but a lot of the actual judging will take place on the 25th. She goes into detail on which of the nine stops around the city she's most excited to showcase.

"We'll be talking with James Kostuchuk at the causeway about all the historical buildings along Crescent Road," explains McFarlane. "He's going to be focusing on the heritage in the community."

Some of the other stops include the Fort la Reine Museum, the Rotary Club's Duck Pond, and the Sunset Palliative Care memory garden. She notes the judges will be basing their assessments on six categories, including community appearance, heritage conservation, environmental action, landscape, plants and floral displays, and tree management.

"This is the first year our city has entered into the national competition," mentions McFarlane. "We have entered into the provincial one in past, but the provincial one has been discontinued. We see the benefit of entering into the national competition is it's really going to bring national exposure."

She mentions that if you're hoping to help out for Communities in Bloom, you can email her at cmcfarlane@city-plap.com.