The design of the floral carpet was created by Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven and based on the floor of the Plantin-Moretus Museum and the curve of the river Scheldt. Large surfaces were used, with a central circle symbolising the unity of the city and its people. In terms of colour palette, the theme chosen was 'the swinging sixties': a design with exciting, bright colours. As Alderman for Culture Philip Heylen indicated at the time, the intention was "to give people a feeling of optimism, the feeling of a bustling cultural life on and around the Grote Markt".

Once the design and colour palette had been determined, Anne-Marie, together with Antwerp's Parks Department, went in search of suitable flowers and herbs that should be in bloom at the beginning of June. A choice was made for 30 types of plants: 19 flowers with a colour range from white, orange, red, blue to purple, and 10 herbs and 1 vegetable to provide the necessary shades of green. Rudy Raes Bloemzaden turned out to be the right partner to bring this project to life!

The green areas were coloured by basil, parsley, rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), sage, chard (Beta vulgaris), thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and sorrel, often alternating with each other in order to achieve a nice colour nuance per area rather than one monotonous green. The other colours were also played with: sometimes similar colours next to each other, but often an interweaving of different colours that activated each other through their contrast: various types of tagetes (King yellow, King orange, King flame, Antigua orange)- yellow interwoven with orange, orange with red - alternated with beds of Calendula Gitane Yellow. To bring the whole to life, the following species were also added to the spectacle: Ageratum Packstar blue, Antirrhinum Montego, Ipomoea Hybrida Sidecick, Lobelia (blue moon, Laura blue, Laura deep blue, sky moon), Lobularia Snow Crystals, Origanum vulgare, Petunias (Limra blue, Limra Purple, Picotee Red, Star Red, Vein blue, Vein red), Salvia Lady in Red and Verbena Obsession apricot.

Once the varieties and supplier had been chosen, the 'jigsaw and calculus' began: the flower carpet was divided into sections corresponding to the size of the trays and the correct number of each variety was determined. No fewer than 9,635 trays and thus about 173,430 plants were planned to colour the carpet of 30 by 60 metres.

A beautiful colour palette with different species from the Raes range. What an honour! But also a great responsibility: everything had to be in bloom perfectly, on time and simultaneously. Thanks to good cooperation with Anne-Mie, the Antwerp Parks Department and our staff, we succeeded. During the night of 3 to 4 June, 10 lorries drove from Destelbergen to Antwerp, where the Parks Department (together with a team of more than 100 volunteers) started laying the carpet at 5 o'clock. Each tray had already been numbered at Rudy Raes Bloemzaden, so that the volunteers knew exactly where to place each tray on the carpet. On site there was a large black plastic foil with the respective numbers on it. The preparatory work had paid off, by 3 pm the carpet was completely ready!

The flower carpet could be viewed from 4 to 13 June and was concluded on this last day with a real harvest party! The residents could all take a few plants home so that flower power could spread further across the city!