HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW? . . . BEST WITH SHANIA TWAIN

Toronto, ONTARIO (Wednesday, March 19th, 2003) - Canadian musical superstar, Shania Twain (27%) is the top choice as to who Canadians would like to garden with, according to a new poll by Ipsos-Reid on behalf of HGTV released today. Actress Nicole Kidman (17%), lifestyle guru Martha Stewart (17%), and actor George Clooney (14%) follow from among the list of celebrities asked about. One in ten (11%) would choose to garden with Canadian gardening expert Mark Cullen, while 2% select HGTV host Kathy Renwald.

In other findings, one in six (16%) Canadians admit that they have secretly clipped flowers from a neighbour's or a public garden, while one in ten (10%) Canadians who have a lawn or garden (66% of Canadians) say they feel the need to compete with their neighbours for the best garden or greenest lawn.

As to what Canadian gardeners say they like to plant, flowers (47%) are the most popular, followed by fruits/vegetables (26%) and trees/shrubs (25%).

And finally, the study found that one in five (18%) Canadians who have a lawn or garden and have a spouse/partner, would rather spend time in their garden than spend intimate time with their spouse or partner (80%) on a sunny Sunday morning.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted on behalf of HGTV between March 11th and March 13th, 2003. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,000 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

Canadian musical superstar, Shania Twain (27%) is the top choice as to who Canadians would like to garden with from a number of celebrities discussed, followed by actress Nicole Kidman (17%), lifestyle guru Martha Stewart (17%), and actor George Clooney (14%). One in ten (11%) say they would like to garden with Canadian gardening expert Mark Cullen, while 2% choose HGTV host Kathy Renwald.

• Men are more likely to say they would like to garden with Shania Twain (42% versus 13% of women) and Nicole Kidman (26% versus 10% of women), while women are more likely to choose Martha Stewart (25% versus 8% of men), George Clooney (23% versus 5% of men), Mark Cullen (15% versus 6% of men) and Kathy Renwald (3% versus 1%).
• While Shania is popular among all three age groups, younger (26%) and middle aged (19%) respondents are more likely than their older (8%) counterparts to say they would like to garden with Nicole Kidman. This pattern also holds for George Clooney (younger 18%, middle aged 16%, older 8%). However, older (18%) Canadians are more likely to choose Mark Cullen than are middle aged (9%) or younger (5%) Canadians.
• Regionally, there are also some interesting differences. Shania is a more popular choice in British Columbia (34%), Atlantic Canada (33%) and Quebec (31%) than in her home province of Ontario (22%). Meanwhile, Nicole Kidman more popular in Quebec (25%) than in any other region. In the same way, Mark Cullen is more popular in Ontario (22%) than in any other area of the country.
• Canadians from middle income households (33%) are more likely than their counterparts in lower income households (23%) to select Shania Twain as the person they would most like to garden with, while Nicole Kidman is more popular among those in lower (22%) and upper (21%) income households than among those in middle income households (13%).

One in six (16%) Canadians admit that they have secretly clipped flowers from a neighbour's or a public garden. Eight in ten (84%) say they have not done this.

• Younger (27%) Canadians are more likely to admit to this action than are their middle aged (27%) or older (9%) counterparts.
• Regionally, Albertans (22%) are more likely to admit to this covert operation than are those in Ontario (14%).
• Women (19%) are more likely to have done this than are men (14%).
• Canadians from lower income households (23%) are more likely than their counterparts in upper (15%) or middle (14%) income households to admit to this action.

Of the two thirds (66%) of Canadians who have a lawn or garden, one in ten (10%) say they feel the need to compete with their neighbours for the best garden or greenest lawn. The remaining 90% say they do not feel this competitive need to outdo their neighbours for the best garden or greenest lawn.

• Regionally, gardeners in Quebecers (4%) are less likely than are those in Saskatchewan/Manitoba (17%), Ontario (13%) or Atlantic Canada (11%) to say they feel the competitive gardening urge.
• Younger (14%) and middle aged (12%) gardeners are more likely to feel this need than are their older (6%) counterparts.

As to what Canadian gardeners say they like to plant, flowers (47%) are the most popular, followed by fruits/vegetables (26%) and trees/shrubs (25%).

• Flowers are the favourite in all regions except Saskatchewan/Manitoba (38%) where they are in a statistical tie with fruits/vegetables (39%).
• Flowers are more popular among women gardeners (62% versus 30% men gardeners), while trees/shrubs (men 35%; women 16%) and fruits/vegetables (men 33%; women 20%) are more likely to be the choice of male gardeners than female gardeners.

And finally, the study found that one in five (18%) Canadians who have a lawn or garden and have a spouse/partner, would rather spend time in their garden than spend intimate time with their spouse or partner (80%) on a sunny Sunday morning.

• Regionally, residents of Atlantic Canada (31%) who have both a garden/lawn and a spouse/partner are the most likely to say they would rather spend a sunny Sunday morning in their garden then with their spouse. This compares to their counterparts in British Columbia (15%) and Quebec (8%).
• Women (23%) in this group are more likely than their male counterparts (12%) to say they prefer gardening on a Sunday to intimate time with their spouse. Men (86%) in this group are more likely to say they would rather spend intimate time with their spouse than do their female counterparts (74%).
• Older (30%) Canadians in this subset are more likely than their middle aged (16%) or younger (6%) counterparts to select gardening over intimate times with their spouse or partner, while younger (93%) members of this subset are more likely than either their middle aged (82%) or older (68%) counterparts to choose to spend intimate time with their spouse/partner on a sunny Sunday morning than spend the time gardening.
• Canadians among this subset who are from lower income households (27%) are more likely than their counterparts from middle (15%) or upper (15%) households to say they would rather spend the time gardening.

To view the factum and detailed tables, please open the attached PDF files.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900