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Upcoming Spring Flower Shows
The Flower Shows Are Coming!
Each winter, just as I am about to give up on life in the North Country and move to an island in the Caribbean, I am saved by the arrival of the spring flower shows. If you think that life is nothing by shoveling walks and wearing so many layers of wool that the Pillsbury Dough Boy looks scrawny in comparison, you will delighted with the flower shows. Read on … and mark your calendars!
The first – and smallest – of the shows is New Hampshire Orchid Society Show on February 9 to 11 at the Courtyard Marriot Hotel in Nashua, NH. This is a specialty show, but has been happening for 27 years and is a delight for both novices and orchid geeks. There will be lectures, displays and vendors. Admission is $10 or less, and kids under 12 are free. Get those grandkids and bring them along.
Of the big shows, the first is the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show in Hartford at the Connecticut Convention Center February 22 to 25. This show used to compete with the Rhode Island Flower Show that was held the same weekend. Sadly, that one ran out of steam and disappeared like some of those Zone 6 perennials I planted in my Zone 4 garden. I used to try to see both shows, but now I don’t have to race from one to the other.
The Connecticut Show is a 4-day event with plenty of displays and speakers. I always recommend going on Thursday or Friday while the crowds are smaller and the flowers fresher. The theme for this year’s show is “Breath of Spring”.
Philly Show
The next show is the biggest of the season, the Philadelphia Flower Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philly from March 3 to 11 – 8, a full 9 days of flowers. The theme this year is “The Wonder of Water.” When you enter you will pass through a rainforest environment with a 25-foot waterfall and a jungle of tropical flowers. Other exhibits will focus on other environments, from jungle to desert.
I called the show offices and learned that the show covers 10 acres of indoor displays and involves about 40 floral and landscape displays. The Marketplace will have over 100 vendors selling just about everything related to gardening from seeds and bulbs to umbrellas and scarves with floral patterns.
Boston Flower Show
Next comes the Boston Flower and Garden Show at the Seaport Convention Center on March 14 to 18. The theme this year is “Savor Spring”. Like the Philly Show, it has lots of displays and workshops. If I go, I’ll want to hear an editor of Fine Gardening Magazine talk about “Plants Every Northeast Garden Should Have” to see if there are any I DON’T have. Or perhaps I’ll attend “Garden Design 101 Class: Creating an Ever-Blooming, Low-Maintenance Garden” with Kerry Mendez.
The following week is the Portland, Maine Flower Show from March 22 to 25. This is in a new location since I last attended, on the waterfront. The theme this year is “Rooted in Maine.” There will be 14 display gardens, 115 exhibits of plants, hardscape, arbor and garden supplies, and many workshops and seminars.
A show I only recently heard about is near Albany in Troy, NY. In its 31st year, it is called the Capital District Garden and Flower Show and will be held March 23 to 25 at Hudson Valley Community College. I hope to go. From their photos and write-up, I imagine it will be similar in size and scope to the Vermont Flower Show – which is now an every-other year show, and is not occurring this year.
Bangor, Maine has an annual flower show, though I’ve never attended. This year it will be held in the Alfond Arena in Orono, ME on April 20 to 22. If you go, please contact me so I’ll learn more about it.
Alliums at Chelsea
Last year I crossed one more item of my “Bucket List”. My partner Cindy Heath and I flew to London and attended the Chelsea Flower Show. It is in a league by itself, both in size and scope. Mostly outdoors, it includes displays with full-sized trees planted for the week. Under a big tent are displays of flowers of every ilk: hellebores, alliums, iris, narcissus, tulips, vegetables, carnivorous plants and much, much more. To see my article about the show and see a dozen photos, go to https://dailyuv.com/feed/
The Chelsea Show is held this year May 22 to 26. If you plan to go, join the Royal Horticulture Society to get reduced prices and access before the rest of the world (the first 2 days are just for RHS members). One member can bring in 3 guests. The Brits love their flowers, and know how to celebrate them. Bring a flowered dress or vest and bowtie, and walk around drinking champagne if you wish – many people do.
I called my friend Jill Nooney of Bedrock Gardens in Lee, NH to talk about the flower shows. Jill has exhibited at the Boston Show 7 times, winning many awards for her garden designs. I asked her, why go to the flower shows? “Nobody can resist the smell of humid mulch-filled air in the middle of March,” she said. I agree. We all need that taste of spring before all the snow has gone.
To read Henry’s blog posts or sign up to get them, go to https://dailyuv.com/
Flower Shows
Spring arrives every year, but never soon enough for most of us gardeners. The first real sign of spring for me is always the arrival of my snowdrops: those tiny white bulb flowers that come up, no matter what, by early March – and sometimes earlier. Even under a thick blanket of snow and sub-freezing temperatures, the snow drops pop up. I’ve been known to shovel off the snow to find them.
Vermont Flower Show
At the same time come the spring flower shows. These extravaganzas offer the blossoms and fragrances of spring – but months early. Intrepid nursery-people force trees to bloom, along with hundreds of tulips and daffodils. Seed companies are there, showing their wares, and garden experts spout knowledge to interested gardeners in dozens of workshops over the weekend-long events.
The Providence Flower Show was, for the last 20 years, one of the first each year. It was a great show and I attended often. Unfortunately, it saw declining revenues and has given up. Apparently the competition with the Connecticut Flower Show in Hartford and bad winter weather did it in. The Rhode Island Home Show, produced by the Rhode Island Builders Association will have a flower component in their annual show march 30 to April 2.
So this year the first weekend of flower shows is February 23 to 26 at the Hartford Convention Center – and the Connecticut Flower Show reigns by itself. The Hartford Show’s theme this year is “Woodland Enchantment”. There will be over 50 workshops over the course of the weekend, so there is much to learn from their speakers. And of course, there are flowers galore and much to buy if so inclined.
Next comes the Vermont Flower Show on March 3 and 4 at the Champlain Valley Fairgrounds. This is a nice small show. Instead of many small displays of flowers, members of the Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association work together to create one larger area that includes many blooming trees and forced bulbs that is always nice. There is a large model train area that appeals to kids, along with children’s craft opportunities to keep the little ones busy. The vendors of garden-related stuff are numerous.
The “grande dame” of American flower shows, the Philadelphia Flower Show comes next and lasts from March 11 to 19. It is truly huge, and worth visiting at least once. Held in the Pennsylvania Convention Center, it covers about 6 city blocks and will be attended by over a quarter of a million people over a nine-day period. The displays range from the grandiose and outrageously expensive to entries of African violets by little old ladies. It is best to go on a weekday when the crowds are smaller. This show has been annual since 1829, so they know what they are doing!
Boston Flower Show
Then comes the Boston Flower Show, another extravaganza. It will be held March 22 to 26 at the Seaport World Trade Center on the waterfront of Boston. Like the Philly show, it is a good idea to visit on a weekday. This year’s theme is “Superheroes of the Garden”. Their publicity touts it as “honoring the crusaders, innovative tools and legendary plants helping to make us all champions in the battle for garden supremacy!”
Want smaller crowds? Go to the Bangor, Maine Flower Show which will be held that same weekend, March 24 to 26. It will be held in the Cross Insurance Center and will include flower displays, speakers, food and more.
The Maine Flower Show at Thompson’s Point in Portland will be held March 29 to April 2. This is a new venue to me and will certainly be an improvement over the old warehouse that housed it when I last visited this show. According to their promotion, it will feature 16 display gardens and “will have 100 exhibits of plants, hardscape, arbor and garden supplies, and all things relative to outdoor yardscaping and living.”
Portland Flower Show
That same weekend is the New Hampshire Seacoast Home and Garden Show in Durham, NH. Held in the Whittemore Center Arena on April 1 and 2. As the show name indicates, this is not just about flowers, but includes displays and workshops on a variety of home improvement topics.
But for me, the flower show season will wrap up with the biggest and the best, from all I have heard. My partner, Cindy, and I have bought our plane tickets to London to attend the Chelsea Flower Show held this year May 23 to 27. This is a fund raiser for the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
The show is run by the Royal Horticultural Society, and the first 2 days of the show admission is restricted to members only. Membership costs $55 and a ticket for the first day costs $90. The second day the price drops a bit and by the Thursday, the first day open to the public, tickets are a mere $61. Prices go up after April 10. But airfare to London is down this year, which helps.
Unlike American flower shows, the Chelsea flower show includes much that is planted outdoors – which allows garden displays to be even more spectacular. I was told by a friend to take my umbrella! For me, this show is one more item to check off my “bucket list.”
You may reach Henry at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or at P.O. Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746. His web site is www.Gardening-Guy.com.
Spring Flower Shows
Boston Flower Show
This has been a relatively easy winter for me. No heavy snows requiring me to climb up on my roof to shovel off the flat part above a death-defying 30-foot drop. No temperatures lingering below zero for days on end. Still, it’s winter and I’m a gardener who is already thinking about spring. Thank heavens for the spring flower shows! Here is this year’s schedule. Mark your calendar and get ready to go.
One of my favorite flower shows is on the first weekend of the big shows: the Rhode Island Flower Show (www.flowershow.com) at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence on February 18-21. This year’s extravaganza is called “Spring Fling” and is being promoted as a treat for all your senses: things to see, smell, touch, taste and hear.
So there will be, in addition to the standard flower displays, cooks whipping up treats and teaching tricks, and bands playing Friday and Saturday from 4 to 7 pm. Friday’s band will do tunes from the 50’s and 60’s, while Saturday’s band, Hey 19, is a Steely Dan tribute band. Should be fun. The show sells drinks and has a small dance floor, too.
As with all shows, attending the lectures and slide shows at the Rhode Island Show are an important part of the show for me. Actually, I’ll be speaking both Friday at4pm and Saturday at noon. But I may go hear Roger Swain of Victory Garden fame, or some of the many other speakers. And I love all the displays – from professionals to rank amateurs.
Also on February 18 to 21 is the Connecticut Flower Show (www.ctflowershow.com) at the Convention Center in Hartford. Like the Rhode Island show, this show boasts plenty of flower displays, vendors and lectures. In fact, it boasts 4 lectures at a time (in different rooms) for 4 time slots on the four days! Want to learn how to grow plants for Monarch butterflies? Learn about ground covers or decorative grasses? Build a water garden? An expert will tell you all about it.
Two regular New England flower shows are not scheduled for 2016. The Vermont show, one of my favorites, is on a two-year cycle, and this is an off year. The Portland, Maine show is also not happening this year. They are moving the show out of the ancient warehouse it has been in to new quarters next year.
The biggest show of the east, in Philadelphia, will be held March 5 to 13 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center (www.theflowershow.com). The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has been holding this event since 1829, when Andrew Jackson was President! It covers about 6 city blocks and will be attended by over a quarter of a million people over a nine-day period. It’s not inexpensive: an adult ticket is $27, kids are $15. No special deals for elders. Still, if you love the flower shows, you should travel to it at least once.
Then comes the Boston Flower Show (www.bostonflowershow.com) March 17 to 20 at the Seaport World Trade Center. This in another big show that is worth seeing. Like the Philly show, don’t go on the weekend if you can avoid it. It starts on a Wednesday, and will be much less crowded then, and on Thursday.
Boston Flower Show
The Boston show has a remarkable number of vendors selling everything from teak furniture to garden tools, plants and pottery. The gardens created for viewing are always interesting, as are the individual entries of potted plants, flower arrangements and more. Tickets are $20 for adults, $17 for seniors. Travel companies often offer package deals including bus fare and admission – which might be nicer than driving in Boston traffic and paying for parking.
The Seacoast Home and Garden Show (http://seacoast.
The last flower show in New England is in Bangor, Maine, the BDN GardenShow (http://bdnmainegardenshow.
Actually, the last – and perhaps the best – of the shows takes place May 24 to 28in London: the iconic Chelsea Flower Show (https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-
The show is less commercial than ours, I gather, and is both indoors and out. The scope of the show is absolutely amazing – it even includes masses of vegetables. And the Queen goes every year, too! Another friend sent me a link to an hour BBC television special on the 2015 Chelsea Show, which got me even more excited about going: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
So go to a show, even if you can’t make it to London.
Henry gardens in Cornish Flat, NH. Reach him by e-mail athenry.homeyer@comcast.net. His website is www.Gardening-Guy.com. He is the author or 4 gardening books.
