| FEBRUARY 18, 2011 -- It's been difficult to see past the mounds of snow, submerged mailboxes and treacherous intersections. Our gardens have been covered with the white stuff and icicles dangled off roofs, threatening the foundation plantings below.
And who knows what damage we'll find to the rest of the garden when this winter finally relents. We've clearly been immersed in the worst weather in decades. But all is not lost.
It's flower show time.
From Thursday, Feb. 24, through Sunday, Feb. 27, the Hartford Convention Center will be transformed into a horticultural oasis. The nearly three acres of convention floor will be filled with award-winning landscape exhibits in full bloom and more than 250 booths crammed with plants, fertilizers, garden tools, seeds, implements, candles, paintings, clothing, worm boxes, bird feeders and all manner of horticultural must-haves.
Add to this the Federated Garden Club's Standard Flower Show, which will occupy 12,000 square feet of competitive design and horticultural exhibits, a bookstore where you can peruse the latest literature on gardening and assorted nurseries, equipment purveyors and designers.
And let's not forget the seminars (free with the price of admission) by well-known national and local gardening experts such as Roger Swain, Stephanie Cohen, Sal Gilbertie and yours truly. We'll be discussing everything from African violets to landscape lighting, from water gardening to composting, from vegetable production to floral arranging and much more.
Want some information on hostas? Check out Kathy Sisson's presentation, "Hostas: Diamond of the Garden." Interested in indigenous plantings? Save time for Karen Bussolini's "Landscaping with Native Plants."
Yes, the 30th annual Connecticut Flower Show promises to be a feast for our winter-deprived senses. Themed "Capture the Magic," it's an opportunity to view the colors and textures of spring, listen to the lively chatter of others entranced by all things horticultural, breathe in the fragrance of the flowers, run your hand over the latest tool and taste the yummy samples of cheeses, jams and spreads, which are sure to be present.
What else can you do? Visit the master gardeners' booth to get questions answered. Bring a half cup of soil (good luck with getting it out of the ground) to the UConn Co-op booth for a free soil testing. Hobnob with other garden nuts, "ooh" and "ah" over new plants and wonder at the displays of horticultural expertise.
Visitors can also quiz landscapers and vendors alike about what's new in the world of green growing things. Catch up on the latest in Connecticut agriculture, learn about evil bugs, or buy a book. Plan on spending the day ... there's food and drink available, places to sit and rest a spell and loads of horticultural gossip, chatter and information swirling around.
Each February, the Connecticut Flower Show is both our hope and our hurrah to spring. It's the Super Bowl of Connecticut botany, a fetching froth of floriculture. This year, especially, we need to shrug off the burden of winter and enjoy a brief taste of what's to come.
Colleen Plimpton will be speaking at the Connecticut Flower Show on Feb. 24 and 26. For further details on the show, visit www.ctflowershow.com. Contact Plimpton with gardening questions at colleenplimpton@yahoo.com or visit www.colleenplimpton.com. |
