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The Flower and Garden Shows- Dreamers Paradise,The Flower and Garden Shows- Dreamers Paradise

© Wesley Ford

Editor's Note: Flower Show update for 2002 can be found here

Some say February is the cruelest month- I beg to differ. February ushers in the flower show season...that's right tis the season for the gardener, novice or old hand, to dream. It is the time for the ghost of gardens yet to be to visit us. If you have never visited a major flower and/or garden show then you owe your self that treat.

The major shows of course, are presented in the huge convention and exposition centers of major cities...Philadelphia, Washington and Richmond host, perhaps, the larger shows in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The kind that makes even the master gardener drool...the kind that tweaks the creative urge of even the so called brown thumb...the kind that drives us crazy with envy and sends us careening around our home town garden centers looking for THAT plant or THAT look.

Flower and garden shows feature plant material, tools and supplies from a large variety of suppliers. Manufacturers and growers attempt to create demand for their products and local growers and garden centers want to let you know that they have them. In short, they all want to grab your attention and create eye grabbing exhibits to do so. It is here that you will find the latest in plants and tools that will be available during the upcoming growing season.

Growers and retailers are busy, at this very moment planning their exhibits and scheduling the forcing of early blooms for maximum effect at the shows. The time and effort that goes into the exhibits at these shows is astounding...and it is all done for you. Just about all shows benefit non-profit agencies so your cost of admission helps some public garden or horticultural society maintain or improve their facilities and programs. So now you have that excuse to go and gaze and ask and dream.

Here is a brief review of the major shows scheduled in and around the Mid-Atlantic States this winter and spring.

Philadelphia Flower Show- March 5 through 12, 2000 . This show is put on by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. The prototype for flower shows in the U.S. - acres of exhibits (33 in fact, all indoor) in full blown, full featured landscapes(60 in all), juried floral exhibits(3000 entries), lectures, demonstrations, trade marts, garden tea, children's activities. All in center city Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. This show was first held in 1829 and has grown to attract over a quarter of a million visitors to its one week run annually. If you can get there- DO. Admission is $18 but well worth the expense considering the inspirations you'll surely receive and would have paid $30 to get from a book. This years theme is Gardening in a new Millennium. More information is available at http://www.philaflowershow.com.