Gardens in Winter
Beautiful landscapes, water gardens, thousands of flowers thematically arranged, advice on topics from growing orchids to designing your garden with native plants. It's flower show season in New England. If you're looking to chase the winter blues away, four wonderful flower shows offer a respite from our chilly gray winter days. Each show features something special - whether it's the Japanese form of floral design called ikebana, a landscape alive with cooing doves, a giant sandcastle on an indoor beach, or a miniature garden that would fit in the palm of your hand. There's always a surprise in store for you, so mark your calendars with the following dates:
Flora in Winter: Tower Hill Botanic Garden’s 11th annual Flora in Winter show is held simultaneously and in conjunction with the Worcester Art Museum. This fabulous midwinter show invites regional designers and professional flower arrangers to create riveting floral designs. This year’s theme is a nod to William Shakespeare — “A Midwinter’s Dream”. At the art museum, amateur arrangers use plant material to interpret artworks from the museum galleries, while professional florists are free to create using any theme they wish. January 31 – February 3, 2013 (www.towerhillbg.org)
The Rhode Island Flower Show in Providence features landscape design, floral design, lectures, a vendor marketplace and a Food and Wine Festival with a grand tasting of 100 wines and culinary delights prepared by celebrity chefs. Last year the Rhode Island Convention center was transformed with 28 colorful gardens designed by landscape professionals and community groups such as the RI Wild Plant Society, RI Horticultural Society and the RI Federation of Garden Clubs. February 21-24, 2013 (www.flowershow.com)
If you’re in the Hartford area on February 21-24, you can attend the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show, held at the Connecticut Convention Center. In addition to beautiful landscapes, a standard flower show themed “Love in Bloom”, educational exhibits, and more than 300 vendors, the show will feature seminars by famous garden personalities and authors, including Sydney Edison, Gordon Hayward, Jerry Fritz of Linden Hill Gardens in Bucks County, Penn., and “The English Lady” Baroness Maureen Haseley. (www.ctflowershow.com)
The Boston Flower and Garden Show returns to the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston on March 13-17, 2013. This year’s theme is “Seeds of Change,” focusing on new plants, methods and materials to increase the bounty, beauty, and ecological friendliness of our outdoor spaces. Local chefs will teach how to grow, use and preserve produce and herbs for year-round enjoyment. Demonstrations will focus on how to raise chickens and keep bees – two of the fastest growing garden-related hobbies. Floral design, horticulture and photography competitions will feature the “Seeds of Change” theme. (www.bostonflowershow.com)
Escape the winter blues! Immerse yourself in the beauty and fragrance of thousands of flowers, learn something new, and get inspired for the upcoming gardening season! Attend a local flower show this winter.
(Jana Milbocker is co-owner of Enchanted Gardens, a landscape design firm in Holliston, www.enchantedgardensdesign.com, and a past president of the Holliston Garden Club.)