Organic gardener growing food and flowers, lovin' pollinators and birds.

Photo recap of the Rhode Island Spring Flower and Garden Show

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The 24th annual Rhode Island Spring Flower and Garden Show was a four-day event held at the Rhode Island Convention Center. On Saturday, I drove to Providence to visit the show for the first time. While it is smaller in size than the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show, which runs during the same weekend, there were many display gardens and unique artisans selling their wares at the Rhode Island Convention Center. 

This year's theme was "Spring Fling," which was echoed successfully throughout the display gardens and entries submitted through the Rhode Island Horticultural Society. Below is a photo montage of some of the interesting plants and displays I came across on Saturday.

A carved stone bench by Joe Grey.

A trumpet on display in the Vetra Organic Landcare exhibit.

Another side of the Vetra Organic Landcare display garden.
What a cool use of instruments!

An Alice in Wonderland theme was incorporated in Big Sky Landscaping's display garden.

I was totally blown away by the display setup for Phlash Photo.
This shows only one side. The other side was a photo booth area for visitors to pose in.

The Groden Network ran with the theme of "Only in Rhode Island" by
intertwining daffodils with Del's Fresh Lemonade.

Mr. Potato Head was a part of Groden Network's display vegetable garden.
I'm not aware of the connection to Rhode Island, however!

Acer jap. 'Aconitifolium' in the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society's display.
Fothergilla in bloom in the Brightview display garden.

Yard Works, Inc. stole the show with their depiction of "Tea Party at Rockefeller's Garden."

The table in Yard Works, Inc.'s display was set for afternoon tea.

Tulips played a major role in Yard Works, Inc.'s display garden.

The pastry chef side of me really enjoyed this third place finish for the
"Luscious Lime" category, submitted by Linda Lacroix of the Tiverton Garden Club.

This Christmas Cactus entered by John P. Russo of Lincoln, Rhode Island, won
first place and the Grower's Choice Award in its category.

Another first place finish for this succulent.

This floral piece submitted by Catherine Moore and
Carol Granville won an honorable mention in the "Spring Equinox - Night" category. 

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Connecticut Flower and Garden Show gets back to its roots in 2016


HARTFORD, Conn. - Rob Townsend of AquaScapes of Connecticut LLC was awarded Best of Show for his landscape portrayal of the "In the Spotlight" theme for the 35th annual Connecticut Flower and Garden Show.

Townsend, whose Portland, Connecticut-based pond store last won the coveted award in 2010, was glad the drought was over.

"It's good, 'cause I was getting thirsty," he said.

This year's display garden featured the copper tree water fountain used in last year's display garden, but installed differently. The copper tree is darker in appearance due to the metal's patina. This year it was elevated in the pond. A dragon sculpture - borrowed from a neighbor and client in Portland - complemented the water feature. "I wondered what would happen if I lit it. I put the spot light on it and it pops off the fence," he said. A variety of Japanese maples and a bristle cone pine were incorporated into the display. "I wanted all different things. I like specimen plants, and I wanted to fit in as many fountains as possible. There are different things to look at, no matter what angle," he said.

Weather Woes Influence Displays
This year's show sold more advanced tickets than last year, according to Kristie Gonsalves, president of North East Expos and producer of the show. "The designers in the landscape [portion] put so much work into the forcing ... I don't know if the public knows how much work goes into creating it," she said. "It's very nerve-wracking. I know what the exhibitors go through, but when the public walks in, smiles and sees spring, it's worth it."

Supreme Landscapes of Bristol, Conn., took home the Most Whimsical Award at the show.

Forced azaleas in bloom at the
Supreme Landscapes display.
This year's landscape displays were further complicated by the warmer than normal winter in Connecticut, followed by an Arctic cold snap last weekend that chilled central Connecticut to -9 degrees F Sunday morning and only topping out at 10 degrees F later in the day. Townsend moved his plants into his warehouse before the cold snap hit, a move that he credited with saving his plants from frost damage.

Supreme Landscapes LLC of Bristol, Connecticut, faced a similar problem in transporting all the plants they forced to bloom for the show this weekend. Matt Kaminski, along with his wife Allison, described the complicated journey their plants needed to take.

"All the plants were wrapped in black plastic garbage bags to prevent them from flash freezing when they were transported up here," said Matt Kaminski.

"The whole family got involved," Allison Kaminski explained, which included her younger son tying garbage bags closed and manning the van's doors when bringing the plants into the Connecticut Convention Center.

Supreme Landscapes' display featured 270 crocuses in bloom.
"Most plants take about 10 weeks to force bloom, and some things just wouldn't work this year, which is why we did so many azaleas," Matt Kaminski said. Their display focused on more plants with color and a simpler design than last year's display.
The gazebo featured prominently
at Pondering Creations' display.

Kevin Rescildo of Pondering Creations, Terryville, Connecticut, agreed with the weather maladies.  "It was a crapshoot this year," he said, indicating a 60 percent failure rate when it came to forcing plants this year due to the weather. "We didn't get enough cold hours, [but] short term forcing worked when we got cold temperatures in January," he said. He incorporated several specimen conifers into his design and plants that took six weeks to force into bloom. Rescildo also described the complicated delivery process of bringing the plants to Hartford, which included having the van "screaming with heat" and getting them as quickly as possible into the center.

"It was a crazy, insane week. I got a few more gray hairs in my beard this year," he said with a smile. His display featured witch hazels in bloom, including the red 'Diane' variety.

Despite the challenges, this year's show had a definite spring fervor. "There's a lot more plant materials this year for sale - more so than ever," said Gonsalves. "There's a definite 'get-back-to-our-roots' theme - it's not so commercialized."

At least in Hartford, spring is here. "You get the itch and you want to get out and buy something," she said.

For more photos from the show, click here.

The 35th annual Connecticut Flower and Garden Show runs through Sunday, Feb. 21 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. Show hours Saturday are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
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Photos from the 35th annual Connecticut Flower and Garden Show


To read about this year's Connecticut Flower and Garden show, click here.

Landscape Designs

'Miss Congeniality' rose in the Connecticut Rose Society display.
Hillside Landscaping Co. of Berlin, Conn. won the Best Design Award with their waterfall piano display.

Earth Tones Native Plant Nursery & Landscaping
of Woodbury, Conn. won the Best Horticulture Award.


Pondering Creations of Terryville, Conn.'s display.

This display submitted for the "Give My Regards to Broadway" design division
won an honorable mention for its portrayal of "My Fair Lady 'Loverly.'"


This shoe won an honorable mention for the Artistic Crafts "Fashion" category, Class 8.



This shoe won first place for the Artistic Crafts "Fashion" category, Class 8.
Floral Displays

Brown's Flowers of Manchester, Conn. created this floral display.
K&P Flowers and Gifts of Suffield, Conn. created this floral display.

Retail Highlights

Country Flower Farms of Middlefield, Conn., had unique air plants for display Friday.
Country Flower Farms had many succulents for sale, in varying container displays.
Natureworks of Northford, Conn. continued to reign in the fairy garden department.
Natureworks featured whimsical displays in their retail space.

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New floral stamps lessen winter blues

I confess: I buy pretty postage stamps and save them in a drawer. My informal collection mainly contains floral postage stamps produced by the United States Postal Service. I was especially happy to add the new Botanical Art Forever stamps to my collection earlier last week.

Botanical Art Forever Stamps from the USPS.
I bought a few extra stamps - which include images of tulips, roses, dahlias, daffodils, corn lilies, stocks, petunias and Japanese irises - to use on correspondence in the coming months.

The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) provided the historical botanical illustrations for the stamps. The 10 designs feature illustrations from an American nursery catalog printed between 1891 and 1912. (The catalog is part of the Nursery and Seed Catalog Collection at the NYBG's LuEsther T. Mertz Library - the largest botanical and horticultural library in the world.)

According to the NYBG, as early as the 15th century, botanical illustrators produced highly detailed images to depict plants discovered by explorers during expansion and unknown in Europe. As the popularity of ornamental and recreational gardening grew in the mid-19th century, commercial greenhouses and nurseries marketed plants by creating colorful catalogs illustrated with idealized, romantic illustrations of what plants could look like. Botanical illustrations in plant catalogs are more scarce today, with photographs of the plants being used instead.

Year of the Monkey Forever stamp from the USPS.
The botanical images are not the only flower-themed stamps introduced this year by the USPS. The Year of the Monkey Forever stamp contains an illustration of two red peonies, which symbolize wealth and honor in Chinese culture. According to the USPS, artist Kam Mak was inspired by Chinese tree peonies in his garden. "I hope the painting will evoke a sense of renewal and the coming of spring," he said in a press release promoting the sale of the stamp.

Time to head back to the post office to get these beauties as well.
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The gardener's February calendar - 2016

One of the orchid displays from last year's orchid show
at The New York Botanical Garden.
We are having a winter that is very different from last year's. As I write this, we are reaching high temperatures in the 50s this week, when last year we were continually digging out from subsequent snowstorms. I'm not complaining though - as long as the plants don't grow too much and suffer from a late hard frost, I'm usually a happy camper. There are some tasks to do this month to get you in a spring-planting state of mind.

A scene from last year's Connecticut
Flower and Garden Show.
Dream Big
Now's the time when seed catalogs, garden magazines and Pinterest come in handy. I've been saving pictures from magazines and printing images from the web to create my inspiration board. These are the photos of plants or garden scenes I wish to replicate in my garden. I used to keep these images squirreled away, but now I glue them to mattboard (you can use a foam board or poster board, too) and keep it out where I can see it.

This is also prime flower show season - a great excuse to think spring! In past years I have covered the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show in Hartford, Conn. and The New York Botanical Garden's Orchid Show for Frau Zinnie. These shows are often great sources for garden ideas - and a little retail therapy on the side.

Birding
Just like last winter, I've spent a lot of time looking out my window at all the different birds that visit the feeders at this time of year. I want to continue to grow plants that will attract birds to my garden all year long. For example, growing trees like crab apples and bushes like winterberry are attractive to bluebirds in the winter months. Flowers that go to seed, like echinacea, attract goldfinches in the late summer and fall.

It's important to keep an available source of water for the birds as well since may natural sources of water freeze. Even the squirrels come over and drink from the heated birdbath at this time of year.

Seeds
Organize all the seed packets according to planting date. Figure out what your estimated last frost date is. (This website will help.) Then count backward from that week. This is your growing season. So when a packet of seeds says to start them inside eight weeks before the last average frost, for example, count back eight weeks from your last frost date. If you haven't ordered all your seeds yet, now is the time to do so before they sell out. 

You can start seeds of pansies, snapdragons, geraniums, ageratum and petunias now.



Force flowers
Go outside and trim branches of forsythia, witch hazel and pussy willows. Bring them inside and put them in a vase of water. Within a week they will bloom. Instant spirit lifter.
Water sprouts are some of the branches that
can be trimmed off fruit trees in late February.

Fruit trees

Toward the end of this month is a good time to trim pear and apple trees. The general guideline is to wait until the coldest part of the winter has passed before trimming, but before the spring warmup kicks in. Make sure your pruning shears are sharp and clean before you go outside and tackle this project. Still nervous? Here's how I prune my pear tree.

Houseplants
With the snow covering everything, my attention goes back to houseplants, such as African violets or orchids that need repotting. You can fertilize houseplants that show signs of new growth now as well.

Remember: spring is coming. The snow will melt. Onward!

I live in Central Connecticut and garden in Zone 6b.
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