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

Lots to see, learn at 37th annual Connecticut Flower and Garden Show

The Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut created a colorful entrance (with rabbit accents) to portray the show's theme, "Breath of Spring."

HARTFORD, Conn. — The 37th annual Connecticut Flower and Garden Show, which runs through Sunday, Feb. 25, is truly a multi-day event. To see all the display gardens, visit vendor booths, experience the walk-in butterfly enclosure, view the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut's display, and sit in on lectures will certainly keep visitors busy. (For more info on tickets, click here.)

I spent seven hours at the show on Friday: I attended three lectures, viewed the demonstration gardens, and only visited about 2/3 of the vendor booths! This year's show truly appeals to gardeners of all skill levels. Here are some of the highlights from this year's show (additional photos here).

Display gardens

This year's display gardens showcased a variety of themes, including waterscapes and urban farming, along with educational opportunities and whimsical accents.

A 1954 Ford pickup truck was transformed into a water feature, winning Best of Show for Aqua Scapes of Connecticut, LLC.

The display also featured a pond with fish.
This year the coveted Best of Show award goes to Portland's Rob Townsend of Aqua Scapes of Connecticut, LLC. (This is the fifth year that Aqua Scapes won this award.) The display's centerpiece was a 1954 Ford pickup truck transformed into a water feature. The display was dedicated to Craig, a close friend of Townsend who passed away in September 2017. Townsend and his team wanted to recreate Craig's favorite landscape of a natural and rustic setting. "We wanted to do it in a creative way," he said. "We also wanted to feature one of our ponds with our fish, aquatic plants and Japanese maples."

The pink and purple flowering azaleas and rhododendrons on display, along with the Japanese maples, were grown in a 100 foot greenhouse during January and February, but not without a little stress: the greenhouse lost heat for about a month. "We had to overcome a lot of adversity this year," he said. "We found a way to persevere and overcome."  (View a video of the water display here.) Across from this display garden was a fountain-scape display (below), also designed by Townsend.

Various fountains on display. The tree in the middle has been a show favorite for past years.

A painted backdrop helped set the scene for Rosenburg, a German village where roses flourish without diseases.
A whimsical theme was the basis for the Connecticut Rose Society, which created a Bavarian Spring in Germany, where the village of Rosenburg (the display) boasted the perfect environment for roses: an area without harmful diseases or insects. Of course, visitors had to be on the lookout for the evil Baroness, who tries to sneak into the village to disperse pests such as black fungus spores and destructive insects. (Luckily the Baroness did not make an appearance on Friday.)

Ladd's Garden Center focused on the miniature details for their display.
Also embracing a fantasy theme, Ladd's Garden Center created a raised fairy garden for their display, using evergreens as the backdrop for several fairy village houses. (To view more photos from this display, click here.)

This sample greenhouse features hydroponic lettuce for the urban gardener.
Grescyk Farms of New Hartford, Connecticut took home the Best Landscape Design Award for their display which featured a greenhouse, a decorative edible garden, and a chicken coop — complete with real chickens. The urban farming theme included hydroponic lettuce growing in the greenhouse and a tractor as part of the display. (To view more photos from this display, click here.)

Earth Tones Native Nursery created a native plant oasis.
Other notable displays included the Earth Tones Native Nursery's spin on creating a backyard oasis with native plants without the use of chemicals. The display also emphasized the idea of repurposing items in a creative way, featuring a "green wave" of bottles included in a retaining wall. This Woodbury, Connecticut business received the Best Horticulture Award for their display.

The Natureworks educational display was continuously filled with show patrons.
Also playing into the native plants theme was the educational display created by Natureworks of Northford, Connecticut. Using vertical space to their advantage, the display included informational posters on plants that support pollinators, butterflies and birds. The display garden emphasized the need for creating a sustainable, organic ecosystem for all creatures, and was inspired by Doug Tallamy's book "Bringing Nature Home."


Lectures 

Doug Tallamy presented an hour-long lecture on attracting
insects to the garden — and why that is a good thing.
Tallamy was a featured speaker Friday morning, explaining how gardeners can transform their property into a safe haven for birds and caterpillars. In his lecture, "Making insects: The little things that run the world," Tallamy explained how gardeners need to stop the war on insects, and instead welcome them into the garden by building landscapes that support them.

In what turned into standing room only, Tallamy attributed the recent decline of the honeybee and the monarch butterfly for stimulating interest in the decline of insects. He shared how three bumblebee species are already extinct and that there are 1.5 billion fewer breeding birds today than 40 years ago (as of 2016). Despite the dismal statistics, Tallamy encouraged the audience to focus on using private land for making positive changes, noting that 94 percent of Connecticut is private land. "We want to expand what we are asking our landscapes to do," he said, emphasizing that landscapes need to become eco systems again. "The problem is that we still worship the lawn."

He explained how planting native plants — not exotics — provides a food source for our native insects, including honey bees, bumblebees and caterpillars. (To find out which native plants are relevant for your region, visit the Native Plant Finder. The top 10 results will typically provide the most food for native insects.)  In the Northeast, Tallamy shared that goldenrods are the number one plant to support native bees, followed by native willows, asters and blueberries.

With a photo gallery of numerous colorful caterpillars, Tallamy emphasized that caterpillars are an important food source for songbirds since they transfer the most energy from plants to other animals.  "Plants allow everything around us to eat sunlight," he said. Tallamy cited that 96 percent of birds rear their young on insects, and that between 6, 240 and 9,120 caterpillars are needed to rear one clutch of chickadees. Tallamy shared photos from his garden, which currently supports 54 breeding species of birds due to his native plantings.

Petra Page-Mann's enthusiasm for growing plants was
contagious, creating an active dialogue with audience members.
Petra Page-Mann of Fruition Seeds, which sells organic regionally adapted seeds for short seasons, held a lively discussion in the afternoon segment on tips for container planting. Emphasizing the need for larger containers and changing out the soil each year to guarantee large crop yields, Page-Mann shared space-efficient varieties that are container-friendly, such as the dwarf tomato 'Tanunda Red', dwarf kale 'Vates', and her favorite marigold,  'Queen Sofia'. (As for that discarded soil, Page-Mann shared that she uses spent container soil for her houseplants, which are less demanding then vegetables.)

Growing more in less space is a consistent theme for gardeners, especially for those in apartments and condos. Continue on to more garden trends from this year's show.



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Highlights from the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show

HARTFORD, Conn. — Open through Sunday, Feb. 25, the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show features inspiration for gardeners of all skill levels. To read more about the show, click here. To learn more about garden trends at the show, click here

A child-size fairy statue was the centerpiece of Ladd's Garden Center's display.

Miniature houses for fairy residents were nestled into evergreens in Ladd's Garden Center's display.

Residents of Rosenburg (part of the Connecticut Rose Society display) are welcome to take a break and enjoy the view.

Multiple arrangements were on display from members of the Connecticut
Florist Association.

Tables of floral centerpieces were on display from the Connecticut Florist Association. 

In the 'Gardening Tome' division of the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut Flower Show, this entry from Signian McGeary took the Honorable Mention.

Lynda Brown's interpretation of the 'Gardening Tome' took second place. 

Carol Pisani captured the first place prize in the 'Gardening Tome' competition with her
creative use of plant materials.

In the 'Snappy Strappy' division, Trish Manfredi earned an Honorable Mention for
her moss-inspired footwear.

Deborah Vallas earned third place in the 'Rushing Waterfalls' division for her
use of orchids and delphiniums.

The Natureworks display garden was filled with informative signage designed to educate visitors.

A past recipient of Best in Show, this copper fountain-scape tree was on display from
Aqua Scapes.

Gresczyk Farms showcased a greenhouse (above) and farm stand (below) in their display garden.


Rows of cool-weather crops and chickens were part of Gresczyk Farms' display.

The Connecticut Greenhouse Growers Association had several plants for sale. 

Hellebores were for sale at the Connecticut Greenhouse Growers Association display.

Country Flower Farms' vendor booth was overflowing with houseplants. 

A pink bicycle with daffodils was part of the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut's display (above and below).


Need a macramé planter? There were several for sale at the Natureworks booth.

Natureworks offered decorative glass plants, fake air plants and good old fashioned
real plants for sale in their booth.

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Connecticut Flower and Garden Show hints at season's gardening trends

HARTFORD, Conn. —Each year, garden show offerings hint at what will be trendy for the growing season. Despite a large fairy garden display, vendors were offering less fairy gardening supplies than in past years. There was also more emphasis on wooden garden decor (think trellises and even greenhouses).

Here are some trendy highlights from this year's show.

A windowsill garden display in the Natureworks booth features colorful pots and decorative glass plants.

Windowsill gardens

Container gardening is not just for the outdoors: Think a smaller scale for indoor use.

Over at the Natureworks booth, windowsill garden components were the popular items. "When you wake up in the morning and look out over the kitchen sink, these little plants in little pots make you happy," said Diane St. John, retail manager.

Fun pottery was an important component to this trend. "The pot is always an afterthought, but choosing the right pot is just as important as the plant," she said. St. John recommended updating the display in the summer with bud vases containing the season's flowers.

There's even an option for "black thumbs."

"If you kill plants, use decorative glass plants."



Macramé plant hangers on display in the Natureworks booth.

Macramé planters

When you've picked out the perfect pot, you may opt to hang it and its contents in a macramé plant hanger. The 1970s trend is back again. These planters emphasize texture and shape, and elevate houseplants to new levels.

With various designs and shapes, the planters were able to accommodate smaller houseplants as well as larger ones. (Assorted pricing based on size.)

The larger version of the iMow on display (and
running in the background).

Robotic mowing

Too busy to mow the lawn? Stihl has a solution for that. The new iMow Robotic Mower, just introduced in fall 2017, uses installed boundary wires to mow the grass on your property — which keeps it out of your garden beds as well. To work properly, the iMow needs programming and to be installed by an authorized dealer (there are three in Connecticut). Totally battery-powered, gardeners can program the iMow when to mow — and when not to. (It has a sensor to know not to mow if it is raining.) A full charge equals about two hours of mowing, and the iMow will know when to return to its docking station to recharge (it follows its installed perimeter). A plus: it's fairly quiet, something not usually associated with lawnmowers. (View a video of it I shared on Facebook while at the show.)

"It was just introduced in the fall," said Joe Passarello, sales manager for Northeast Stihl. "There are 25 dealers in the Northeast for this pilot program. There will be more dealers in 2019." Available in two sizes, convenience does come with a price: the iMow ranges from $1,300-$2,000, plus installation.


Campanulas for sale in the Country Flower Farms booth.

The colors purple and cranberry

Purple is back in a big way this spring, partially thanks to Pantone announcing Ultra Violet as the Color of the Year, and well, because people just seem to really like it! At the Country Flower Farms booth, anything purple and cranberry were selling well, according to Mary Legace LeHerissier. "The campanulas are trendy and selling well," she said in between helping the many customers. (Pictured above, the campanula plants ranged from $4-$7.)

Soil blocks made from the soil block kits for sale in the Fruition Seeds booth.

Say good-bye to plastic

Ready to start seeds? Fruition Seeds offers two sizes of soil blockers, a tool they swear by for use on their farm. Fruition Seed representative Haley, who was showing spectators how the soil blockers work, explained how the soil blocks save space and grow healthier plants: the roots won't circle around like they would in a plastic container cell. Instead, when they sense air, they instinctively know to stop and turn around.

There are two sizes, and the smaller versions can be planted into the next size up when the plants area ready. The kit cost $60 and included two trays.

For more information on the show, which runs through Sunday, Feb. 25, click here.

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Floral Friday: Feb. 23

We had two beautiful, warm days earlier this week where it felt like a day in May, only to be followed by snow the very next day. On that warm day, however, I was able to spend a lot of time photographing the snowdrops that had just appeared this week, as well as the hellebore which finally bloomed after it held off for weeks due to the cold.

It felt so good to be outside photographing flowers again. Spring really is on its way.















Meanwhile, inside, the second amaryllis is blooming,


What is blooming and growing in your home and garden?

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