The Preview Party will not take place this year – the organizers are taking a year off to re-envision the event. We learned of this today, following the previous posting, so apologies to those who put this on the calendar.
Tag: Boston Flower & Garden Show
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Saturday, October 20, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Growing and Showing: A Fairy Garden Workshop for Kids
This workshop is designed to introduce the concepts of horticulture, plant care, and exhibiting at a flower show to young gardeners. Registrants will learn about exhibiting plants in the Amateur Horticulture section of the flower show and then will put together a container planting that will be eligible for admittance to the Junior Horticulture Classes of the 2013 Boston Flower & Garden Show in March. Participants can choose from a Fairy Garden Container, a succulent container, or a plant or container of their own choosing.
A two hour Massachusetts Horticultural Society workshop on creating the garden will take place at Elm Bank on Saturday, October 20th from 10 am to 12 noon. Mass Hort will provide soil, pots, and plants, as well as expert instruction on choosing, planting and exhibiting the garden in a flower show. Kids can also bring their own container (12″ wide or less) and plants that the presenters will help them to put together for a show stopping exhibit.
A follow up workshop will take place on Saturday, February 2nd from 10am to 12 noon. Attendees at this session will learn the steps involved in taking their plants(s) from houseplant to flower show exhibit. Grooming and presentation techniques will be demonstrated and discussed. Participants will also have assistance in filling out the paperwork to submit their plants in next years’ show.
A one time fee of $10.00 to help cover costs is due at registration. Children Ages 8-12 eligible to attend. You can register or find out more information by calling Mass Hort at 617-933-4973.
This workshop is being generously co-sponsored by Weston Nurseries. Weston is focused on supporting activities in our local communities and being responsible with how our operation affects the environment. Photo from www.minigardener.wordpress.com.
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Saturday, April 28, 2:00 pm – Traffic-Stopping Container Gardens
Deborah Trickett, MCH, and owner of The Captured Garden, will speak at Weston Nurseries of Chelmsford, 160 Pine Hill Road in Chelmsford, on Saturday, April 28, beginning at 2 pm. Deborah is an award-winning designer whose work has been featured in The Boston Globe, in Garden Gate Magazine, and on the TV show New England Dream Home. She is a frequent lecturer at the Boston Flower & Garden Show as well as at the Philadelphia International Flower Show. She also teaches classes and workshops at the Arnold Arboretum. She’ll help make your container gardens the talk of the neighborhood! Free. For directions, visit www.westonnurseries.com.
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Tuesday, March 13 – Margaret Pokorny to Receive Park Partners Award
Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department will present the first annual Park Partners Award to Margaret Pokorny of the Back Bay during the Boston Flower & Garden Show Preview Party at the Seaport World Trade Center on Tuesday, March 13. The Park Partners Award recognizes Boston citizens who make a significant contribution to beautification and the city’s parks.
A longtime advocate for protecting the natural resources in her neighborhood, Margaret Pokorny has worked closely with residents and city officials to beautify Commonwealth Avenue Mall since she first moved to Back Bay in 1980. She was instrumental in efforts to revive the turf along the Mall, supported the creation of the Women’s Memorial, and has been active in fundraising and caring for trees along the Commonwealth Avenue.
“Margaret has gone above and beyond in order to preserve the quality of life in the neighborhood by advocating for policies which protect trees and encourage use of Commonwealth Avenue Mall by residents and visitors,†Mayor Menino said. “She is vigilant about engaging her neighbors to help water, replace, and protect trees, especially the Dutch elm population. She is always gracious, honest, and direct. The city is lucky to have such an advocate for our green space.â€
A hands-on booster for Boston’s parks, Pokorny’s personal slogan is “Born to Prune.†Her in-depth knowledge of her neighborhood parks was evident in her final thesis in the Radcliffe Seminars program in Landscape Design in 1992: a history and master plan for Commonwealth Avenue Mall. She was mentored in the project by her friend and neighbor, the late Stella Trafford, known as the Grande Dame of Boston parks for her own involvement with Commonwealth Avenue Mall, the Public Garden, and Boston Common.
Pokorny worked with Trafford on issues related to the Mall, and became an active member of the Board of the Friends of Copley Square, the Friends of the Public Garden, and the Board of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay. She also served as Co-President of the Garden Club of the Back Bay and joined the Board of The Esplanade Association when it was founded in 2000. Margaret has also received the Boston Bowl from the Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America.
Tickets are still available for the March 13 Boston Flower & Garden Show Preview Party taking place from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the eve of the 2012 Boston Flower & Garden Show which opens to the public on March 14. In addition to the award presentation, Dr. Gustavo Romero will speak about the Glass Flowers Collection at the Harvard Museum of Natural History and gardening expert Patti “Garden Girl†Moreno will give a talk on Urban Sustainable Living and the five things everyone can do to live more sustainably in the city.
For more information or to purchase tickets, please call the Parks Department at (617) 635-4032 or visit www.cityofboston.gov/parks/ttd/flowershow.asp.
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Sunday, March 18, 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm – Love Your Lawn Again
Paul Tukey and Victoria Rowell introduce their new book, Tag, Toss & Run: 40 Classic Lawn Games on Sunday, March 18 from 3:30 to 5:00 pm at The Boston Flower & Garden Show at the Seaport World Trade Center. For the last five years, Tukey has focused his energies on teaching about growing lawns naturally through the SafeLawn Foundation. In his new book, co-authored by actress and best-selling author Victoria Rowell, Tukey shares his desire to inspire people to use – rather than just look at – their lawns. Meet Paul and Victoria and get re-acquainted with the joy of old-time-y family lawn games like bocce and croquet and maybe learn a few new ones, too! Free with admission to the show – for more information, visit www.bostonflowershow.com.
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Wednesday, March 14 – Sunday, March 18 – Boston Flower & Garden Show
The Boston Flower & Garden Show returns to the Seaport World Trade Center Wednesday, March 14 – Sunday, March 18. Show times each day are 9:00 am – 9:00 pm, with the exception of Sunday, March 18, when the hours are 9:00 am – 6:00 pm. This year’s theme is “First Impressions” and will feature 25 show gardens, 240 vendors selling plants and garden-related merchandise, free lectures and demonstrations, and a lively amateur competition area. John Gidding, below, host of HGTV’s hugely popular “Curb Appeal: The Block” will lecture on Friday, March 16, at 11:30 am and again at 2:30 pm. Learn more at www.TheBostonFlowerShow.com, or telephone 781-237-5533.
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Call for Floral Designers
Have you won a blue ribbon for your floral designs? Have you ever wanted to step onto the ‘big stage’ and show your talent?
Division II – the ‘open’ division of Blooms! at the Boston Flower & Garden Show – still has some openings for floral designers. You need not be a member of a garden club, but you should have both experience in designing and have won in competitions. The payoff for competing is the recognition of your skills and imagination, and the admiration of the 65,000+ attendees at the show. If you are interested, please contact Julie Pipe at juliepipe@comcast.net.
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Tuesday, March 13, 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Boston Flower & Garden Show Preview Party
The 2012 Boston Flower & Garden Show will kick off with an elegant fundraising Preview Party at The Seaport World Trade Center chaired by Fox 25′s Maria Stephanos and hosted by Mayor and Mrs. Thomas Menino. Proceeds from the Preview Party will help restore Boston Parks Department’s Greenhouses, where plants are propagated for the Public Garden, Boston Common, and dozens of neighborhood parks. Special guests, entertainment, delightful food and beverage and a silent auction make this an exclusive and enjoyable opportunity to view the show’s gardens and exhibits before the show opens to the general public the following day. Tickets are $100 each before February 14, $125 per person thereafter. You may also purchase a $500 Friend ticket, and your company name or patron name will be displayed in the program. Ticket includes admission to the private party, exclusive viewing of the Flower Show’s gardens and the chance to meet the designers, open bar, complimentary hor d’oeuvres reception, live music, and one ticket to return to the Flower Show later in the week. You may download a ticket order form by visiting www.bostonflowershow.com/preview-party/. Pictured below is the original Olmsted greenhouse in Franklin Park.
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Wednesday, March 24, 5:00 pm – A Feast for the Garden Traveler
Focusing on the Flower Show theme of A Feast for the Senses, Hilda Morrill, founder of bostongardens.com, will share some of the special gardens she has enjoyed in her world travels in a talk to be held in the Lecture Hall of the Seaport World Trade Center, 200 Seaport Boulevard, at 5 pm on Wednesday, March 24. The lecture is free with admission to the Boston Flower & Garden Show. For more information on the show, log on to www.TheBostonFlowerShow.com.
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Thursday, March 25, 11:30 am – 6:00 pm – Gardening Essentials at the Boston Flower & Garden Show
The Massachusetts Horticultural Society has put together a full day of programs as part of the Paragon Group’s Boston Flower & Garden Show, opening March 24 and running through March 28 at the Seaport World Trade Center. On Thursday, March 25, beginning at 11:30, Art Scarpa opens the morning with ‘The Care and Feeding of Houseplants’. Whether we live in a grand house or a one-bedroom apartment, houseplants are an essential part of New England because six months out of the year there’s nothing growing and green outside. This program will deal with houseplant basics: selection, care and maintenance. You will come away with your thumb considerably greener.
At 12:30, MassHort has assembled on stage a virtual encyclopedia of gardening knowledge. Roger Swain, Paul Miskovsky and Kerry Ann Mendez invite everyone to bring their best questions on any topic related to gardening. Swain (pictured below) is the well-know host of PBS’ ‘The Victory Garden’ (he will also speak on the subject of tools on Saturday), who brings a dollop of humor to his broad knowledge of all things botanical. Miskovsky is considered one of the region’s best landscapers. He has installed two gardens on the exhibit floor; one, a 1,080 square foot garden (Falmouth-based Miskovsky Landscaping) and a second one for Heritage Museum and Gardens. Paul creates inspiring gardens for his public and private clients, but he can also tell you how to properly plant a rhododendron. Mendez is a ‘passionate perennialist’, an exceptional gardening speaker and the proprietor of ‘Perennially Yours’ in upstate New York.
At 1:30, Rita Wollmering offers ‘Ready, Set, Grow – Preparing for a Successful Vegetable Garden’. She’ll take you through the practical steps that lead to a more successful vegetable garden. With planning, preparation and smart planting, gardeners can see an increase in both the health and yield of their plots.
At 2:30, Betty Sanders talks on ‘The Green, Organic and Affordable Lawn’. The level of hype and dubious information about ‘organics’ has gotten to a state where someone with a wide body of knowledge, no axe to grind and nothing to sell is needed to sort it all out and answer all questions in a way that listeners understand their options.
At 3:30 p.m., Cathy Felton will talk on ‘Editing the Mature Garden’. What do you do with a yard full of overgrown shrubs and perennials with dead centers? It may be the house you’ve lived in for 40 years or it may be the one you just purchased. Either way, bringing a landscape back to a manageable shape doesn’t always need to be a job for a contractor – or pointlessly expensive. The program will show how incremental steps can undo decades of neglect.
At 5 p.m., Sally Muspratt offers ‘Small is Beautiful: Do-it-Yourself City Landscaping’. Not everyone has five acres, not everyone can hire a designer. The house in the city with 50 feet of street frontage can have just as much appeal as an estate. But where do you begin when you’re starting with some old boxwood and scraggly grass? This talk will take homeowners on a step-by-step process toward achieving a great landscape in a small space, and is especially appropriate for those of us located in the City of Boston.
