Connecticut Flower & Garden Show Weekend

After a fifty minute drive and a twenty minute wait on the exit ramp to get into the parking garage, your Gardening Guru finally made it into the Connecticut Expo Center in Hartford for the 30th Annual Connecticut Flower & Garden Show. 

Was it worth it?  It had anything and everything you could want for your garden (except a birdbath, which I was personally looking for). Many of the companies that offered services such as landscape design were understandably from up north, but I found quite a few ties to Wilton among the crowd.

Imperial Nurseries in Granby, CT, is a wholesale grower who sells to Young’s Nursery in Wilton. 

“We have thousands of plants,” said Imperial's potting manager Jim Wells, surrounded by a display of their live flowers and kitchen herbs. “And we are introducing a hundred new varieties this year alone.” 

Imperial Nurseries proudly displays the Connecticut Grown label on all of their plants so that customers know they are part of the locally grown movement. 

Even Wilton Library’s Development Director Anne Rowlands was at the expo.

“This is my other job besides the Wilton Library,” said Rowlands of her publication Connecticut Gardener.  Rowlands and her husband Will were at the event in Hartford selling subscriptions and past issues of their popular magazine. 

Gregg Bell of the Bridgeport-based company Mayan Dreams Imports was up in Hartford selling his home décor, folk art and garden accessories that he imports from Mexico. 

“Our warehouse is in Bridgeport,” said Bell who mainly sells his items at expos like this one and via his online catalog through his company’s website. “Locally, we will be at the Fairfield Ludlowe High School Garden Expo that is coming up.” 

The high school’s online calendar states that this expo will be held from March 18 through to the 20th. 

If you get a chance to get up to Hartford today, I definitely recommend it as a great way to spend a chilly February afternoon. The live landscape exhibits are quite amazing and when you see what folks have done with floral displays in the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut Standard Flower Show, you will be genuinely impressed. 

Check the website to coordinate arrival time with seminars that you would like to take advantage of.  And bring the kids!  I can’t tell you how many times I heard a child squeal with delight over purchasing their very own mini bonsai tree or Venus fly trap.     

For directions and seminar information visit www.ctflowershow.com.