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PrintHere come the garden shows
Photo courtesy of Canada Blooms.
There will probably still be snow on the ground when our local trio of indoor garden expositions hits Buffalo, Toronto, and Rochester, respectively, and that’s why they are so welcome. This month, within two hours of Buffalo, you have three tickets to paradise—whether you’re a gardener who’s been impatiently waiting for the planting season to begin or just someone who is sick and tired of snow but can’t fly away to the tropics.
It’s actually worthwhile to visit all three of these shows, because they serve completely different purposes for the Buffalo-area gardener. All feature twenty or more display gardens complete with grottos, outdoor kitchens, exotic water features, and more, as well as dozens of vendors who will sell you anything from bulbs to an unbreakable hose nozzle.
If you’re looking for supplies and services you can use here and now ...
Check out Plantasia. The best thing about Buffalo’s garden event is that it highlights our vendors and landscape designers. You may not see the plants you’re interested in, as it’s difficult (and expensive) to feature anything but common shrubs and spring-blooming bulbs (with some exceptions) in these March displays, but you will see water features and paving that might interest you, as well as the people who can come over to your house and install it. These local garden gurus know our terroir and can give you advice on what’s best for your soil and conditions. Plantasia also has a section devoted to local plant societies and nonprofits, with great kids’ activities.
If you love flowers ...
You must visit Canada Blooms. Sure, CB has lots of display gardens, too (one is shown above), but I wouldn’t drive to Toronto for the gardens alone, as nice as they are. Unlike Plantasia and Gardenscapes, however, Canada Blooms is also a flower show, with prizes for the most inventive arrangements, as well as generous displays of all kinds of flowers in bloom that you can buy. If you’re Canadian that is: customs doesn’t allow plant material to come back over the border. Nonetheless, it is delicious to wander among the tulips, amaryllis, ranunculus, lilies, and other varieties and this show is worthwhile for that experience alone.
If you want to see some freaky garden art ...
Gardenscapes is the place. Having never been to the Rochester garden show, I must admit that the 2010 line-up looks fascinating. There will be the usual display gardens, vendors, and lectures—no surprises there—but this year there is also the intriguingly named Alien Nature, a photography installation by artists Rodrigo Pedrolli and Michael Murphree that’s been featured in Garden Design and Art in America magazines, and exhibited at the Brooklyn and South Beach Botanical gardens. This is a startlingly avant-garde project for a garden show to take on and it alone makes the trip to Henrietta worthwhile.
Plantasia
March 25–28
Agri-Center and Expo Building
The Fairgrounds, Hamburg
www.plantasiany.com
Canada Blooms
March 17–21
Direct Energy Centre
100 Princes’ Blvd.
Toronto
www.canadablooms.com
Gardenscapes
Monroe County Fair & Expo Center Henrietta
March 11–14
www.rochesterflowershow.com
