Sign of Spring
February 8th, 2011
The first sign of spring to me isn’t the singing of robins but the arrival of the Pennsylvania Garden Expo.
Reinford Landscape's award-winning display garden from the 2010 Pa. Garden Expo.
This 3-day garden show at the Farm Show Complex is first out of the gate of the four late-winter shows in day-trip range of Harrisburg. Once Expo gets here, things seem to roll into onion-planting time pretty fast – even if we get a blizzard or two in the meantime.
This year’s Expo happens Fri., Feb. 25, through Sun., Feb. 27.
My favorite part is the display gardens. I helped build a few of these in Expo’s early years, and I can tell you a ton of work goes into it in a very short period of time.
It’s not easy creating a blooming garden in February – complete with water features, outdoor kitchens and paver patios – on top of solid concrete in a matter of days. If you’re curious about what goes on behind the scenes, I wrote an article on it last year. Check it out here.
Ten local landscapers plan to build gardens this year, and students from area vo-tech and trade schools are building five more.
These gardens might not be as elaborate as the Philadelphia Flower Show’s theatrical spectacles, but they are very nice and a welcome site when most of us have had enough ice and snow.
One thing most people come away saying about Expo display gardens is that these are realistic gardens – in other words, ones you could and would actually do in your own yard.
That’s the point. The idea of Expo isn’t to astound you but to give ideas, information and inspiration to make your home landscape a little nicer.
Roger Swain speaking to an Expo crowd.
The seminars are geared toward that end, too. Coming back once again for talks all three days is the inimitable Roger Swain, he of the red suspenders, beard and “Victory Garden” pedigree.
Roger is actually Harvard-trained brilliant, but he’s got a down-to-earth manner that connects perfectly with folks who, well, like to get down to the earth. He’s always filled with stories that help you learn without realizing you’ve been “teachered.”
I’m planning to sit in on Roger’s talk on “Good Enough Grass” (Sat., 3 p.m.) on moving away from our obsession with perfect green carpets.
Throughout the show, other talks will focus on growing herbs, creating cool-weather container gardens, the psychology of curb appeal and eco-friendly yards.
I’ll be doing four talks: “10 Ways to Be a Greener Gardener” (Fri., 1:30), a seed-starting demo (Fri., 3:30); “How NOT to Mess Up Your Landscape” (Sat., 10:30) and “Cutting-Edge Plants for Your 2011 Garden” (Sat., 1:30).
For the first time, I’m also going to have a booth at Expo all three days where I’ll be happy to chat and answer questions.
My lovely wife, Sue, will be there, too. She’s planning to decorate the booth with plants and run a video montage of photos from some of the great gardens we’ve visited.
She and my daughter, Erin, also designed one of those nifty pull-down banners with a big flower and my face on it. It makes its public debut at Expo.
Thinking about heading over? The Expo folks gave me eight tickets that I’m giving away randomly to four of my e-column subscribers. So if you’re on that list, you don’t have to do anything. I’ll email the winners. If you’re not on the list, sign up by hitting the button in the left column. And this would be a good time to get your friends and family to sign up (so they can give you their tickets in case they win).
Besides the gardens and talks, you’ll find more than 150 vendors and exhibitors of all sorts manning booths at Expo. See the full show details at www.pagardenexpo.org.
And if you’d also like to see the 2011 edition of that other flower show, the one they have down in Philadelphia, I’m taking three bus loads down through Lowee’s Group Tours on March 7, 9 and 11. It’s $75 (including show admission), and the theme this year re-creates Paris in spring.
The first bus is already filled, and the second one is almost there, too. Sign up to go by calling Lowee’s at 657-9658 or toll-free 1-888-345-6933.