Expo Gleanings
February 28th, 2012
I thought the crowds, the gardens and the nice mix of things to do at this year’s Pennsylvania Garden Expo were better than ever.
Hope you got to see this three-day show over the weekend at the Pennsylvania Farm Show complex.
- Part of The Greenskeeper’s 2012 Pa. Garden Expo display.
The highlight for me is always the display gardens. A dozen local landscapers work their butt off building elaborate gardens on bare concrete in just four days.
This year’s Best of Show went to The Greenskeeper of Palmyra, which won for the second year in a row.
Eric Allebach and crew pulled out all the stops and built a display with just about every landscape feature you could imagine – a playhouse with sandbox, a two-level water feature, a bridge, a pergola-covered patio, bubbling columnar rock fountains, a hot tub, a fireplace with patio and a variety of specimen plants (including one of my favorites, the weeping Alaska cedar).
The garden also won the People’s Choice popular vote on Saturday and Sunday.
Second place for Best of Show went to Hummel’s Landscape of Harrisburg, which paired up with Dreamscapes Watergardens of Lebanon on a backyard get-away with a covered outdoor kitchen and a hot tub next to a natural stream.
Third place Best of Show went to Chris Archibald Landscape Design of Harrisburg for its pergola-covered patio and very cool paver fire pit surrounded by a half-circle seating area made out of matching pavers.
The People’s Choice award for Friday went to the Hummel/Dreamscapes display.
Other winners were:
* Best Water Feature: C.E. Pontz Sons Inc., Lancaster.
* Best Hardscape: Landis Hardscape Specialist, Lebanon.
- Levendusky Landscape won Best Use of Plants for this display.
* Most Creative: The Greenskeeper, Palmyra.
* Best Use of Plants: Levendusky Landscape, Mechanicsburg.
* Most Educational: Team Lewis Landscaping, Grantville.
* Best School Garden: Cumberland-Perry Area Vocational-Technical School.
* Winner of Flower Arranging Contest: Uszticks Florist, Dauphin.
A few other tidbits of interest from Expo…
Ahmed Hassan, host of DIY Network’s “Yard Crashers” packed the Garden Talk stage Sunday. From what I could surmise, a lot of the crowd wasn’t there just to hear him talk about mulch. Who would’ve thought a landscaper could become a sex symbol?
I ran into Jim Doyle (Nature’s Way Nursery) at the Susquehanna Bonsai Club display and was impressed at how much of an international bonsai celeb Jim has become. He’s speaking and teaching all over the world these days and has experts from Italy and Puerto Rico coming to his place May 12 for Nature’s Way’s annual Open House (www.natureswaybonsai.com for more info).
Gardeners apparently are big-time wine fans. My Expo booth was next to Blue Mountain Wine of Lehigh Valley, and that place was packed the whole time, pouring samples and selling bottles as fast as they could pack them up.
Several other local wineries (Allegro, Armstrong Valley, Kog Hill, Naylor, West Hanover) were also doing a brisk business. Maybe gardeners figure the weeding goes a little easier after a nip or two.
And finally, thanks to all who stopped by, said hi and had so many kind words about my column, web site and/or consults.
I was giving away a basket full of garden goodies at Expo (including a bucket full of 30 packs of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds), and the winner of that drawing was Beverly Hartman of Dillsburg. She’ll be eating healthy this summer.