Providence show this week

15 years ago

Hey all - The Rhode Island show starts this Thursday, Feb 19, with some great talks that day. Ken Druse will be speaking on Saturday at 1 PM, but there are other good ones during the week.

This show is small enough that, unlike Philly, you can see it all and also go to the talks. Personally, I can't wait!

Here is a link that might be useful: 2009 RI flower show events

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Comments (8)

carol6ma_7ari
15 years ago
It sounds wonderful! Boy, am I up for this, after this winter. Think I'll go Friday. I might make up a "Gardenweb" button or sign to wear on my hat, to locate others. Anyone else planning to be at the Friday lectures?

Carol
sedum37
15 years ago
I plan to go this Saturday. Looking forward to the talks. They really are good at RI and make the admission price worth it. I'll definitely be at the Ken Druse talk with my husband and mother in law and one of the other ones that day.

Sue
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julie79
15 years ago
Does anyone know which show is better: Providence or Hartford (Connecticut)? They are both on this weekend, and I can only go to one.

Thanks,
Julie

Here is a link that might be useful: CT flower show
diggingthedirt
Original Author
15 years ago
I haven't been to Hartford; their web site says the show will be "greatly expanded" this year, to 3 acres. Pvd is small and relaxed. Sydney Eddison is speaking at Hartford - I'd really like to see her.

Here is a link that might be useful: lectures at hartford show
diggingthedirt
Original Author
15 years ago
Had fun at the PVD show; we went to talks by Ken Druse and Paul Miskovsky, and really enjoyed having a little preview of spring.

Ken talked about the subject of his newest book, 'Planthropology,' showed some great photos of his garden in New Jersey, and talked about an interesting geometric phenomena that occurs in nature (the golden mean). Paul's talk was more informal, he talked about his experience working at the Chelsea show a couple of years ago, and showed slides of that event as well as some of a great garden he visited outside of London.

One of the larger exhibits included a stunning perimeter border of stick-straight 'Cleveland Select' pears; I was drawn to them because of something Paul had pointed out about one of the Chelsea exhibits, that used a lot of birch for this kind of vertical effect. I mentioned to the LA whose garden this was that I loved the effect, and asked if he knew if this particular pear had invasive tendencies. I was pretty surprised by his response - he didn't seem to be at all familiar with the term.
carol6ma_7ari
15 years ago
My Friday visit to the show was fun too, guys. What appeared to be archaeologists unearthing ancient Egyptian tombs was actually 2 sand sculptors cleverly costumed in 1900's explorer's khakis & helmets, creating the detailed statues and reliefs using trowels and paintbrushes exactly the way an archeologist would use them to reveal the stone artifacts only in reverse. The second best exhibit, I thought, was the Miskovsky installation which included gigantic slabs of granite at the outer corners (oh, yes, the plants were great too but I love rocks). Went to a demonstration of plant propagation techniques and realized I was doing OK already (dividing clumps, etc.). Didn't find any Felco clippers dealers, alas. But did find my favorite soap seller who carries Seaweed flavor soap; and just enjoyed walking around fondly tickling foxglove blooms under their freckled chins, while I pretended it was really springtime. Don't know which is worse: the aching feet from the miles of walking up & down aisles at a garden show, or the aching back from the weeding and planting of the actual garden. Hope vs. experience.
User
15 years ago
We went to PVD for a few hours Sunday morning. My first time there was last year, when I was very disappointed. But, I thought this year was MUCH better. Maybe just the different theme helped. Of course as soon as I walked through the door the bagpipes were playing, so I was hooked right away! There weren't many lectures listed for Sunday, but we went to one on container planting which had some helpful hints. I bought some inexpensive but very cute succulents - now if I only knew what they were!
From Misc
sedum37
15 years ago
We went to the show on Saturday and enjoyed it very much. The turn out was good but it wasn't hard to wander around and view the show. Some pretty interesting gardens to see.

I put a few photos in Picture Trail. See link below.

The theme for the RI Flower Show 2009 was "Gardens of the World". One returning display for the show was Sandtasia who sculpted statues and scenes from Ancient Egypt. The sculptors are so talented!

In addition to the show, we attended two talks: Secrets of the Garden Revealed! Planthropology: The Myths, Mysteries and Miracles of Our Garden Favorites by Ken Druse. One interesting note from his talk was how many designs in nature have mathematical models. Who knew Fibonacci numbers were so prevalent! DTD above gives a good summary of the Ken Druse talk.

The second talk was Landscapes Around the World by Karen Beck. This talk highlighted visits to famous public gardens in Germany, Japan, and Madison, WI (Thai inspired public gardens).

Finally the theme for the judged portion of the show was "Around the World in 80 Days". I love to read the judges comments and see if I agree. Also in this section some house plants and bulbs are forced. You can often get some good ideas. See the last four photos in the album showing bulb supports and forcing paperwhites with stones.

Here is a link that might be useful: RI Flower Show 2009 Photos