Going on the last day of a 9 day show (actually 10 as the show is privately opened today)has some advantages such as crowd size and last minute bargains. I don't enjoy crowds but always go on the first day or two mostly because the live displays are at their best, by the end of the week they are just as beautiful but are starting to lose their vigor and show signs of wilt. The admission is not inexpensive so choose whatever pleases you most so you get the most out of your time.

I like going mid-week when flower arrangements are still fresh.

This year, I'm studying floral design at North Shore Community College (through Essex Agriculture and Technical Institute), and one of their courses does a display at the show. Although I'm not in that particular course, I got to help out with the installation, and it was so much fun.

Seeing the various top-rated designers hauling in their mega-budget exhibits, piece by piece, and putting them together in just a couple of days was amazing, and we got to meet some of the big names. In fact, our modest-budgeted little exhibit got assigned a space right next to the biggest, fanciest one (by Paul Misovsky and David Haskell, disciple of and son of (respectively) the great designer/nurseryman Allan Haskell who passed away a few years ago. They plopped their equipment and table right on top of our workspace! But, they also let us use their tools and eat their plentiful pizza.

We also saw the pitfalls that so many big displays endure, such as leaks in waterfeatures, plants that break drop their blossoms during installing, and all of the other things that require designers to be flexible and resourceful.

It was a memorable opportunity. I'll be doing the watering of our display later in the week, and also helping to take down the exhibit at the end of the show. I wanted to experience the entire process of doing a flower show display, so I'm getting a good workout. :)

How cool, Cady. Misovsky lives near me, and a friend of mine helps with his exhibit every year, in exchange for various horticultural paybacks. As I was leaving town late last week, I saw one of his trucks heading up to Boston - and decided I *have* to get to the show this year. I won tickets from BostonGardens.com, one of the really good regional garden web sites, so I plan to go as soon as I'm back from Charleston (I'm working on a research ship here for a few days). I'd have loved to get to some of the talks, but I think they'll all be over by the time I return.

I've never been on the last day, so I can't answer ralgam's question, sorry bout that. I sure hope the show is intact to at least near the end of its run.

Ralgam,
A few years ago I went on the last day and to me the exhibits did not look too tired, it was not nearly as crowded, but if your going with the hopes of making a purchase I wouldn't hold out much hope, unlike a shop they are not replenishing stock and although I doubt it is permitted I thought some must have left early.
Cady,
What a blast. I would love to experience what happens behind the scenes at a flower show (green with envy). I am guessing this will be a valuable career tool for you in crisis control! If you get a chance in the near future I would love to hear more about it.
dtd,
You have the best job what better time to skip out of town and actually experience spring before June.

DtD and KT,
Misovsky's trucks constituted the majority of the vehicles in the Expo parking lot during the exhibit setup days! lol One of the best "perks" of working at the Flower Show setup was getting to see the completion of the big designers' exhibits. I got to see the finished Misovsky/Haskell mega-exhibit (fabulous) on Thursday evening! Other wonderful displays, including the Newport Flower Show one (also next to our little NSCC/Essex Aggie exhibit -- we were sandwiched between some of the biggest, fanciest stuff in the show. lol), were also getting their finishing touches, so it was fun to preview the show before even the Member's Night preview.

I even got to get interviewed by a WBZ reporter, though it likely ended up on the "cutting room" floor! Thursday night was just before the big storm, and the news reporter wanted to know whether it was weird that we were working with flowers and live plants when a lot of snow was about to fall the next morning. What a riot. We all know that Flower Shows are all about defying winter.

There is a genuine buzz in the air when a big show like the New England Flower Show is being put together. I can understand now why a lot of people are addicted to getting an annual exhibit designed and installed, even though it is a huge amount of work. There must be an adrenaline rush when the crews know they have to have it all in place and perfect in 3 days or fewer. Even our little display took the full time to assemble (although of course we had a much smaller work crew -- just a handful of ladies with some rakes and shovels).

Now I'm trying not to think about taking it all apart and carting it away.

Oops - I meant 4 days allowed to set up displays, not 3 (you can set up from Monday through Thursday night, and an hour on Friday a.m.).

Ralgam, I looked at the Mass. Hort rules manual for the show, and it appears that exhibits (and I assume that means vendors' booths as well) aren't supposed to be taken apart until the end of the show, which is 6pm that Sunday. Breakdown starts at 6:30. I would think that vendors would want to milk every moment to sell stuff! But some do get anxious to get out by the end, when the foot traffic dwindles.

How about some pictures!!

I will get some when it's my turn to water on Thursday. Some of the other ladies got shots of the display in procees of being assembled so I'll see if I can get them to e-mail me some of the "befores."

One of the women in the class just e-mailed me to say that our exhibit took the Silver in its division (I'm not sure what division that is) and also was given a "Superlative Award" for the use of annuals. WOW! I'm thrilled.

I was just "grunt" labor for this display, which was designed by Lisa Green, a local floral designer and adjunct floriculture faculty for NSCC. She did something for the Philadelphia Flower Show too. Very talented. It was fun to help her make her artistic vision into a reality, even though my role was focused on shoveling mulch, planting flowers, attaching moss to cover a table, and tying bunches of curly willow together for wattle fence!

A review of the NE flower show by Carol Stocker on www.boston.com. Free registration may be required to view the article...

Here is a link that might be useful: Carol Stocker on this years show....

Just got back. GO, GO, GO to the flower show. Quite a number of really wonderful exhibits. The skill level increases every year. The forcing of really difficult plants is amazing. The water features are so well done, so naturalistic in comparison to some years ago. The designers have really "got it". I honestly don't know how any New England gardener could miss this show, if they had a choice.

I enjoyed it too, much more than some other years.

I went to a talk by Harriet Zbikowski, a designer who started Foxgloves, Creating Topography in the Perennial Border - Looking at Mass and Form. It was interesting, if not quite as slick or as ... concrete as some of the other talks I've seen at shows. Her list of favorite plants could have been taken out of one of my notebooks, so obviously she had good taste!

Stopped by the Heronswood booth just to gawk at the hellebores, and ended up speaking for about a half hour with the guy who was manning the booth; it turned out he's the hellebore breeder for Burpee/Heronswood. It was really interesting listening to him talk about the plants, the gardens and the company.

Our own Bostongardens (Hilda) was speaking this afternoon, I'm sorry to say that I missed her talk, she spoke about gardening as you approach old age.

I loved the fact that Miskovsky had all those forced mulleins - not the usual material at plant shows.

I had to pick up one of those slick Heronswood catalogues too! The photos made me drool on the subway ride back to the North Shore.

It's true: this year's show is better than many of preceding years. Mass. Hort. looks like it is becoming flexible to roll with changing times, making its society and famous show much more "down to earth" and within reach of a new generation of gardeners and potential gardeners. Even the floral arranging division was full of creative new ideas this season, and the garden clubs did some cool things too. I hope it continues along this line and attracts more of the kind of talent it did this year.

Did you see the hanging basket of hellebores at that booth? Zowie! I also thought the mulleins were outstanding--don't recall anything like that. But I do have to confess I always find lots to enjoy at the flower show, at every level of expertise.

Ok you guys have convinced me to go to the show this year! All the wonderful comments. I usually do enjoy the show each year in any case and generally go the first Saturday of the show. I guess this year I was feeling burned out having been to the Lyman Estate Greenhouses, RI and Philly flower shows in the last month. Anyone take any photos??

Sue

Sorry, Sue, I left my camera at home this year.

I hope we haven't over-hyped the show, and that you're not disappointed. Speaking for myself only, part of why I enjoyed it so much may be that my expectations are more reasonable now. I will add, though, that one of the people working in one of the MassHort stores said she liked it better than this year's Philly show, which she said was a tiny little bit ... tacky.

I also made a point of talking to some of the people who were working - experts, artisans etc, more than I usually do, and that made it much more fun. Aside from horticulturalists, there were some photographers in the market area, and some artisans (like the guy who makes fabulous wrought iron fences and sculptures - wow, were they beautiful!) in the exhibit area who were downright fascinating.

Have fun!

Oh DTD don't worry that you've overhyped the show. Most years I am so pleased with the show in any case. A funny story, I found myself butting into the overheard conversation of two women at the RI flower show who were complaining about the size and quality of the show. You would have thought that I helped organize the show or had a vested interest. I just felt the women were criticizing it comparing it to Philly or Boston when the show isn't in the league of these shows and has never tried to be in this league. I guess I am surprised when people are so critical of things instead of enjoying each show for what it is...

I agree it is fun to get out of a show other things like the talks or visits to vendors or questions of the landscape display monitors.

Sue

I went today and had a great time. I wasn't as thrilled with Haskell/Miskovsky and Earthworks displays as last year-they were still lovely but I liked last year better. I loved Sandeck and NE Nursery displays very much but I think my favorite was the one from Newport flower show. It was very creative. I was happily surprised as how fresh the plant material was. Funny, I pull mullein out of my garden since I don't like it. I put some pics on my webshots page. Enjoy!

Here is a link that might be useful: NE Flower show 2007 pics

terry,
Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos I don't think I will be able to make it this year so they were a real treat. I do how ever wish you had used the scratch and sniff option on your camera...hey with all the menu options I am sure there must be one with an icon of a nose. My favorite hands down was the moss garden, and the petals of the pink flower are really beautiful. Do you know the name of the blue flower after the delphiniums? Thanks Again. kt

That blue flower was a close up of one of the delphinium blooms. Unfortunately there weren't many name tags in that bed, but the one that I could see was called "Green Twist" and it was next to a plant with the same bloom color of the one in the picture. I'm hoping that was the correct name for this particular plant because it was just beautiful. Good thing there was no one selling these in the marketplace (see my post about Heronswood LOL). The pink flower was an orchid, and lovely as it was, it had a bit of "enhancement" by the display. There were red lightbulbs above these plants that added a pinker tone to the bloom. I suspect that it was really whiter than it looked without the lights. But it made for a lovely picture. I liked the moss as well, especially with the black bamboo coming up through it.

Oh, I am so glad you took pictures, terryboc! They're excellent.

I'm especially glad you got one of the carved rocks, the roof garden, and the "stream." Gee, somehow you didn't get one of the parks department exhibit! (I'm just kidding, I think anyone who saw it will know what I mean. )

The only picture I took (and it came out blurry!) was of the little lambs in one of the displays. Did anyone get a good one of that? (or is it only me that is fascinated with sheep, heh)

We went around 5PM on Saturday. It was so uncrowded - it was a pleasure walking around until it closed at 9PM. I wonder if the threat of snow kept people home Saturday night? I too thought the show was excellent! I usually go the first Saturday and was also surprised how fresh everything looked on the second Saturday. I also took a lot of pictures but haven't had time to post them yet. LisaNH - I'll check if I have a sheep photo. Terryboc - the Newport Flower show was my favorite exhibit also. It was so creative and well done. For those who didn't see it, it was an under sea ship wreck with coral made from cactus and other creative sea creatures and creations made from plant material. I have several photos I'll be sure to post of this one as we went back to this exhibit a second time!

Sue

Mass Hort is diligent about requiring exhibitors to keep plant material fresh. Growers must have multiple back-ups for most plants and refresh them regularly during the show, replacing things that have gone by, especially bulbs, annuals and perennials.

The flower arranging and amateur hort exhibits also are changed several times during the show. I know it's early but why don't some of the many good gardeners here enter this part of the show? Anyone can do it--just get the rules from Mass Hort. There's even a children's section.

kt and terry - I was very impressed with that delphinium group and saw markers for 'Green Twist', 'Double Innocence' and 'Royal Inspiration'. The first two are white and the RI is blue. Because of my browser I can't see the photos, so don't know if it matches. HTH

dtd - LOL parks dept. display, but how come you didn't mention the models in their bridal gowns looking VERY self-conscious?

Everyone had such positive things to say about the Flower show that I couldn't stay away. It was the best NE Show I have seen in more than a decade. Beautiful iron work...interesting conifers....very natural looking water features...and the smell....Here are some of my pictures from the show (click to enlarge):

Custom Iron Fence

Water Fall

Celtic Rock

Shipwreck

Underwater Treasure

Cedar 'Snow Sprite'

Water Feature

Table Topper

Chair Decoration

Here are a few more NE Flower Show pictures (click on picture to enlarge):

Beautiful Urn

Hosta Hosta

Lady in Stone

Orchid

Hoastabuff,
Thanks for the photos they are great..it's not easy to take photos of plants under those lighting conditions. I think my favorites are Cedar 'Snow Sprite',Waterfall, table topper, and Orchid. I guess it was unanimous the show was the best in many years. Thanks again kt

Cady - is this the exhibit you worked on?

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So imaginative; I loved all of it, but I have to say the carpet was my favorite.

Now, inquiring minds want to know, what happens to all of the plant material when the exhibits are taken down? I'm assuming that the larger things go back to greenhouses for now, but are they able to be used in an outdoor landscape later, or is the stress of being forced too much for them?

I agree with what others have said about the show above, the exhibits seemed much more "within reach" this year - ideas that we could possibly re-create for less than a million dollars. I also enjoyed the table scapes in a natural setting; more interesting than seeing them in isolation.

-Wendy

Lisa, I noticed this little guy in the background of one of my pictures.

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Hi Wendy,
Yes, that's the one. It was the class project of floriculture students in their "Interior Plantscapes" course at North Shore Community College/Essex Agricultural & Technical Institute. I'm not in that course (I'm taking floral design), but volunteered to be grunt labor. It was fun helping. It was the first time I ever was behind the scenes at a flower show.

So now I know what happens to the plants afterward... Here's the scoop:

- Expensive and specimen plants go back with the landscapers to their greenhouses to wait out the chilly weather until it's safe to go outside. Gorgous mature trees and shrubs were no way going to be thrown out. Some of them were worth $thousands.

- Anything of use or value, such as accessories, rocks, decor, was taken back by exhibitors.

- cheapo and disposable plant materials such as common flowering bulbs, annuals and inexpensive tropical plants get thrown out. Exhibitors were throwing out stuff they used to fill in cracks between rocks, like succulents, mosses and small bulb flowers. There were also water hyacinths being tossed from water features.

Over in the vendor area, some of the orchid sellers were giving away damaged plants. An herb seller marked everything down to $1 a pot.

For the NSCC we threw out most of the annuals and bulbs because they were getting lanky and weren't worth the effort of coddling (we saved some annuals such as sweet alyssum and English Bella daisies for a fundraising plant sale at the Aggie, since they'll bloom all season) and biennials that were blooming and at the end of their cycle. We tossed the sheets of perennial rye that covered the table.

Mass. Hort. volunteers were patrolling the floors in search of goodies! They politely asked whether they could have some of the plants, and were rewarded with all the bellas and alyssum they could tote. A gentleman asked for the snapdragon and verbascum flowers as a bouquet, and we snipped them for him, but tossed the plants.

The lamb in your photo was part of a pair (one black, one white) of eight-week-olds loaned for the exhibit by a farm couple from Acushnet. I met them on Thursday night before the show when we were setting up. The wife was worried because the lambs had never been away from their mother, and they bleated ALL evening and probably the night. By the time I saw them the next week, they were settled down and resigned to being on display. By the final Sunday, they looked tired and ready to go home. I was glad their owners rescued them!

I also watched the workers at another display catching the ornamental swans to take home. Poor things didn't want to go. They liked their paradise.

Some of the forcers sell extra plants grown for the show during the week or so after the show. You just have to find out who was forcing. There aren't that many of them--too expensive and too much of a challenge. Lake St. Nursery in Windham NH is one.

Lake St. is where NSCC got most of its flowering plants. The rest were forced in the Essex Aggie greenhouse.

We had a list of the nursery's available plants, forced just for the flower show.

Now that's interesting, Cady. And for everyone, if you don't mind not being able to buy anything and you live nearby, it's worth a visit to Lake St. right before the show to see some amazing plants up close and personal, as they say. All you can do is drool!

I especially like Lake Street and I'm always jealous of the recipients of the flats of lovely plants grown for the flower shows there.