This time of year many local gardeners miss what was formerly one of the biggest events in the Dorchester calendar – the New England Spring Flower Show. From 1983 to 2008, thousands thronged the Bayside Exposition Center to ooh and ah, having successfully navigated the infamous traffic snarls at Exit 15.
After a year without a major flower show in Boston in 2009, the Needham-based event-marketer Paragon Group moved the event to Seaport World Trade Center, re-branding it as the Boston Flower & Garden Show in 2010. Through Sunday, March 20 Paragon and event-originator the Massachusetts Horticultural Society will co-produce for the second time the region’s largest indoor spring flower show.
Many wonder if the transplanted show is thriving and whether it’s worth it to venture over to Southie.
The Seaport show has noticeably fewer square feet of display space than Bayside boasted. The 25 main exhibits in the central aisle are sandwiched between hundreds of vendors on either side. Floral designers are lamenting that their areas lack the professional lighting and colorful backing panels that made their arrangements “pop” in Dorchester.
The expected attendance at the 2011 show is 67,000, less than half of what the New England Spring Flower Show claimed to be attracting in its heyday.
While there are no real knockouts, the biggest crowd-pleasers are a charming Seattle-style tree house, nestled in its own woody dell. “Along the Mossy Sanctuary,” a timbered pathway between huge gnarled tree trunks (#22), and six miniature gardens on a 1” to 1’ scale, including a teeny version of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum courtyard.
In support of this year’s show theme, “A Burst of Color: Celebrating the Container Garden,” Paragon has packed its lecture and demonstration schedule with such practical sessions as “The Best Container Gardening Plants for 2011,” “Growing Your Groceries in Containers,” “The Terrarium is Back!” and “Contain Your Enthusiasm!”
If the ticket price ($20 for adults, $17 for those over 65) is no obstacle, the best time to visit the mulch-scented event is the afternoon, avoiding both the morning bus tours and the after-work crowds.
The rest of the details are at thebostonflowershow.com
