The Connecticut Flower and Garden Show 2009 was a Big Sucess

The Annual Connecticut Flower and Garden Show came to end this past Sunday for 2009. It ran from, Thursday, February 19 through Sunday, February 22. This show has been a staple in Connecticut for 27 years and has become so big, that it has grown out of the previous two venues that have hosted it in the past. It is now know as one of the best shows to see on the East Coast.

45,000 square feet of the Connecticut Convention Center Exhibit Hall was dedicated to full bloom landscapes from various non-profit organizations, as well as, some award winning landscaping businesses. Individual exhibits ranged in size from 300 to 2,000 square feet and 12,000 square feet was dedicated to competitive design and horticulture.

Wonderful exhibits of blooms ranged from the Connecticut Horticulture Society to the Bonsai Society of Greater Hartford. My favorite was a wonderful display of bonsai trees that are pictured below. The owner of the display was not available for comment, however, the society members that were present, believe that these trees are at least 25 years old.

The exhibits were breath taking, but, a flower show would not be complete without seminars on how to make your own home gardens cheery. Many seminars were organized throughout the weekend. They varied in topic from getting ready for spring, growing tasty vegetables, making floral arrangements, building a retaining wall, and com posting, to name a few. All of the informative seminars were held in separate rooms of the convention center so you could hear the instructors.

Many of the booths were informative for not only adults, but children as well. One booth featured the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory that had a wonderful display of live butterflies from around the world. The Department of Agriculture was also on hand and passed out informational fliers to show goers. Another booth featured the University of Connecticut's Co-op who did free soil testing for your gardens.

There were also hundreds of booths that had flowers, seeds, and gardening equipment for sale. Many of the booths had things you would not typically find at your local home improvement or garden center. I found a Japanese Maple bonsai starter plant that I added to my houseplant collection. There were also seed packets for purchase of flowers that you would not typically find in bloom here in Connecticut. Which might make a rookie gardener feel overwhelmed at first, but the people who were manning the booths were extremely helpful with information.

All-in-all, the show was wonderful, and I think, a great success. This was my family's first show and we were blown away by the breath taking displays. So much so, that this will now be an annual event for us.