32nd Connecticut Flower & Garden Show Taking Place February 21-24, 2013 at the Connecticut Convention Center

"The “32^nd annual Connecticut Flower & Garden Show” – one of the largest and most prestigious flower shows in New England – will bring the sights and scents of Spring from Thursday, February 21 through Sunday, February 24, 2013 to the Connecticut Convention Center on 100 Columbus Blvd. in Hartford. Hours are: Thursday, February 21 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday, February 22 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, February 23 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sunday, February 24 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The colorful, fragrant show covers almost three acres with the theme, “Love in Bloom”.   

Highlights are:

- More than 20 gardens fill over an acre, created by professional landscape designers and nonprofit organizations, and include naturalistic, low maintenance and organic gardens.

- Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut’s 2013 Advanced Standard Flower Show: 12,000+ square foot design and horticulture competition and more than 250 judged entries, all with a wedding theme!

-  Hundreds of displays and activities and aisles of fresh flowers, plants, garden ornaments, herbs, bulbs, seeds, fertilizers, soils, gardening books, patio furniture, ornaments and lawn equipment for purchase. Floral/ garden Arts & Crafts area. Bring 1/2 cup of soil to the UConn Co-op booth for free soil testing.

- More than 80 hours of seminars by horticulturists and experts including:

• Roger Swain, known as "The Man in the Red Suspenders”, former host of PBS’ The Victory Garden and HGTV’s People, Places & Plants: For the Love of Fruit: A Beginners Guide to Great Taste
• Gordon Hayward: Art & the Gardener and Your House Your Garden;
• Margot Shaw, editor of “Flower Magazine”: Decorating with Flowers;
• M.J. McCabe: Incorporating Bulbs Into Your Garden;
• Karen Bussolini: Edible Ornamental Gardens and Naturescaping Your Garden;
• Jerry Fritz: Deer Resistant Perennials;
• Lelaneia Dubay: The Garden Room;
• Dawn Petnelli: Compostology and Soils for Vegetable Gardening;
• Bob Buettner: Floral Arranging;
• Julie Lapham: Floral Design;
• Tammy Cressotti: Honey Bees & Their Life Cycle;
• Jim Conroy & Basia Alexander: Tree Whispering-A Nature Lover's Guide to Touching, Healing & Communicating with Trees, Plants & All of Nature and Cooperative BioBalance - Paradigm Shifting to Restore Balance in Nature;
• Todd Mervosh: Invasive Plants & Weeds;
• Ellen Hoverkamp: Floral Scanner Photography;
• Helen O'Donnell: Spring Garden Maintenance and Annuals in a New Way, Starting from Seed;
• Maureen Haseley-Jones a/k/a The English Lady : Garden Earth
• Ellen Ecker Ogden: Kitchen Garden Design;
• Janet Lennox Moyer: Landscape Lighting with LED;
• Peter Picone: Enhancing Your Habitat for Songbirds;
• Rich Cowles: Invasive Insects;
• Len Giddix: 3 Rules to Successful Gardening & Why They Work;
• Coleen Plimpton: Gardening with the Birds and All Season Color in the Garden;
• Phil Costello: Landscape Lighting;
• Rob Townsend: Water Gardening Basics and Pond Ecology;
• Nick Mancini: How to Grow True Organic Seeds;
• Lisa Napolitano: The Birds & the Bees...and the Flower & the Trees; and

--TICKET INFORMATION --  

$16 Adults; $14 Seniors on Thursday/Friday only; $4 Children 5-12; Free under age 5 – Cash Only. Group rates for 15 or more people: contact (860) 844-8461 or [email protected]. (Advance tickets $2 off, must be purchased now through February 20, 2013 at the following Connecticut locations: The Garden Barn in Vernon; Garden Specialties in Mystic; Lawncare, Etc… in North Haven; Hunter's Pool Center in Yalesville; Moscarillo’s Garden Shoppe in West Hartford; Natureworks in Northford; Revay's Garden Center in Broad Brook; Stonehedge Garden Center in Newington; and Woodland Gardens in Manchester.

Show sponsors include B & P Turf Farm, Goodyear Farms, T.J. Bark Mulch, Connecticut Horticulture Society, Bob Kelly Florist, Inc., WRCH Light 100.5, WFSB Channel 3, Bedard Enterprises, and North East Expos."