I'll be spending the morning working the front booth at the 18th annual Hicks Flower and Garden Show today. I'll also be there Monday morning. Next Sunday morning (3/9), I'll be testing soil at the back booth.
The display gardens at the show are great inspirations for your own gardens, but it's important to remember you won't get all those plants to bloom at once at home. Though it's winter, they'll have spring bulbs blooming next to summer annuals and even fall blossoms. That's the magic of indoor, climate-controlled forced blooming.
Plants will be available for purchase, as will seed starting supplies and other necessities to jump start the season.
Stop by and say hello if you're in the neighborhood. And bring a soil sample for testing. I know it's cold outside, but it's so important to get a pH reading of your soil before adding any amendments. Pull on a coat and gloves and dig down 4 inches in 3 or 4 different spots of your garden bed or lawn. Then mix all that soil in one ziplock bag (a total of a cup of soil is plenty) and bring it to the desk in the back of the store. I -- or one of my Cornell Cooperative Extension colleagues -- will be happy to test it for you. If you're gathering soil from several different areas on your property, mix 3 or 4 samples from each area into one bag. Just don't mix area (veggie patch, lawn, flower bed) soils together.
Gardens on display during this year's show (I'll post photos next week)
Wine and Roses
Roses are everywhere in this garden. You’ll see new and old varieties of carpet and knockout roses, some of our most popular and carefree roses. This garden features a sophisticated array of burgundy, pink and silver flowers and foliage. Annuals and perennials will be chosen from plant series named Merlot, Chardonnay and Symphony. Enjoy the song “The Days of Wine and Roses” while taking in this garden.
Rock and Roll Garden
This multi colored garden will feature plants with names relating to rock and roll including Jethro Tull Coreopsis, Stairway to Heaven Polemonium, Kaleidoscope Abelia, Rosa Yellow Submarine and Salvia Purple Rain. Special lighting effects will help create the mood of the seventies and eighties.
Jack and Jill Garden
The children’s garden contains plants that are named after people. Large alphabet letters will set off the garden theme and children’s music will welcome the youngsters. Activity sheets will be available for children to seek and find all the names that they can. They may even find their own name on a plant they would like to try and grow in their own garden.
Rhapsody of Color
This is the classical music garden, featuring plants with names like Anemone ‘Serenade,’ Snapdragon ‘Madame Butterfly,’ Osteospermum Vanilla Symphony, Syringa Minuet and Symphony and Harmony series of impatiens and pansies. Enjoy the patio and seating area where you can relax and admire the garden or have your picture taken, while listening to light classical music.
Country Hoe Down
Grab your partner and do-se-do to the vegetable garden, built around a barn-like structure. We’re showcasing vegetables that include juicy red tomatoes and plump green peppers as well as herbs and plants such as Heliotrope “Iowa,” Cersis Canadensis ‘Oklahoma,’ and Quince ‘Texas Scarlet.’ The sounds of country music will complete the down-home, welcoming feeling here.
Tropical Heat Wave
This garden showcases the trend towards using tropical flowers in northeastern gardens. Every year, more and more of our growers are developing cold tolerant plants that help you create your own personal paradise in your yard. Hot, fiery colors will be shown here from series of flowers in groupings named Samba, Tango and the like. This will bring you a nice taste of summer in the cold of winter.
