It's FLOWER SHOW WEEK!

IT'S FLOWER SHOW WEEK!

Thursday, February 18- Sunday, February 22nd

CT Convention Center in Hartford

Hello

I am SO sick of winter. I am sick of snow. I want spring and I want it NOW!

I bet you feel the same way. Don't worry, I can help you with that. It's Flower Show Week! Yay! We have been working so hard packing up all our seed racks, lots of new books for grownups and kids, fun gifts, puzzles, summer bulbs, cute nature stickers, cute new planters and so much more. We will have a huge TRIPLE booth again this year. As you walk into the show, take a left and then go down the last aisle. We are directly across from the amazing Federated Garden Club section. Our booth numbers are #411, #413, and #415.

There is nothing like walking into the show and smelling spring. There will be display gardens with gorgeous blooming plants, waterfalls, and flowers everywhere. It will make you completely forget that it is still winter and transport you to a place of warmth and joy.

There will be pussywillows, witch hazels, daffodils, and tulips. There will be vendor booths overflowing with garden-themed items. There will be live music, food and drink.

AND THERE WILL BE GARDENING SEMINARS!!!

All of the seminars are upstairs and free with your admission ticket. They happen all day, every day. Diane and I will be speaking multiple times. DOUG TALLAMY is the featured speaker on Thursday. My friends Jim Sirch, Kathy Connolly, Merrie Avalone, Len Giddix, Denise Ciastko, and so many more talented, knowledgeable gardeners will be there teaching so many gardening topics.

Have you ever seen Doug Tallamy speak in person? It is a mesmerizing, inspirational event. Even if you have read his books, until you actually hear him speak in person, you won't know what I mean. What is so special is that even though he has an insane amount of knowledge, he is humble and kind and very approachable. Last year I told everyone to get there early and I was Dr. Tallamy's speaker keeper. I took him up to the room 45 minutes ahead of schedule and the room filled to overflowing within minutes. He simply said ASK ME ANYTHING to the crowd and they did. It was a fascinating back and forth for 45 minutes before his talk even began!

That's DOUG TALLAMY above speaking to a packed room at last year's flower show. This year he will have a much bigger room to speak in. I would still get there early! We will have copies of all of his books for sale and he will be signing them after his talk.

Doug Tallamy said "ask my anything" and everyone did! So he wrote his new book answering 499 questions. It really is a deep dive with much more detail about the things he teaches. I have read it and it really helped clarify a lot of things for me and made me even more inspired to plant natives and protect the ecology of my yard and our planet.

WE are Nature's Best Hope! That is what the title of this book means and could be his best book yet. He encourages us to use our own land and create habitat that supports wildlife and especially the insects that feed the birds and wildlife. This book started the Homegrown National Park movement. It means that we, private land owners, are the ones who are going to make a difference. It is easy to get on the map and then gradually track your progress. We will also have the young readers edition at the show.

This is the book that started a movement. I will never forget the first time Diane and I and several other Natureworkers saw Doug Tallamy at a trade show in Boston about 14 years ago. It changed the way we thought about what we do every day. The photos he shows during his presentation will completely inspire you to garden in the most ecologically friendly way and teach you why it is so important.

THURSDAY IS DOUG TALLAMY DAY AT THE FLOWER SHOW!

Yes, I admit it, I made that up. But that is how exciting it is for us all to have him back in CT again. Take the day off and get to the show early. Check out the gardens, visit the vendors, go see the Federated Garden Club displays. Then head upstairs...

Here's the Thursday lineup for all of us interested in ecological landscape practices:

(all of these workshops take place upstairs in classrooms 12 & 13)

12:30 pm Site Preparation for Landscape Preparation with Kathy Connolly

2:00 pm How Can I Help? Saving Nature with your Yard with Doug Tallamy

3:00 pm Book signing with Doug Tallamy

3:30 pm A Happy Habitat Action Plan with Nancy and Diane from Natureworks

4:30 pm Native Ground Covers with Oomph! with Kathy Connolly

Yes, that tiny little person in front of the screen is me, giving a talk a few years ago at the flower show. It is one of my favorite places to speak.

I have put together a brand new talk that I will be presenting on Friday, February 20th:

2pm Up your Annuals Game with Nancy DuBrule-Clemente

I will share my love of unusual annuals and explain how to grow them. I will cover cool season annuals for spring (including winter sowing annual seeds), heat loving annuals for summer, as well as exciting and unique annuals for fall. Learn which annuals can be started in advance both indoors and outdoors. Learn which annuals can be easily sown directly into the garden.

Also on Friday, Diane St. John is speaking twice:

12:30pm Small Meadows, Flowering Lawns, and How to Plant them at Home

This is a brand new talk that Diane created in 2025. Years ago Diane decided an area of her organic lawn was a complete waste of space and she went on a long, magical journey to transform it into a beautiful flowering meadow. Watch in photographs as she explains her process and see the results. It is amazing how much LIFE is now in this area and how happy it makes her feel every single day. Changing a traditional lawn to a meadow is one of the best ways to encourage more pollinators, beauty and life to your yard. She will also explain other lawn alternatives you can plant to up the pollinator power right at home.

4:30pm Every Yard Matters: How to Create a Healthy Monarch Butterfly Habitat

Diane is passionate about attracting many different butterflies and insects to the home garden. Join her and learn the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. Learn how you can attract butterflies to live in your own yard by using easy organic gardening techniques. You will learn about many plants that they need for survival and how by planting them you help not only the monarch butterfly, but all our other beloved pollinators too!

On Saturday, Feb 21st at 3:30 pm, I will be joining Nancy Balleck-McKinnon (my dear friend and owner of Balleck's Garden Center) for our third THROWDOWN! This picture was taken last August when Natureworks hosted our second throwdown. Join us for a fun, back and forth demonstration of what we do to make winter more enjoyable featuring plants! Don't miss this!

BUY DISCOUNT TICKETS IN ADVANCE AND YOU WON'T HAVE TO WAIT IN LINE. Plus, you save money!

Click this link for directions, tickets, parking information, seminar shedules, exhibitor lists, and so much more...

CT Flower and Garden Show February 19th-22nd

So I picked my giant pussywillows and two colors of witch hazel on Monday and they were fully open on Tuesday. On Wednesday I taped a television spot to promote the flower show and will be taping another one this week. We will put them up on social media when they air. It was SO exciting for me to make this giant flower arrangement in my home office. It gave me such hope that spring is actually around the corner.

Today, my yellow 'Arnold's Promise' witch hazel is actually beginning to open OUTSIDE!

So now I have shared with you MY secrets for getting through winter, especially February which may be the shortest month but always feels like the longest month.

Get yourself to the flower show. Grab some gardening friends, pile into a car, and spend a day soaking up nature's beauty. You too will feel a LOT better about everything, just like I do as I prepare for the exciting four days ahead.

See you in Hartford...

Here is our big booth at the 2025 CT Flower & Garden Show. What will this booth

look like this year? Stay tuned!

We will again feature Ellen Hoverkamp's beautiful botanical scanner prints. We were

able to secure and offer more of her artwork. Please come see it at the show!

Here's a flower show tip- Many attendees come right at 10am, opening time. An insider secret is to come later (mid afternoon) as the early birds are leaving and parking spots open up and the show floor clears. Friday and Saturday the show is open until 8pm!

THINK SPRING!!!