Hello Kyle, Small is not necessarily awful. Ithaca is in the Southern Tier of NY State. The closest "shows" are over one and two hours away. I have only been to the one in Syracuse and if you like lawn mowers and such, they have those, but compared to the Philadelphia Flower Show, it is small beans indeed. However, after attending the latter off and on for many years, I was so tired and bored after the last one, as how many overwhelmingly imposing, for sure, but rather gross and hugely excessive main displays of decorative themes using hothouse plants and cut flowers can one endure. Well, even the classes palled, what with huge displays of the orchid, bulb, clivia, etc. classes. Only the forever quiet elegance of bonsai, rock plants, some begonias, held any interest for me any more. Excessive seems to be the name of the game these days. Oh for the simply joy of masses of hyacinths and their clouds of divine scent greeting one as one descends on the escalator. As for the vendors, the bulbs and plants, unless one is an African violet or such enthusiast, their wares were very ordinary. We can get better orchids, thankfully, here in Ithaca. No Asian exotics like arisaemas,no beautiful leaved cyclamens, no glanthus cultivars, no fantastic liliums, almost no rock plants, no dwarf conifers, shrubs, etc. etc. Only the odd garden ornament great veggie seeds, and few small exhibits like the were of any interest to me except for the always interesting Delaware Valley members' display. I think someone could make a killing with small pots and tubes of unusual and rare plants for the woodland, landscape, and plant collections, with accompanying photos and plant requirements. I am starved for such. Even smaller towns like Ithaca, ought to put on such a fair. Most probably have enough nurseries within an hour or so to do such and business would boom. I have spent years of futility,trying to get the big box stores and Agway to liven up what they sell, sending them to websites of growers, trying to get local nurseries to sell hellebores in bloom, good ones from places like Pine Knot and Northwest Gardens, galanthus in bloom, great arisaemas and other woodlanders, plants from Terra Nova, etc. to no avail. The big box centers in the NW, West, South, all sell these plants, even though they are not locally grown. We have a huge pool of avid gardeners in NY State, but you cannot get these people to move on, and as a result they are stuck with many plants at the end of the season, because customers do not see them in bloom or want better. As well, they fob off tender plants that will not make it, plants difficult for the average gardener to keep alive. Customers buy up the lovely blue flowered Lithodora Grace Ward, pushed as an easy to grow plant. Most people I know, I know, including myself, have not been able to keep it, but then I have only troughs for rock plants. So, say hi to the rats, and do your best for those folks starved for the smell of mulch and flowers. I am sure they will appreciate what you do for them. Best, Marcia Brown Meigs Ithaca, NY USA Zone 5 Cold, snowed in, deer infested...poor creatures. In a message dated 2/21/2011 6:37:40 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
www,portlandcompany.com/flower/
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