Boston Flower Show Updates & Fun Facts  
By Hilda M. Morrill
March 1, 2010

There have been several updates since we published the first article regarding the "2010 Boston Flower & Garden Show," which takes place at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston from Wednesday, March 24 through Sunday, March 28. We would like to share some of them with you now.

The new 2010 horticultural event produced by The Paragon Group, themed "A Feast for the Senses," is under the direction of Carolyn Weston, the former director of the New England Spring Flower Show for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for 12 consecutive years.

We thank Carolyn for sharing the following information:

"The 2010 Boston Flower & Garden Show" will offer more than 140,000 square feet of exhibits, including 30 major gardens and 270 retail vendors.

Special features include: A festive Preview Party on Tuesday, March 23, the eve of its public opening. Three local horticultural non-profit organizations, the New England Wild Flower Society, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, and The Trustees of Reservations, will benefit from this fundraiser, which brings together hundreds of garden enthusiasts and Boston glitterati for an elegant first peek at the Flower Show.

Visitors to the show once it opens will get to enjoy more than 20 lectures and 25 demonstrations on topics ranging from "Garden Projects Your Children Will Love" to "Passion for Peonies."

Even yours truly will present a slide lecture, "A Feast for the Garden Traveler," when I will share some of the special gardens I have visited and written about, including destinations in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and the USA. My slide presentation is scheduled for Wednesday, March 24th at 5 p.m.

I invite you to come and "feast" your eyes on some spectacular landscapes sure to nourish your gardening soul. I'll also be giving away some garden related door prizes.

The "Garden of Cakes" exhibit will offer a tantalizing way to appreciate flowers as it will showcase edible floral designs from some Greater Boston bakeries on the cutting edge of design.

The amateur competitions and exhibitions area at the show, "Blooms!," presented by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, will feature two floral design divisions, an amateur horticulture section, as well as displays by area plant societies and garden clubs.

The Massachusetts Master Gardener Association will staff an information booth to answer visitors' most vexing gardening questions.

Also, each day (for an additional price) visitors can delight in an afternoon English tea at the Aura Restaurant in the Seaport Hotel across the street from the show.

Following are some interesting "Bloomin' Numbers" for us to digest:

More than 75,000 visitors are estimated to visit the 2010 show, which will feature 2 million blossoming flowers in 16,000 square feet of gardens.

It will take volunteers approximately 1200 hours to build-in the show, which will feature 30+ major garden exhibits, 75 participating garden clubs, 270 retail vendors in the marketplace, 1,000 plant labels, 48 hours of free demonstrations and seminars, and at least 250 volunteers on-site at any given time during the show.

In fact, the oldest major exhibitor from the Greater Boston Area has participated in 54 flower shows!

For public information about the 2010 Show, call 781-237-5533. We can all access the latest updates through the Show's Web site, www.thebostonflowershow.com; its Facebook page, www.facebook.com/bostonflowerandgardenshow, or via Twitter, www.twitter.com/bosflowershow.

Enjoy!