New England Flower Show: A Personal Essay
By Hilda M. Morrill
October 31, 2008

Since 1973, except for one year when I was ill, I've been involved in one way or another with every New England Spring Flower Show. And even that year I managed to attend the Preview Party. It's hard to believe that the Flower Show, which has been around for 137 years, will not be taking place in March of 2009.

So many wonderful memories! The Show has often been referred to as the Massachusetts Horticultural Society's "most visible and most enduring tradition." I can't count the number of times I've written that statement in so many different columns, both in print and online. Sadly, no more.

Most of my participation has been through volunteering. There's no way I can ever forget the Boston Spring Flower Show and what it has meant to me throughout the years.

The reality is that I've received so much more than I have ever given.

Although I had visited the Show before, my initial involvement was through my own garden club when I joined a committee to help plan and set up the club's exhibit at the 1973 Show. At that time it was held at the Armory on Commonwealth Avenue. There would be many club entries to follow in all the different venues.

In the early 80's, I joined a group that would gather to repair and paint the old gray wooden window frames used for the amateur plant displays. The frames were kept in the basement of Horticultural Hall on Mass Avenue. The late Bill Thompson, Flower Show Designer at the time, was in charge of teaching us what to do.

Sadly, I happened to be at Horticultural Hall the day in April of 1989 when Bill had a stroke and would later die at Boston City Hospital. We were meeting to discuss and evaluate the recent Flower Show.

Another connection was through the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts. As publicity chair for the Federation, it was part of my job to send out all the press releases regarding the Design Division and the Amateur Horticulture exhibits of the Show. In other words, in those days the Federation was responsible for its own publicity concerning its participation.

One year I was invited to be on the committee that would decide whether there should be a "trade show" component along with the exhibits of flowers and gardens. Impossible to even imagine, especially to more recent visitors, some of whom have never known of a Flower Show without the retail area (in recent years selling such items as rug cleaners, deep-dish apple pies and personal services such as back massages).

There was so much heated discussion at the time. Many on the committee were dead set against such a "crass" development. Ultimately, it was approved, on a trial basis, but only for vendors who were in some way involved with horticulture and gardening. Even the sale of jewelry was approved-"botanical" jewelry, that is. I remember pretty ivy leaves that were dipped in gold to be sold as bracelet or necklace charms.

As a member of the Federation's Landscape Design Council, I volunteered to be a clerk, writing down the comments of the group as they critiqued the different exhibits using a point system to choose award winners. Such a wonderful learning experience for a neophyte such as myself!

In 1988 I happened to be in the Flower Show office when a call came in from the old Channel 56 on Morrissey Boulevard. One of the local programs was interested in featuring the Spring Flower Show. Everyone was very excited.

There was just one hitch: The popular show "De Todo Un Poco," hostessed by Dalia Diaz, was in Spanish. What a lost opportunity. Oh, dear. What to do? Sheepishly, I found myself admitting that I could speak Spanish.

Next thing I knew I was taping the show. Never mind that I was a nervous wreck. To this day I hate to look at the video, as beads of perspiration are clearly visible rolling down my face and neck. But Dalia would become a dear friend.

In 1994 it was off to WFNX-FM radio to be interviewed by "Tai the Morning Guy" along with the then-show-director Merle Bicknell. Radio was definitely easier.

In February of 1997, I was honored to be invited to one of several appearances on the Smoki Bacon and Dick Concannon cable TV show to help publicize the upcoming Flower Show. Smoki and Dick are now dear friends and we've traveled together as travel journalists.

All this time I had "a real job" and would take my vacation time every March so that I could be at The Flower Show during set up, and off and on during the actual Show. It became quite the joke at the office among some of my colleagues, especially when they asked what the head of a department did while there and I told them the truth: I answered the phone, I watered plants, I calligraphied signage and handed out badges. One year, I even collected eggs.

That was the year that one of the exhibits featured several hens and it was felt that it would be too cold out on the exhibit floor for them to spend the night. So, the charming Richard Chamberlain said that the hens could spend the evenings in the Show Office, where it was warmer. Of course, in the morning when we arrived, most of them had laid eggs under the curtain-draped tables. And, guess whose job it was to find them!

Everyone was very sensitive about the hens, especially those of us who recalled one of the Shows at the old Commonwealth Pier (the present site of Boston World Trade Center), where it was so cold one night that when we arrived the following morning, many of the tropical birds in one of the exhibits had died and we had to gather them all before the show opened to the public.

Eventually, I was even invited to give a lecture at the Show. I was terrified. What if no one showed up?

Again, I learned so much in the preparation, and it was such a good way to organize my travel slides. Some of my favorites were "The Art of Plants and Gardens," "Favorite Gardens of Italy," "Favorite Gardens of Ireland," "Exotic Garden Locales," "Favorite New England Gardens," "Favorite Gardens of Morocco," and even "Yes, You Can! Gardening into Old Age."

That was when Show Director Carolyn Weston and Director of Education Trish Wesley Umbrell convinced me to share the fact that while a serious hepatitis hospitalization and recuperation had changed my gardening methods, the passion can continue as one comes to terms with aging or physical disabilities.

Invited to speak next spring at the 2009 Show, until recently I was researching and preparing a brand new lecture tentatively titled, "Trees: Venerable Heroes of the Plant World." Instead, I may now write an article.

Of course, the reality is that even if the Show is never resurrected, it will always be a part of me.

In my home office I am surrounded by Flower Show posters, thousands of photos and slides taken by me and our son Michael, media credential tags, a collection of Flower Show pins/buttons and magnets, and even a prized Flower Show coffee mug.

Among my houseplants is an orchid that we all received at one of the Preview parties. And, in my garden are the lovely hostas that hubby and I received at this year's party.

And what about the truly special people, in addition to the aforementioned, whom I met through MassHort and the Flower Show?

Some have gone on to that big garden in the sky. Others, I haven't seen in years or I don't see them often enough: Jim Allen, Faith Cass, Terry Cronin, Thalassa Cruso, Richard Daley, Susan Dumaine, Allen Haskell, Mabel-Maria Herweg, Maureen Horn (full disclosure: longtime friend before MHS connection), Joe Hudak, Fran Imhoff, Cathy Law, Thomas Herrera-Mishler, Julie Messervy, and Wayne Mezitt.

Also: Heather Miller, Jeanne O'Rourke, Jennifer and Justin Peterson (who grew up before my very eyes), Walter Punch, Clare Richards, Bruce Roberts, Gail Sanders, David Smith, Kenn Stephens, Kathryn Taylor, Elinore Trowbridge, and Ellen Wells -- just to name a very few. I really should make some calls or write some notes.

According to published reports, plans are underway for one or two smaller shows during the 2009 spring and early summer season. We are told that as these plans develop, information about them will be provided on the MassHort Web site, www.masshort.org, and in the media. If I receive any press releases, I will be sure to publish them on this site.

So, for now, I'll just have to wait and see.