Greet spring with a visit to the Springfest Garden Show
AUGUSTA — Spring is just around the corner and garden exhibits featuring new trends in landscaping will be featured at the Springfest Garden Show, March 12 to 15, at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta.
Expert speakers pack the Lecture Hall with educational how-to and visitors will find garden shopping all under one roof.
Springfest, hosts more than 8,000 visitors from the tri-state area. As a non-profit show, produced by garden-lovers for garden-lovers, proceeds benefit the promotion of excellence in horticulture.
The creative ideas and talented skills of the area’s premier garden designers and landscape companies are featured in displays of natural stone, ponds and waterfalls, arbors and patios — and garden plants and flowers in variations of form, fragrance and color. Representatives of these premier companies are present throughout the show to share their knowledge and expertise and to set up a consultation.
Garden enthusiasts can plan their visit to catch a lecture by both nationally renowned and local expert speakers. All lectures are free with paid admission to the show. Among this year's speakers, David Culp, a self-proclaimed “horthead”, will debut his latest book "The Layered Garden" bringing together a lifetime of garden writing and lecturing. David draws on his expertise as VP of Sunny Border Nurseries and curator of the famous Brandywine Cottage gardens. Kerry Ann Mendez offers solutions for aging and time-pressed gardeners and Stephanie Cohen, the ‘perennial diva’ shares her opinions of plants.
New this year, the Garden Café is decorated as a Japanese garden complete with an award-winning, ancient bonsai exhibit. Martin Schmalenberg, an internationally known bonsai and suiseki artist and prolific writer on these art forms will demonstrate this centuries old practice of long-term cultivation and shaping of small trees in the Café throughout the show. Beginning bonsai enthusiasts can purchase their own starter trees prepared by the pros in the Springfest Boutique.
The show’s more than 75 Marketplace vendors are carefully selected to reflect Springfest’s commitment to quality. Tucked among the curving paths throughout the show, visitors will find such widely diverse items as garden ornaments and furniture, hats and gloves, dried flowers, fertilizers, garden machinery, fencing and sheds, seeds, bulbs, and potted plants, including orchids, topiaries, bonsai, perennials and shrubs.
Arborists, outdoor lighting and irrigation specialists are among the expert Service Exhibitors. Educational displays offering information and advice include public gardens, the Master Gardeners, and various birding and plant societies.
The friendly faces of the Sussex County Master Gardeners greet visitors in the Still Life Art Gallery designed by the staff of Three Seasons LLC. In this garden inspired gallery you will find ‘paintings’ created with live plants and found objects that arranged together tell a story. Both amateur and professional contestants compete in the "Still Life Comes to Life Competition" for a blue ribbon.
The Kids Plant Your Own Zone will return, where children discover the enjoyment of gardening. Another popular feature for children is the Treasure Hunt.
Springfest is sponsored in part with donations from Presenting Sponsors Eastern Propane, Intercar Mercedes-Benz of Newton, and with support from The Morville Agency, Appleby’s Corp, Tri-State Insurance Agency, Lakeland Bank, Blue Ridge Lumber and many more.
Springfest will be held 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at the Sussex County Fairgrounds, 37 Plains Rd. Augusta.
Admissions is $12 for adults, $9 for seniors (65+) and free for kids under 12. There is also a Senior Day on Thursday, March 12 with $8 tickets.
For more information visit www.springfestgardenshow.org or call 973-948-9448.