I’m so excited!  The long awaited and much anticipated Boston Flower Show starts this week for five glorious days – March 16 – 20 – at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston.   Can’t wait to see bright, beautiful flowers planted firmly in the dirt!  This year’s show should be a particularly good one for city gardeners – container gardens are the focus!

The Show website says,
“Container gardening has exploded out of the humble window box to become the the hottest way to add vibrancy, warmth, and drama to any size space  – a sunny welcome on a city terrace, a gourmet harvest in a suburban side yard,  or a fresh focal point for a mature landscape.  This year’s show will focus on this popular trend by mixing examples of the endless creative possibilities of containers into all of its gardens and special displays.”

The section featuring the Container Garden Invitational will surely be a place I spend a lot of time!
Tickets are: $20 for Adults, $17 for Seniors (over 65) and $10 for children (6-17). 
BTW: I’m heading to the Flower Show Preview Party on Tuesday, March 15th.  It’s a benefit for the City of Boston Parks Department.  A great crew of people doing wonderful work.  I’ll blog on Wednesday with my comments and some photographs to whet your gardening appetite.  For more info on the Flower Show, go to www.TheBostonFlowerShow.com.

Hey all you city gardeners!  Here’s something for your to-do list.
In the next few weeks, focus on trying on and buying new gardening gloves.
If you’re anything like me, last year’s gloves are dirty and raggedy.  If this rings true, it’s time to invest in new gloves.  And like new shoes, you should really spend some time trying on gloves so you have a hard working and comfortable pair to spend the season with…
Here are 5 characteristics of Good Gloves:
1. A good fit is key.  Gloves should fit well on the hand, being snug enough to feel like a comfortable second skin but not so tight that blood flow is constricted.
2. A good glove extends beyond the wrist.  For me, it’s unnerving when dirt gets inside a glove and you spend time taking off the glove, shaking it out, and then putting it back on and hoping for the best.   I’ve found that gloves that extend beyond the wrist – not to the elbow or anything extreme – with some kind of elastic or stretchy materials that fits snugly at the wrist and a bit beyond work best for me. 
3. Gloves made of tough, lightweight, water resistent materials are best.  I avoid gloves made of cotton or terry cloth.  Too flimsy and they feel awful when they get wet.  I like the resilience of leather and canvas but both can be awfully heavy on the hands. Need to try on many pairs to see what works best for you.
4. Get gloves with non-skid palms and fingers.  When you are gripping that trowel or hoe and digging through spidery tree roots and weeds, you want to have a tight hold on the tool.  Non-skid padding is a must.
5. Get gloves that are easy to clean, or at least claim to be.  Remember, gloves are meant to get dirty but most can’t be easily laundered.  Read the label and find gloves that dry quickly or can be dusted off or hosed off and placed on a fence picket or other vertical spike to dry.  
If you have a favorite brand of gloves or other tips, please share.  I’d love to hear from you.  And I did find this good article on gardening gloves at the Helpful Gardener.  It’s worth the read.  http://www.helpfulgardener.com/tips/03/gardening-gloves.html

Knowing how much sunlight your garden patch gets is critical to growing a successful garden.  It’s how you know what kinds of flowers to plant.  Most flowers come with white stick labels in the soil with information on the type of sun they need – full sun, partial sun, shade.   Today is a great day to see exactly where the sun shines on your garden.   Go to your garden space and notice where the snow has melted on your patch.  Where the snow is gone, the sun is stronger.  If snow remains, that’s obviously a more shady space.  This information will come in handy when you are choosing your plants this Spring.  
Yes, that’s my tree pit garden in the picture above.  It looks so sad now but the good news is that it gets good sun on the left and gets decent overall sun all day long.   Big thanks go out to Tom Smarr from the Rose Kennedy Greenway for sharing this tip!

Hello all!  Drove through the rain and fog today to visit the “Gardening with Heart”  Rhode Island Flower Show at the Providence Convention Center.  
 It’s a medium-sized show with a dozen or so well-done gardens.  I especially liked the  sun and shade garden with the artistic stone wall!  Plus there is a  terrific section with judged floral arrangements with place settings and a hat and  bikini competition that was quite unique and smile-producing!  People all around were oohing and ahhing at these sights! 

The winning bikini design was lovely.  The judges comments were: “Stunning effect achieved with minimal natural composition.”  That’s an understatement!  The plant material is Aspidistra and Echeveria.   Kudos to Julie Lapham from the Southborough and Worcester Garden Clubs.   Just WOW! 

And the first place hat was lovely too.  Made of Cast Iron Plant, Chinese Fan Palm, Rye, Corn, Milkweed and Areca Palm and Cryptomeria Japonica Cones.  It would be great for an Easter parade!
Overall there was a great mix of sights and smells to make this Flower Show a total joy!   Remember the rich, sweet smell of a hyacinth?  I couldn’t resist and bought myself one.  Smells good enough to eat!  And touching the tender leaves of azaleas and delphiniums was more like a caress.  How I’ve missed those flowers.  And there were many fountains with burbling water and I watched  fat, orange coy in lily pad ponds.  It was a real treat for the senses!  The four day show started yesterday and runs through Sunday.  It’s worth the $18 adult admission.   

And don’t miss the sand sculptures!  They are a delightfully playful surprise amid the flowers and gardens. Enjoy!

Today I attended New England Grows at the Massachusetts Convention Center in South Boston.  It’s day 2 of this amazing gathering of landscapers, designers and gardeners of every type.  Unfortunately, I missed day 1 due to the snow and ice constraints but today was terrific.  I learned so much! 
One big piece of news was learning that Amsonia Hubrichtii was the 2011 Perennial Plant of the year.   That’s pronounced am-SO-nee-ah hew-BRIK-tee-eye.  I am familiar with this plant because Tom Smarr, the horticultural guru for the Rose Kennedy Greenway, had it on his list of great city plants to consider for our gardens.  If you want more on Tom and his selection, go to the Expert Advice tab. 
But here’s the skinny on the Amsonia Hubrichtii from a great flyer from the Perennial Plant Assocation www.perennialplant.org.  BTW, Amsonia is definitely going into my garden this spring!
Other names: Amsonia, Arkansas Blue Star, Thread Leaf Blue Star
Hardiness: USDA Zones 4 – 9 (FYI, Boston is Zone 6)
Light: Full sun to partial shade
Soil: Prefers average, moist well-drained soil but tolerates less moisture.  Once established, it can tolerate drier conditions
Unique Qualities: Light blue flowers in spring are followed by a marvelous display of foliage in summer.  A golden-yellow fall color is second to non among herbaceous perennials.  It is uniquely suited as a companion plant or as a feature. 

With yet another snowstorm barrelling its way into the Northeast, the need to see vibrant and colorful flowers and smell sweet floral scents is a necessity! 
Yesterday, my husband and I stopped into Twig on Charles Street in Boston just to look at the flowers and get a quick spring fix.  What a treat!  The smell of hyacinth hit me as I walked in the door.  Ahhh.  Beautiful displays of tulips and hydrangeas and daisies and lilies and carnations.  I was smiling and laughing and giddy with delight! 
And then I learned that the helpful flower clerk had the same name as me!  Janine is not all that common a name so to meet another Janine – and with the same spelling – is just fabulous.  🙂 
 So get yourself to a flower shop and stop and smell the roses, lilies, carnations, hyacinths, whatever gets you through this very white season…  
Another bonus was that I was inspired to began designing my spring garden.  First up is deciding on a new, more permanent garden border for my street-side tree pit. I needed a push to start planning for spring.  Thanks Twig!

Need a lift?  Go get yourself a big, showy, pop of color!
I suggest a Red Lion Amaryllis.  I bought one a week ago at Trader Joe’s in the Back Bay for $6.99 (sorry no more left at that location) and have enjoyed watching it grow.   Amaryllis love warm and sunny spots.  It sure helps the spirit to see this red pop of color every day, especially when the temperature is below freezing and there are many inches of snow on the ground…. Just 57 days til spring!

Hello all!  It’s time to mark your calendar and buy a ticket to the Boston Flower Show!  Ahhh, a sure sign of spring!! The show will be held March 16 – 20 at the Seaport World Trade Center and it is one of my most favorite events to attend! 
This year’s show should be fantastic for city gardeners like you and me because the theme is “A Burst of Color: Celebrating the Container Garden.”  A container garden is a perfect addition to a small front yard, stoop, patio or roof deck.  I expect to be wowed and inspired!  There’s a special Flower Show Preview Party on March 15 to benefit the Boston Parks and Recreation Department.    I just bought my ticket for that event at www.cityofboston.gov/parks.   The Park and Rec people do such an amazing job keeping our parks beautiful.  If you can afford the $125 ticket, it’s a worthy cause.  For Flower Show general admission tickets and information, go to www.thebostonflowershow.com or call 781-273-5533.