Here's link to the lectures. Some outstanding speakers this year.

Here is a link that might be useful: lectures etc

I don't know what happened to the link in my first post, but it was there in my preview. Anyway, it's www.flowershow.com

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I'll be there 22-23! Will anyone else be attending? It's my first year attending the Flower and Garden show, but not my first conference/convention, so I think I have an idea of what's going to happen there.

oooohh I did not think to request a specific day off during this so I can go! I will just have to wait and see what the schedule brings me to see if I can fit it in,

Has anyone checked the show out yet? Let us know what you thought of it!

I was at the show on Saturday and for the most part was disappointed. Not the "flower" and "garden" show that I expected...

Persimmons, I didn't make it there, but why were you disappointed? I know one year when I went it seemed more like a home and crafts show. Very few actual plants, seeds or bulbs for sale, although the garden displays were very nice.

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I attended one year and was also disappointed, because the only other Flower Show I had attended was the Boston Flower Show and there was quite a difference in size. I was used to large landscape designs and a lot of displays. That was quite a few years ago though.

We went to the RI Flower Show two years ago and were disappointed. It was really small and also heavy on the crafts or sales booths with not many plants for sale or display gardens. We didn't even consider it this year. Sorry to hear that it hasn't changed.

We were very disappointed as well. Very limited flowers on display and many were wilted when we went on Saturday. The vendor area only had one seed rack and 2 plant vendors. More like a home show.And it was expensive - $19. Next year we'll skip it.

I went on Saturday and I was disappointed too. I won't be going again. Not very many garden displays. I wanted to buy a packet of tomato seeds at one of the few garden vendors but the line to purchase was so long that I gave up and didn't purchase them.

I went on Sunday. It was very pricey. $19 ticket, $12 parking.

The garden displays looked just like what someone could do in their own yard.

There was an area where the garden club competition had displays. That was interesting.

The vendors were very disappointing. Not many were garden related....they were selling vacuums, verizon, sheets...quite the hodge podge.

There was one garden display that had an up an coming plant...a flowering peach tree. I don't have details but it was supposed a variety that could be container planted and is hardy for our area. The flowers looked like a double azelea bloom. It was very pretty.

Bill and others,

It seems we're all saying the same things but I'd like to add some extra thoughts:

1. I agree with what most posters have commented so far -- not enough plants, way too heavily focused on 'home' and 'crafts' and honestly, crap. I only found one stand that was selling bulbs, and two stands selling air plants (for ridiculous prices, at that).

2. The major presenters (on the top floor salon 'd') were very uninformative. One, the Beekman Boys (?), chatted about their trials and tribulations of beginning a lifestyle property in New York, but then made their entire presentation centered around their quirky attitudes in such a small farming town, and how they 'single handedly' began a farm fair. It would have made a great documentary, but they didn't necessarily "present" any new information. Another speaker that I was eager to see was an employee/tree manager for the sponsors of the garden show. In his presentation, which was described as an informative lecture on proper tree maintenance, he blabbered on and on about the various properties he's trimmed trees on, showed (and at times, tried to show but skipped over) some embarrassing photographs of dying trees. It seemed the only thing he was saying was "people grow trees improperly", rather than "this is how to properly grow trees".

3. I agree with muffin that the garden club competition had some interesting displays, but hell if you could see them properly. The lighting in the 'showroom' was awfully dim, drowning out the colors of most flowers that weren't lit from other sources.

All in all, there were maybe 2 or 3 garden plots that caught my eye. One was the dried herb stable, the other was the display with the peach tree (oh my!), but for the most part, it seemed like an antique car + arts and crafts convention.

Not worth the $19 dollars I paid to go. Luckily, I parked in the city and didn't have to pay for that.... I had planned to go a second day but realized it just wasn't worth the money. Won't attend next year's unless someone on this forum has something better to report.