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| Anyone ever been to the New Jersey FLower Show in Edison? Is it worth the trip? We're from Southern NJ, so we would need a place to stay if someone from the area has any suggestions for a nice place.
Thanks! http://www.macevents.com/njflower.cfm?serial=136&catname=flower |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Go to the Phila Flower show in March. Nothing on the East Coast compares to it. |
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| The New Jersey show is an excellent venue. It is smaller than the Philadelphia show, which happens to be the largest indoor flower show in the world, but the NJ show is put on by folks from NJ. It takes about 1.5 hours from exit 3 on the turnpike and is relatively simple to get to. The display gardens have a much more intimate feel and you can even see a garden created by students from Cook College and get information on all the programs they offer to professionals and home gardeneres alike. There are quite a few vendors, over 150 and most are local. It is an a wonderful oppurtunity to see what the local designers and installers in the great state of NJ are up to. Kirk |
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- Posted by woodnative 6 (My Page) on Tue, Feb 14, 06 at 8:32
| If you will only go to one, go to the Philadelphia flower show. The NJ show is nice, especially to escape this snowy February weather, and there are also some good vendors. You will get much more for your money (entrance fee) at the Philadelphia show. |
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- Posted by ourbackyard South Jersey (My Page) on Fri, Feb 17, 06 at 21:32
| Thanks for the info! Much too crowded at Philly Show. Will be too cold to do anything else t'morw anyway. |
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| It is a lot nicer than the last time I went. They have new show-runners in the past 3 years. Some of the displays are very nice, I've been enjoying the Garden Club entries. Still too much emphasis on the commercial vendors, but it does have "Outdoor Living" in the title. I don't know what jewelry has to do with "Outdoor Living", but so it goes. Has been crowded in the mornings, due to the bus trips. Don't know what to expect tomorrow or Sunday. You shouldn't need a hotel, it is an easy day trip. |
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- Posted by ourbackyard South Jersey (My Page) on Sat, Feb 18, 06 at 17:57
| Well, just got back from the NJ Flower Show. First and last trip. Some of the "gardens" were rows of potted plants on the cement floor covered by a pile of mulch. A few very nice displays and yes, jewelry and Marriot vacation vendors? Hosta org, staffed with helpful folks and good information was buried in the back corner. A guy hawking newspaper subscriptions bout chased you down with his free credit card offer. A table with free beet seeds? Landreth Seed Co had a booth about the size of a two-seater outhouse with less seeds that the local CVS, staffed by a gal who knew little about the seeds. Overall, very little about FLOWERS. But it was better than being home, painting. |
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- Posted by sugar_magnolia z6 Hamilton, NJ (My Page) on Sun, Feb 19, 06 at 8:36
| I plan to go to the show today. I think "Flower Show" is a misnomer -- it seems more about landscape design rather than a focus on flowers. I think the entrance fee of $14 is a little steep. There is a $1 off coupon on the website. |
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- Posted by sugar_magnolia z6 Hamilton, NJ (My Page) on Sun, Feb 19, 06 at 17:45
| OK. I am back now. The show was OK. Not great. Not a bad way to spend a chilly afternnon in Feb. I probably won't go back next year because the admission price wasn't worth what I saw. There was one very beautiful weeping alaskan cedar that the landscaper was selling for 1300 at the end of the show! |
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| Well, it is the "NJ Flower, Garden and Outdoor Living" show, so I did expect more than just flowers. I didn't expcet the nice exhibits and arrangements from members of the Garden Clubs of NJ. They were very nice, especially the children's exhibits. They did provide free seeds, if you got there at the end of the day, then there were slim pickins. There isn't much you can do with tryng to create a landscape on a concrete floor, but most of the larger displays were well done. I really liked the Zen and Tuscan gardens. We spent a lot of time kidding the guy at the "Vertical Gardens" booth across from us. We did give out a lot of information, a lot of people with rose pruning and blackspot issues. As an exhibitor, it it interesting to see how people interact with people at information booths, some people just look past you, some will at least smile and say "Hi", some stop and just collect all of the stuff on your table and won't even speak, some just grumble that "I can't grow roses" or "You can't grow roses in NJ" (DUH!!!) without stopping to see if we can help. Most people are very nice, and we made some nice contacts. There are discount coupons available for the show, at the web site and in various newspapers. |
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- Posted by miss_rumphius_rules z6 NJ (My Page) on Mon, Feb 20, 06 at 17:48
| Let's remember that we are talking about NJ--not Philadelphia. This show is in its 4th year and has steadily improved each year. The show producers are sincerely trying to create a good show and like anything else it just takes time. The display gardens are also improving--at least there is less mulch and more flowers. As a display garden creator for the show, I know that my team and I (as well as others)put in a tremedous effort to produce a garden that will engage the public. Don't expect to see something on the par of the Philadelphia show, expect to see regional companies doing a better job each year. There's a link below to the garden we created. This garden was the result of thousands of dollars, hundreds of work hours, and the coordination of more than a dozen different specialty growers, contractors and designers. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Show Garden
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| Ah, another nice one! Did you only have one day to erect the structure and put in the plants? I'm totally amazed and in awe of the work put in! Thank you! |
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- Posted by miss_rumphius_rules z6 NJ (My Page) on Mon, Feb 20, 06 at 19:27
| The gardens are given three days to install, four days to exist and 6 hours to break down and cart away. In order to work with that schedule you have to prefabricate as much as possible. |
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| Thanks for the picture! That looks really nice. I always wondered about all the preparation and money some of these companies do for these shows. It seems a lot of work above and beyond day to day deadlines and responsibilities. I didn't get to go as I had my nephew for the weekend. By the picture, it was nicer than I thought it would be and will try to make it next year. |
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| This was my first, tentative visit, to the NJ Garden Show after visiting an earlier incarnation 6 or 7 years back that was a total horror; so I can easily say that this was vastly superior to that first debacle, but. . .if you are genuinely serious about gardening (on any level), there is just no substitute for the Philadelphia Flower Show, crowds or no crowds, especially when the price is as close as $14 (New Jersey) as opposed to $20 (Phila.), given what you get for your buck. Some examples to explain my preference: the NJ Show (with But, after a few of these exchanges, we started looking at And, yes, as someone noted, apparently ANY vendor is Yes, the Philadelphia Show is HUGE and it can be exhausting; but you have from 10:00am to 9:00pm most days Well, this turned into a pitch for the Philadelphia Flower Show (which I have attended almost yearly for over 40 years) as much as a critique of the New Jersey Flower Show. In closing, here's two positive reactions to the this years NJ Flower Show: we thought the Subaru display was the most striking of any thanks to the simplicity of their piles of stone, clustered floral display and the rakish angle of the vehicles (one was tipped partially on its side!) - and our favorite vendor, Barlow's Nurser (from Seagirt), with a nice selection of healthy plants for sale. We loaded up on bright, chunky primulas (4-for-$10) and instantly felt better about our day - and scurried off home, looking forward to the Philadelphia Flower Show, March 5-12, more than ever. . . |
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- Posted by miss_rumphius_rules z6 NJ (My Page) on Wed, Feb 22, 06 at 15:18
| There is no question that a 4 year old small regional show can compare with the 177 year old internationally recognized Philadelphia Flower Show. So let's stop. The NJ Flower & Garden Show hasn't totally found it's identity yet. The display gardens have no corporate sponsors and even the smallest of them cost thousands of dollars to mount. The three day set-up window followed by a 4 day show is grueling, particularly since the gardens are supposed to be manned. There is no volunteer army like that at Phillie to help on any level. The NJ Garden Club is an active participant, this year Cook College Landscape Architecture students created a display garden as did the NJ Conservation Corps. NJ as a state doesn't have a cohesive horticultural community on the amateur or professional level. This leaves NJ, with its incredible wealth of talent and nurseries at a disadvantage for any event. We would all rather go to Philadelphia, Delaware or even Boston or London than to try and build a statewide horticultural consensus that might, just might enable NJ to truly be the Garden State. |
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| Miss Rumphius Rules: My sincerest apologies for seeming to disparage your As one gardener to another, more power to you... |
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| Who is MAC that sponsors these shows? |
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- Posted by miss_rumphius_rules z6 NJ (My Page) on Sat, Feb 25, 06 at 17:22
| They are an exhibition production company much like Stella Shows who produces the Chicago Flower Show and the Gramercy Garden & Antiques show among others. |
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| I hemmed and hawed about the Edison show. I was particularly interested in the Cook College Bamboo garden display I read about. I, too, was turned off by the unrelated vendors they had when I went several years ago. I wound up not going, especially due to the fact that it's over an hour's drive. Up here in Sussex County, we have a small (I mean SMALL!) flower and garden show. Even though neither show is like Philly, it's nice to be able to think spring in the cold weather. |
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- Posted by sugar_magnolia z6 Hamilton, NJ (My Page) on Fri, Mar 10, 06 at 22:29
| miss_rumphius_rules -- I have to compliment you on your exhibit; it was one of my favorites (along with the Tuscan Garden). I especially enjoyed what you did with the colored glass. |
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