Flower shows, festivals showcase spring blooms

US gears up to display season’s beauty

NEW YORK, Feb 28, (AP): Snow is still in the forecast for some locales, but other places are getting ready for spring. And the season’s beauty will be on display with festivals and flower shows around the country, from events showcasing cherry blossoms in Washington DC and Brooklyn, New York, to celebrations of dogwoods, camellias and azaleas in the South, to apple blossom and tulip festivals in the Northwest.

Here are some of the best and biggest festivals and flower shows around the US this spring, along with some notable botanical gardens where something is always in bloom.

Events

Atlanta Dogwood Festival, April 1921, Piedmont Park, Atlanta, http://www.dogwood.org/

Biltmore Blooms Festival of Flowers, March 21-May 31, Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina, http://www.biltmore.com

Boston Flower & Garden Show, March 13-17, Seaport World Trade Center, Boston, http://www.bostonflowershow.com/

Camellia Walks, through March 23, Middleton Place, Charleston, South Carolina, http://www.middletonplace.org/

Celebrate Spring, March 1-April 30, Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Ga., http://www.callawaygardens.com/

Chicago Flower & Garden Show, March 9-17, Navy Pier, Chicago, http://www.chicagoflower.com

Daffodil Days, April 6-28, Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum, Bristol, Rhodes Islands, http://www.blithewold.org

Daffodil Festival, April 26-28, Nantucket, Massachusetts, http://www.nantucketchamber.org

Dallas Blooms, March 2-April 7, Dallas Arboretum, http://www.dallasarboretum.org

Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival, March 6-May 19, Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/event s-tours/epcot/epcot-internationalflower-and-garden-festival/

Festival of Flowers, March 21-24, Bellingrath Gardens, Theodore, Alabama, (near Mobile), http://www.bellingrath.org

Garden Conservancy’s Open Days (more than 300 private gardens in 18 states open to public on select dates March-November), http://www.opendaysprogram.org

Hatsume Fair, March 23-24, Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, Delray Beach, Florida, http://www.morikami.org/

Garden Club of Virginia’s Historic Garden Week, tours at various sites April 20-27, http://www.VAGardenweek.org

Lilac Festival, May 10-19, Rochester, New York, http://www.lilacfestival.com/

National Cherry Blossom Festival, March 20-April 14, Washington, DC, http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/

Philadelphia Flower Show, March 210, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, http://www.philaflowershow.com

Sakura Matsuri Festival, April 27-28, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, New York, http://www.bbg.org

San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, March 20-24, San Mateo Event Center, San Mateo, California, http://sfgardenshow.com/

Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, April 26 - May 5, Winchester, Virginia, http://www.thebloom.com

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, April 130, Mount Vernon, Washington, http://www.tulipfestival.org/

Tulip Time Festival, Holland, Michigan, May 4-11, http://www.holland.org/visitors/tulip-time-festival/

Tulip Time, May 2-4, Pell, Iowa, http://www.pellatuliptime.com/tuliptime/ Washington State Apple Blossom Festival, April 25-May 5, Wenatchee, Washington, http://www.appleblossom.org/

Wistaria Festival, March 17, Sierra Madre, California, http://www.sierramadrenews.net/?page_id=259

Places

Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, Wash., http://www.bloedelreserve.org

Cleveland Botanical Garden, Cleveland, http://www.cbgarden.org/

Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, http://www.dbg.org

Dumbarton Oaks Gardens, Washington DC, http://www.doaks.org/

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables, Florida, http://www.fairchildgarden.org/

Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Mass., http://www.newfs.org

Holden Arboretum, Kirtland, Ohio, http://www.holdenarb.org

International Rose Test Garden, Washington Park, Portland, Oregon, http://washingtonparkpdx.org/attractions/

Huntington Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California, http://www.huntington.org

Lan Su Chinese Garden, Portland, Oregon, http://www.portlandchinesegarden.org/

Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pa, http://www.longwoodgardens.org

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina, http://www.magnoliaplantation.com

Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, Mo, http://www.mobot.org

New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York, http://www.nybg.org

San Francisco Botanical Garden, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, http://www.sfbotanicalgarden.org

US Botanic Garden Conservatory, Washington, DC, http://www.usbg.gov

Wave Hill, Bronx, New York, http://www.wavehill.org

Winterthur Garden, Winterthur, Del., http://www.winterthur.org