GARDEN & FLOWER SHOW SET TO RETURN
31st annual Capital District showcase to take place this weekend at Hudson Valley Community College
TROY, N.Y. » Upstate New York’s premier garden and flower show will mark its 31st anniversary when the annual Capital District Garden & Flower Show returns to the 60,000-square-foot McDonough Sports Complex at Hudson Valley Community College Friday through Sunday.
For the weekend event, the McDonough Sports Complex is transformed into a backyard environment with shrubs, trees, flowers, ponds, waterfalls, retain- ing walls, sidewalks, and lawns.
The centerpiece of the show is the annual Floral Design Competition, which features approximately 100 amazing and amusing exhibits presented by area professional floral designers, garden club members, and amateurs.
First, second, and third-place winners in 14 categories are selected by an expert panel of judges. Ribbons are awarded for Best of Show and Most Creative. Showattendees can vote for their favorite floral design through 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Attendees will also be able to see demonstrations, lectures, and presentations from local and regional experts, including expert gardener and acclaimed author Tovah Martin. Other speakers include Fred Breglia of Landis Arboretum, Peter Bowden of Hewitt’s Garden Center, Suzanne BaletHaight of Balet Flowers and Design, and educators and master gardeners from Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Additional highlights of the show include:
• Over 16,000 square feet of fully blooming gardens
• A garden marketplace featuring over 160 outdoor living, farm-to-table and garden-themed retail exhibits, tools, books, patio furniture, and many unique garden and craft items
• More perennial, flower, succulent, plant, seed, and bulb vendors this year
• Wonders of springthemed sand sculpture by artist Phil Singer, which will be created in real time at the arena throughout the weekend
• Wine tastings from 10 New York State wineries
• A children’s playland, presented by Backyard
Sheds and Gazebos
• Soil testing by Cornell Cooperative Extension for a minimum donation
• Concessions from Prime Catering
• The Floral Design Competition
The gardens are the main attraction at the Capital District Garden & Flower Show. Here’s who will be exhibiting this year: •BradManz Landscaping •Martin Dodge Designs •NVS Landscape Services, Colonie
•Peak Environmental •Toadflax Nursery •Ultimate Sand Sculpture, Phil Singer
•Weathered Wood, Troy
•WMDesignScapes, Inc., Malta
Doors open for the event at 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. and then from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and the last day on Sunday will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tickets to the show are $14 at the door, kids under the age of 12 get in for free with a paid adult, or you can purchase a two- day pass for $20. Parking is free.
Partial proceeds from the show benefit Wildwood Programs, which is celebrating its 51st anniversary of serving individuals of all ages with developmental disabilities, complex learning disabilities and autism.