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International Home And Garden Show; All Iowa Expo

Mar 8, 2010; 12:26 PM ET

A Beautiful Addition to Your Reading Pleasure!

I recently completed the 20th Anniversary Issue of GreenPrints, "The Weeder's Digest". When you think about it, keeping a little, inner-side-of-gardening quarterly going for two decades says something--perhaps how foolish the editor is, for one thing! (grin). Pat Stone has some of the most wonderful artwork, that alone should keep you wanting more!

Plus...

A joint project of Garden Writer Doug Green and GreenPrints magazine, "Pets & Plants" contains four classic GreenPrints stories about gardening with pets and four helpful garden features by Doug! "Pets & Plants" is a great way to get a little taste of GreenPrints writing as well as some useful garden lore. It is not available in stores or by separate order. But it's yours, absolutely FREE, as their special "thank-you" gift for visiting the website. (and don't forget to tell them that Donna found their site --no I don't get anything, except the pleasure of knowing that you have found a gem)

Turquoise --inspired by water and sky

"In many cultures, Turquoise occupies a very special position in the world of color," explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. "It is believed to be a protective talisman, a color of deep compassion and healing, and a color of faith and truth, inspired by water and sky. The Pantone people yearly pick for Pantone Color of the Year, for 2010 is 15-5519 Turquoise. Their website states that "Turquoise transports us to an exciting tropical paradise while offering a sense of protection and healing in stressful times."

2010 AHGA Hosta of the Year 'First Frost'

First Frost' (Scolnik, Solberg 2002) - (Sport of ‘Halcyon') - Medium, (16" X 34") "Great hosta sports start with great hosta parents." ‘First Frost' is a frosty white-edged sport of ‘Halcyon'. Blue leaves emerge with a wide margin the wonderful color of the center of ‘June', another 'Halcyon' sport and 2001 Hosta of the Year, and then turn pure white if grown in half a day of bright light. Lavender flowers bloom in July. It has excellent color and substance, and will look unblemished in the garden until the "first frost". http://www.hostagrowers.org/ahga_hosta.html

All-Iowa Horticultural Expo

Dan Heims, president and co-founder of Terra Nova Nurseries, will be a keynote speaker at the All-Iowa Horticultural Expo, lecturing on "Right Plant, Right Place." This event will take place on Saturday, March 20, at 10:00 a.m., at the Bridge View Center in Ottumwa, IA. Heims has over 33 years of horticulture experience and has helped introduce more than 600 new plant varieties to gardeners all across the United States. As an educator, Heims is known as a knowledgeable enthusiast in all things horticulture and has spent years lecturing all over the world.

Whether a garden space is dry, wet or shady, Heims will advise attendees on how to make good plant selections for problematic areas and how to keep these areas healthy. For more information about Dan Heims and Terra Nova Nurseries, please visit www.terranovanurseries.com. For more information about attending the All-Iowa Horticultural Expo, please visit www.iowahort.org

Warm up 2010 with Trends from the International Home & Garden Show

March 18 - 21, 2010

www.internationalhomeshow.ca

Spring Fling

Each year thousands of homeowners head to the International Home & Garden Show for new products and ideas that bring better living, indoors and out. 2010 is no exception. Entertaining at home continues to dominate the home front and to make that next gathering a success, Anna Olson, Massimo and other celebrity chefs appear on stage daily with fresh ideas from the garden.

Relaxed, classic and sustainable design are key style influencers, and crowd pleasing designers Lynn Spence and Karl Lohnes introduce smart ways to incorporate the newest trends. HST have you in a hurry? Find expert remodeling advice at the kitchen, bath and contractor exhibits, and Bryan Baeumler is on deck with ways to minimize the angst of home renovations. The Ontario Horticultural Association hosts its 18th annual floral design and plant competition, while horticultural heavies Ed Lawrence, Marjorie Mason, Frank Ferragine and Cristina da Silva are just some of the experts featured at hourly garden seminars. Add more than 400 home-related exhibits, Green Street, the full-size Quality Engineered Model Home, free parking and more, and the 22nd annual International Home & Garden Show has homeowners well on their way to becoming house proud.

Canada Blooms 2010, "Passions"

March 17 - 21, Direct Energy Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Canada Blooms: The Flower & Garden Festival invites you to visit a paradise bursting with six acres of stunning gardens in full bloom, more than 100,000 square feet of green thumb shopping and much more at Canada's largest and most prestigious flower and garden festival. Interested in learning more about gardening? With four different stages going non-stop, the show offers over 200 hours of seminars, workshops and demonstrations in five days from some of the best garden experts in North America included in your admission to Canada Blooms. Need a little inspiration or looking for ideas? Over twenty dazzling and unique display gardens are designed and built by the best of the best!

Events to Attend:

- "Soil in the City: Growing Healthy Neighborhoods from the Ground Up," the 29th annual Making Brooklyn Bloom

Saturday, March 13 | 10 a.m-4 p.m.

Kick off the spring gardening season at Brooklyn Botanic Garden with this daylong conference on how to green up our communities by revitalizing our soil, the foundation of life in the garden. This free event features a keynote address by Dr. Nina Bassuk, Director of the Urban Horticulture Institute at Cornell University, developer of Cornell Structural Soil, and author of Trees in the Urban Landscape. Visit over 15 exhibits and workshops covering such topics as "Rooftop Farming," "Community Composting," and "Testing Your Soil." No pre-registration is required, but you must arrive at 10 a.m. to register for the day's workshops. For more information, call 718-623-7250 or visit www.bbg.org

-March 13 through 21, 52nd Indiana Flower & Patio Show at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, Indianapolis. Theme: A Novel Idea - 29 gardens designed with the theme of a favorite book. More than 200 vendors feature home and garden products and services. About 100,000 people visit the show each year.

http://indianaflowerandpatioshow.com

-Augusta, NJ and Hackettstown, NJ

March 12th at 3:30pm at Springfest in Augusta, NJ http://springfest.typepad.com/springfest/w.html , June 5th at Donaldson's Greenhouse and Nursery 's Perennial Fest in Hackettstown, NJ

Cultivating the Inner Gardener

Lois' presentation explores what it means to garden for personal growth, why gardeners might want to integrate this approach into their gardening routine, how gardener-centric coaching differs from garden coaching, and how gardening from the inside out can breathe new life into the gardening experience. The presentation includes photos of several gardens that hold special meaning for their owners and illustrate a number of the concepts discussed. Everyone who wants to learn how to express more of their personality and creativity through gardening, how body/mind/spirit can play itself out in gardening activities, and how to take more pleasure in the journey, will benefit from adopting this mental outlook. The result is a personal space that is not only beautiful and healthy, but also provides a sanctuary from the world that speaks to the soul.

Lois's Blog http://loisdevries.blogspot.com

Wow, Californian Olive Oil!

In a marriage of traditional methods and modern engineering, we produce boldly Californian oil with distinctly Italian roots. Estate-grown and produced from select Italian olive varieties, our certified organic and certified extra virgin Traditional blend is a medium-bodied oil with aromas of fresh olive fruit, newly-mown grass and robust garden greens. Emerald at harvest and mellowing to a greenish gold, the flavors are richly complex with hints of artichoke and almond, a touch of savory bitterness and a mildly peppery finish.

https://www.mcevoyranch.com/xcart/product.php?productid=26&cat=11&page=1

A Chuckle for You!

The top 10 reasons that growing veggies has become a hot trend:

1. Globally friendly

2. Reconnect with nature

3. Bragging rights of the best "homemade" salad at the neighbourhood BBQ

4. It is a reason to "tan" without looking gauche about it....

5. All the new and fun veggies (purple potatoes, and purple peas....)

6. New gardening tools in pink!

7. To have a good reason to not shower in the morning...."I'm just going into the garden...."

8. A packet of seeds is cheaper than buying th veggies at the store.

9. You have a reason to have a sore back that doesn't involve age..

10.To do something (compost) with those coffee grinds so that your friends don't figure out how you have the energy to drive to little league soccer games, dance lessons, piano lessons, shop, cook, work, clean, organize a neighbourhood garage sale, arrange play dates with multiple kids,...... Enjoy the laughs!

Donna Dawson