Major Boston Flower Show Offers A Feast For The Senses

BOSTON, Feb. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The countdown to spring is on!  In just a few weeks, the city of Boston will once again host a major flower show, featuring a new location and an experienced team of show producers to deliver an event like no other.  The Boston Flower & Garden Show, held March 24 - 28, 2010 at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, will entrance the thousands of visitors with 30 major garden exhibits, celebrities, a garden marketplace, afternoon teas, daily gardening demonstrations, lectures, judged competitions and more.

For more than a century, New Englanders have relished in the spectacular sights and scents of a major flower show in Boston.  When the annual flower show was cancelled in 2009, Paragon Group made the decision to step in and bring a new show to life.  The staff of Paragon Group has been known for 20 years as the producer of the New England International Auto Show as well as the National Golf Expo, and is poised to take on the size and breadth of a major flower show.   To further its splendor, the new 2010 event is under the direction of Carolyn Weston, the former director of the New England Spring Flower Show for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society (MHS) for 12 consecutive years.

"The 2010 Boston Flower & Garden Show will bring a floral fantasy to Boston!" said Weston.   "For five days and nights, the Seaport World Trade Center will be transformed into a wonderland of flora and stunning exhibits.  This former rite of spring, which generations of Bostonians have long cherished, will blossom anew under the theme, A Feast for the Senses, with many of the traditions New Englanders have cherished, along with many exciting new additions."

The 2010 Boston Flower & Garden Show will feature lush and inspiring landscaped gardens created by professional landscape designers, nurseries, historic properties and other non-profit organizations relating to the theme of A Feast for the Senses.

"Spring's first signs of renewal will greet visitors like a convivial maitre d'," said Weston.  "Visitors will indulge in a bountiful buffet of gardens, lectures, demonstrations, special events and retail vendors offering ways to incorporate vivid color, stimulating scents, soothing sounds and tantalizing texture to our gardens, with a hearty side dish of the latest taste sensation - organic vegetable gardening."

Special Attractions

The 2010 Boston Flower & Garden Show will offer more than 140,000 square feet of exhibits, including 30 major gardens and 270 retail vendors.  Special features include:

• A festive Preview Party on the eve of its public opening.  Three local horticultural non-profit organizations, New England Wild Flower Society, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, and The Trustees of Reservations, will benefit from this fundraiser, which brings together hundreds of garden enthusiasts and Boston glitterati for an elegant first peek at the Flower Show.  

• Lectures & Demonstrations: Enjoy over 20 lectures and 25 demonstrations on topics ranging from Garden Projects Your Children Will Love to Passion for Peonies.

• Celebrity Appearances:  On Saturday, March 27 at 11:30am, HGTV's carpenter hunk Anthony Gilardi of "Myles of Style," will be offering a do-it-yourself demonstration, Master of Your Domain: Carpentry Projects for the New England Garden.  On Sunday, gardengirltv.com host Patti Moreno will share tips on how to transform an urban backyard into a sustainable living garden. Also, "Victory Garden" host Roger Swain will offer a primer on the essential gardening tools.

• Garden of Cakes:  Offering a tantalizing way to appreciate flowers, this exhibit will showcase edible floral designs from Boston bakeries on the cutting edge of design.

• Floral Designs & Plant Displays: The amateur competitions and exhibitions area at the show, Blooms! presented by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, will feature two floral design divisions, an amateur horticulture section, along with displays by area plant societies and garden clubs.    

• Horticultural Information Station:  The Massachusetts Master Gardener Association will staff an information booth to answer visitors' most vexing gardening questions.

• Garden Teas:  Each day, visitors can delight in an afternoon English tea at the Aura Restaurant in the Seaport Hotel across the street from the show.  (additional price)

    
    
    
    
    Bloomin' Numbers:
    -----------------
    
    2 million               Blossoming flowers
    75,000+                 Estimated visitors to the 2010 show
    16,000                  Square feet of gardens
    1,500                   Pieces of stone
    1200                    Man-hours for volunteers to build-in the show
    1,000                   Plant labels
    270                     Retail vendors in the marketplace
    275                     Days to plan, design, force buds and build a major
                             garden exhibit
    250                     Volunteers on-site
    75                      Garden clubs participating in event
    54                      # of years the oldest major exhibitor has
                             participated in a Flower Show
    48                      Hours of free demonstrations and seminars
    30+                     Number of major garden exhibits
    30 degrees/75 degrees   Degrees F - outdoor frigid temperature vs. indoor
                             spring reprieve
    18                      Number of fish & birds within the exhibits
    16                      Floral cakes and treats on display
    8                       Waterfalls/fountains
    
    
    Times:               Wednesday – Friday 10am – 9pm   Saturday 9am – 9pm
                         Sunday 9am – 6pm
    
    Tickets:             $20 adults; $17 for seniors; $10 for children 6-17;
                          children under 6 are free
    
    Public Information:  781-237-5533
    
    Web site:            http://www.thebostonflowershow.com
    
    Facebook:            http://www.facebook.com/bostonflowerandgardenshow
    
    Twitter:             http://www.twitter.com/bosflowershow
    
    

About Paragon Group

Paragon Group, Inc., located in Needham, MA, is an event marketer offering a wealth of corporate and managerial experience with an entrepreneurial edge.  In Boston, the staff has produced the New England International Auto Show for over 20 years and the National Golf Expo for 6 years.  Paragon Group also produces the Connecticut International Auto Show, Denver Auto Show, Portland International Auto Show and Jacksonville International Car & Truck Show.  For more information on the Boston Flower & Garden Show, visit www.TheBostonFlowerShow.com.  To learn more about the Paragon Group, visit www.paragonexpo.com.

SOURCE Paragon Group, Inc.