Longing for some green in the landscape? Looking forward to flowers?
Now is the time to satisfy these yearnings, first by visiting the Connecticut Flower Show at the Connecticut Convention Center, 100 Columbus Blvd., Hartford, now through Sunday. The show opens at 10 a.m. each day, and the admission ($16 for adults, $4 for children 5 to 12) includes seminars. Cash only at the door. Visit www.ctflowershow.com for more details.
Follow that up with the annual Mad Gardeners’ Symposium, “Keeping Grounded: Life in the Garden,” at the Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village, Saturday, March 1, from 9 a.m to 3 p.m. It’s best to register for this symposium by Feb. 26 if you can, to be sure your lunch will be included. Ed Bowen, proprietor of Opus, a deliberately small nursery in Rhode Island; and Dawn Pettinelli, assistant extension educator at the University of Connecticut; will be the speakers in the morning sessions. Duncan Brine, of GardenLarge and the Brine Garden (visit www.gardenlarge.com), will interview Anne Raver, an award-winning garden and environment writer, during an afternoon session. The cost for members of Mad Gardeners is $70; non-members, $80. To register, and for more info, visit www.madgardeners.org.
And for those interested in sustainable farming and local food, the Connecticut Chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association’s annual winter conference will be at Western Connecticut State University’s midtown campus in Danbury Saturday, March 1 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT NOFA’s conference will have workshops on a variety of organic farming concerns, from finding farmland and farm business planning, to raising crops and animals, making wine, and urban farming. Registration fees range from the non-member fee of $60, or $75 with lunch, to the kids 12 and under fee of free, or $8 with lunch. Visit www.ctnofa.org for more information and to register.