Learn how to attract pollinators like this bumblebee to your garden
Spring is on its way. We know this because garden show season is upon us. And the NW Flower and Garden Show for us northwesterly gardeners is the beginning of the gardening year in many ways. For those exhibiting or building show gardens, it’s the most creative and rewarding way to reach the plant loving public and say “pick me!” For those in the biz, it’s often the one time a year to bump into business friends from outside our own area. For everyone–the NW Flower and Garden Show is a source of artistic inspiration, a wellspring of horticultural information and for certain, the gardening jump-start we all need after a long winter. Can you tell I’m excited?
I have been following the fabulous NW Flower and Garden Show blog which has been announcing so many events, seminars and meetings happening during the show. A full seminar schedule can be seen at www.gardenshow.com
Shelly the Snail
Besides the interesting seminars I plan to attend during the show, I am also excited about my own presentations. This is my third year delivering seminars and I am honored to again be a part of the show. This is my second year appearing in costume on the kid’s Sprout Stage located in the new children’s PlayGarden—I tell you, it’s the most fun of the show and I get a second use out of my silly Halloween costumes.
For kids and fun-loving adults:
SHELLY THE SNAIL’S BIRTHDAY PARTY: You’re invited to help celebrate!
Join Shelly the Snail as she gets ready for her garden birthday party. She’s hoping for rain as she makes up plates of the plants and dirt she and her relatives the slugs love to eat. No escargot here! Shelly is nocturnal, so this is a party under the stars. Kids will learn to make an explorer’s kit of simple materials to find garden party guests in their own yards and to make a party hat out of leaves.
30 min on the Sprout Stage. Saturday and Sunday, February 26th and 27th, 11:00 am
On the DIY Stage: Create a Buzz: Easy Steps to Attract Pollinators to your Garden
Can you imagine a world without berries and tomatoes? Chocolate and coffee? We wouldn’t have these and many of our dietary staples if it weren’t for the efforts of bees and other pollinators. Learn how to attract pollinators to your garden for better fruit and vegetable production and enjoy a flower-filled, environmentally friendly garden as a reward. You’ll get instructions for building nesting boxes for beneficial, native bee species, tips for selecting long-blooming plants with nectar and pollen rich flowers and learn how mulches impact solitary bees.
45 min for the DIY Stage. Sunday, February 27, 2011, 
2:15pm
For tickets and other information: www.gardenshow.com
Cool–Have a great time. It looks like a fun show! I was in Philadelphia a week ago and downtown was festooned with banners advertising the Philadelphia Flower Show. Unfortunately it wasn’t about to begin for another month. Bummer. I’ve never attended one of the massive cooler-climate garden shows and was looking forward to experiencing what they’re all about.
I’ve always wanted to go to the Phily show–too bad you missed it. You ought to come up for the Seattle show one of these years. It’s very inspirational and there’s a warm vibe despite the cooler-climate.