Inspired by the Northwest Flower & Garden Show was founded by Duane and Alice Kelly who were inspired by the shows in Philadelphia and New England and the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show. After its debut in 1989, it quickly became one of the foremost gardening events in America.

The Northwest has continued to be hotbed of horticulture, and an exciting combination of inspiration and education. Each element of the show—gardens, seminars and commercial booths—continues to draw visitors into an atmosphere where the dark winter is forgotten.

Each year more than 20 gardens greet people first. They showcase plants and gardening styles, both fanciful and fabulous. Each garden has its own set of designers and creators.

The Show offers six acres of gardens, exhibits, seminars and many other features. A number of changes have been made to the 2007 floor plan, including relocating the seminar rooms and some of the other Show features. Many parts of the Flower Show are filled with ideas, fun and inspiration for every type of garden and gardener.

The Northwest Flower Show is also kids friendly as it provides children’s area full of great hands-on activities and demonstrations. A Display Garden for a treasure hunt adventure, for example, has something special for children to discover and identify. Kids can find as many mystery objects as they can, then turn in their completed form at Sproutopia for a special prize.

Parents and children can stroll through this imaginative feature of the Show. Tiny display gardens adorn the children’s area. Children are rewarded with age- appropriate hands-on and interactive activities that provide a fun and educational experience. Other fun activities include flower photo cut outs, a plant-a-seed station and art stations.

For market place, garden enthusiasts can buy gardening tools, bulbs to botanical art and all things related to plants, gardens and outdoor living. Hundreds of nurseries and other exhibitors display their wares. Most exhibitors are offering plants and other products for sale right at the Show. The Show provides convenient and free Package Check locations where visitors can safely leave their cherished acquisitions while visiting the rest of the Show.

In 2009, the show will be staged between 18 and 22 February at Washington State Convention Center, Seattle, Washington. Details about the Show is available at http://www.gardenshow.com/seattle/theshow/

After a long cold winter, the famous Cincinnati Flower Show marks the return of spring. Thus, this April Flower Show, which originated in 1990, is a tribute to spring, and to the flowers that make our lives much more colorful.

This annual festival had been staged at the picturesque Ault Park, in Cincinnati, for 11 years until it was moved to historic Coney Island in 2003. In this new venue, the Show was inspired to go forward to be a pleasurable visit not just for gardeners, but for the families and children as well.

Since the beginning of the show, the Cincinnati Flower Show has been endorsed by the Royal Horticultural Society, honored as a “King of All Flower Shows” by Better Homes and Gardens, named as one of the “Top 100 Places in USA” by American Bus Association, and included in a book 1,000 Places to See in USA and Canada Before You Die by Patricia Schultz.

Today, this show becomes one of the great local events that contribute to the improvement of the environment and the community. The exhibits in this show are extravagant and feature a wide range of flowers from African violets to exotic wild flowers, hydrangeas, roses, ferns, Wordsworth’s Golden Daffodils to fragrant Hyacinths, and Hippocrates “Food for The Soul”.

Over the years, the show has received support from private gardens and local community in providing exceptional educational opportunities regarding horticulture. One of the most successful programs is the Children’s Potting Program, which aims to educate children about flowers and nature and the contribution they can make to keep our planet green. This program has attracted over 7,000 children.

Nowadays, the Show is considered a forerunner in the green industry. At the 17th annual Show, the Cincinnati Park Department put up the centerpiece garden, which highlighted the use of clean renewable fuel including a car made of corn and soybeans. In 2007, the Show’s first “A Greener Future” exhibit made us realize the importance of our environment and what each of us can do to help. The Green House exhibit offered simple and practical things we can do to help nature, such as planting native plants in your garden, growing your own herbs and edible flowers, or having a vertical garden in urban areas to control water consumption.

Visit The Cincinnati Flower Show’s official website at http://www.cincyflowershow.com/index.asp

In 2008, this spring festival celebrates its 60th anniversary as over several thousands of tulip bulbs blossom into a sea of colours just in time for Mothers Day. This annual event is held from 9 to 11 May at Washington Park, Albany, New York. It includes the street scrubbing on State Street, the Tulip Queen Coronation, Tulip Queen and Court Luncheon and Royal Tulip Ball.

The show also features 3 days of arts, crafts and food & Music festival, concerts from various acclaimed performers and bands, Tulip Queen Procession and kid’s entertainments such as a puppet show, face painting, caricaturists and balloon creation. These will unite the senses like never before.

The first evening will introduce Night Fire, a unique art-installation of the elements involving local artists and community partners to create a special 60th anniversary ceremony. The highlight is the floating 15-foot steel sculpture of tulip in emerging from Washington Park Lake. On Saturday and Sunday night, local, regional and national vendors and experts are available to offer information and products your path to personal wellness. Besides, the festival has expanded to all day Friday, making food and crafts available for purchase in addition to the traditional Saturday and Sunday vendor atmosphere.

For details of the festival, visit http://albanyevents.org/tulip_festival/index.cfm

Southport Flower Show had its seeds sown in 1924. Originally staged by the local council, the show has continued to flourish under the management of the Southport Flower Show Company since it was privatised in 1986.

In those days, masses of vivid, fragrant blooms, the show boosted elaborate table decorations, vegetables and fruit. Its ‘horse-leaping event’ was also a great hit. The show gave a great boost for Southport in terms of publicity, prestige and image and became a permanent fixture each August at Victoria Park.

Like most flower shows in England, the outbreak of World War II caused the show into suspension. The shows were revived in 1947 and at times enjoyed royal patronage. The Queen Mother and Lady Pilkington were the patronesses for a number of years. Its highest attendance once peaked in 1961 at 131,000 visitors.

The Southport Flower Show Company, made up of a group of local businesses and gardeners, took over the management of the Show in 1986. Within five years attendances topped 100,000. The Company has invested millions of pounds in renovations and maintenance of the current venue of Victoria Park.

Nowadays, Southport Flower Show is considered England’s largest independent Flower Show and one of the most spectacular and inspirational events for anyone interested in the latest ideas and designs for homes, gardens and lifestyle.

The show is set in the 34 acre Victoria Park where visitors can expect to see show gardens, water features and 1 million beautiful blooms. It’s the ideal opportunity to meet with gardening designers, browse the arts & crafts and sample the best produce in the fine foods marquee, with cookery demonstrations by celebrity chefs.

The Flower Show is a part of Southport’s heritage that continues to uphold the very best traditions. The four-day event attracts up to 80,000 visitors.

The event also caters to families and children with a variety of activities such as live music, arena entertainment, a marquee dedicated to educate children about the environment, healthy eating, physical developmental and outdoor fun.

The 2008 Southport Flower Show will be held from 21st to 24th August at Victoria Park, Southport, England.

For more details about the Show, visit http://www.southportflowershow.co.uk/

Philadelphia is considered the birthplace of America’s horticultural society, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Founded in 1827, the Society organized the nation’s first flower show, the Philadelphia Flower Show, in 1829.

During that time, twenty-five Society members presented their horticultural treasures including a variety of exotic and native plants like magnolias, peonies from China, an India rubber tree, the Coffee Tree of Arabia, and sugar cane from the West Indies. The Show was held in Masonic Hall on Chestnut Street.

From 1927 until the mid ’60s, a professional group of nurserymen and growers called Philadelphia Flower Show, Inc (PHS) took over the management of the Flower Show.

In 1966, the Show was moved to the new location at the lower level of the Civic Center and, in 1968, PHS became the official producer. However, the Flower Show moved again to its current location at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, The new venue encompasses 33 indoor acres, with exhibit space taking up 10 acres of the main exhibit hall. The Show’s larger size and scope makes it the largest indoor Flower Show in the world, entertaining crowds over 250,000 people annually.

In the state-of-the-art Convention Center, the Show includes a variety of amenities including a larger lecture and demonstration series, culinary presentations, Garden Teas, and 140 Marketplace vendors. The Philadelphia Flower Show has blossomed into the leading show of its kind in the nation.

In 2009, the Philadelphia Flower Show will go under the theme “BELLA ITALIA”. The landscapes and culture of Italy will serve as inspiration for the 2009 Philadelphia Flower Show.

A staircase stage will feature operatic performances and other musical presentations, while strolling musicians wander the Show floor. The Central Feature of the 2009 show will capture the majesty of Rome and its formal style and gardens. Show exhibitors also will pay tribute to the other distinctive regions and cities of Italy:

The celebration of the natural beauty, art, food, music and people of Italy will be held March 1-8, 2009 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia.

Further details about 2009’s Philadelphia Flower Show can be found at http://www.theflowershow.com/home/index.html

The Panagbenga Festival is a month-long event that is held annually in February in Baguio, the summer capital of the Philippines. It showcases many floral floats and native dances.

Panagbenga means “a season of blooming.” The festival, known as the Baguio Flower Festival, is set to pay homage to the beautiful flowers the city is famous for and as a celebration of Baguio’s re-establishment after the earthquake in 1990.

Spectators enjoy a multiple floral and float parades over two days while the Baguio Flower Festival Association (BFFA) will host a street dancing parade and band exhibition. The festival also features a search for the Mr. and Ms. Baguio Flower Festival, trade fair, bazaar, FM Panagbenga Pop Fiesta, Skateboard competition and Dolls of Japan exhibit were added to the BFFA calendar.

History
The festival was first organized in 1995 by John Hay Poro Point Development Corporation (JPDC). Its plan was to present the idea to the different sectors of the community: government, education, business, media and civic organizations. This was not only to solicit their support, but also to gather their suggestions and ideas.

The festival reflects the history, traditions and values of Baguio and the Cordilleras. The first event was held in October 1995. Its official logo was chosen from entries to the Annual Camp John Hay Art Contest in which contestants came from elementary, high school and college students in Baguio. The festival hymn was composed by Professor Macario Fronda of Saint Louis University.

Besides economic boosts from tourism, the festival helps the younger generation of indigenous people to rediscover their culture’s old traditions.

Getting There
The City of Baguio is a highly urbanized city in northern Luzon in the Philippines. It is accessible by air and land transportation. Presently, Asian Spirit offers flights from Manila to Baguio (Loakan Airport) on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, a 50-minute flight. Flights to Baguio are scheduled only in the morning, as visibility approaches zero in afternoons when fog starts to form. By land, you go for a six-hour ride on a 250-kilometer route from Manila.

More information about Panagbenga festival can also be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panagbenga_Festival or http://www.philippinecountry.com/philippine_festivals
/panagbenga_festival.html

Having entered its 13th year, Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show is regarded as the largest and most successful horticultural event in the Southern Hemisphere.

The event is staged within Royal Exhibition Building and the south Carlton Gardens. It features the best landscape and floral talent that Australia has to offer along side an extensive array of garden retail products. It is touted as a celebration of Australian lifestyle and our great outdoors.

About the show
The Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show (MIFGS) is renowned for attracting record visitor crowds and leading edge floral and landscape designers. It has been recognised by Tourism Victoria as one of the State’s feature ‘Hallmark’ events. It joins with other hallmark events such as the Melbourne International Festival, the Australian Grand Prix, the Melbourne Cup Carnival and the Australian Open Tennis, as a significant tourism draw card for the state of Victoria.

The event also has the support of key industry bodies including NGIV, Flowers Victoria, the LIAV and AILA, plus active participation from leading Horticultural colleges and universities throughout Victoria and Australia.

The show features cutting edge floral designs, landscape gardens, garden sculpture exhibition and sale. An open exhibition & sale of garden sculptures take place in the Carlton Gardens. Sculptures priced from a few hundred dollars to several thousands will be for sale. The sculptures are judged and prizes are awarded.

The theme of the show in 2008, held in April, features a ‘Sustainable Living Garden’, made up of three different Garden Rooms, each catering to different garden needs and demonstrating different trends, products and solutions.

More information, please visit http://www.melbflowershow.com.au/default.asp

The North of England Horticultural Society (NEHS) was inaugurated in 1910 to organise horticulture in the North of England and to arrange first class shows where northern exhibits could be judged by standards suitable for the northern areas of the country.

In those days, it was time consuming and expensive for exhibitors to travel to the Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) shows, at Vincent Square, London. Besides, growers in the north felt they were handicapped when in competition with growers in the warmer climates of the south.

The show had been a success until it was suspended during the First World War. It was then revived in 1921. Since 1927, the NEHS had focused on staging Spring and Autumn Shows each year.

The event was cancelled again during World War II. And it was not until April 1947 that the first Spring Flower Show was held in the Sun Pavilion in the Valley Gardens.

Gradually the Harrogate Spring Flower Show, as it became known throughout the country, increased in size and variety of exhibits. Soon the show became well known not only in the North, but all over the British Isles and overseas.

In 1971 the Fourth International Rock Garden Conference in Harrogate was staged in the auspices of the NEHS. The conference brought more than four hundred international delegates, representing almost every corner of the world, to the town.

Five years later, the NEHS organised an entirely new concept in flower shows by bringing together the National Dahlia Society, the National Chrysanthemum Society and seven other Societies and the North East Area of NAFAS to hold their shows within one show. It was done under the title, the Great Autumn Flower Show. This show, now incorporating 13 individual amateur society shows, has been more popular among the general public and the exhibitors.

The success of the Autumn Show led to the need to expand the Spring Show. Therefore, in 1997, the decision was taken that the Spring Show would be staged in the new location of the Great Yorkshire Showground.

This new location allowed an addition of Arts & Crafts and Fine Country Foods yet the show maintained a predominantly horticultural content. A Landscape & Garden Design section with a Student Garden Design competition, and a Plant Societies’ Marquee featuring the Daffodil and Tulip Shows have also been introduced to expand the Spring Show’s appeal.

The Society has helped to promote this art form from its earliest days and now has one of the largest marquees devoted to flower arrangements and floristry of any flower show in the country.

It has blossomed into the largest national early Spring Flower Show in Britain, with an attendance of around 60,000 visitors, and the premier Autumn Show in the country with more than 35,000 visitors. Each year the NEHS strives to make the Show more versatile and interesting, providing increasingly spectacular exhibits and improving facilities for both visitors and exhibitors alike. It is always seeking to promote all forms of horticulture for the benefit of everyone. From the window box gardener to the owner of acres, the Harrogate Flower Shows serve as a shop window on the gardening world of the future.

In 2008, the autumn show will be held between 12 – 14 September at the Great Yorkshire Showground. Please visit the Show’s official website at http://www.flowershow.org.uk/

Floriade is the biggest flower festival in Australia, marking a spectacular celebration of spring.

Began in 1988 as a spectacular commemoration of Australia’s bicentenary and Canberra’s 75th birthday, Floriade blossomed for the first time with a fascinating floral display of exotic bulbs and annuals, which grow beautifully in Canberra’s ideal climate. The first show was so successful that it became an annual event that represents Australia’s celebration of spring.

The word Floriade derives from the Latin word ‘floriat’, meaning ‘to design with flowers’. The name was inspired by flower festivals held in the Netherlands, called Keukenhof and Floriade. Since its beginnings, Floriade has always been staged in the heart of the city in Canberra’s beautiful Commonwealth Park, on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin.

The breathtaking garden beds, comprised of more than a million blooms, set the backdrop for a 30 day festival filled with vibrant entertainment, different learning experiences, unique markets, live concerts and delicious food and drink.

At Floriade, you will see a wide array of flowers, predominantly bulbs such as tulips, irises, daffodils, hyacinths, violas, chrysanthemums, ranunculas and daisies. The event also presents an exciting entertainment program with visiting and local performers, children’s activities, workshops, exhibitions, showcase gardens, food, wine and shopping

In 2008, the show will take place between 13 September and 12 October. It will include a variety of interesting activities such as Showcase gardens, beautiful exhibitions and floral competitions, kids’ workshop, shopping, food and wine, performances, films in the garden beds. The latter shows giant floral pictures of famous Australian movies (such as Muriels’ Wedding, Happy Feet, Babe, Moulin Rouge, and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) created in spectacular garden beds.

More information about Floriade is available at http://www.floriadeaustralia.com/

Held annually for five days in May, the Chelsea Flower Show is a garden show organized by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). The show takes place in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in Chelsea, London, England. It is one of the most famous show in England and a part of London’s summer social season.

History
The show was first held in 1862 and named the ‘Royal Horticultural Society’s Great Spring Show’. Its venue was the RHS garden in Kensington. When that garden was closed in 1888, it was moved to Temple Gardens near the Embankment.

In 1912, the Temple Show was cancelled. However, Sir Harry Veitch brought this event back by securing the grounds of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, for a one-off event. The show was a success and the Great Spring Show was moved there in 1913, where it becomes the venue of today’s Chelsea Flower Show.

The event was cancelled a few times during the First World War. It came back in full swing in 1920s, featuring the famous Chelsea tea parties and the Royal visit.

The show was cancelled again during the Second World War because the land was required by the War Office for an anti-aircraft site. It resumed in 1947 with the help of Lord Aberconway (then RHS President) and the RHS Council. Despite obstacles about stocks of plants and shortage of staff, the event was a great success.

Popular parts of the Chelsea Flower Show include the flower arranging and the show gardens.

The Chelsea Flower Show today
Each year, the Chelsea Flower Show receives approximately 157,000 visitors (a number limited by the capacity of the 11 acre ground) and all tickets must be purchased in advance. The show has been recently increased from four days to five in 2005, with the first two days only open to RHS members. Several members of the British Royal Family attend a preview of the show. It is extensively covered by the BBC.

The show has become an important venue for watching trends. New plants are often launched at the show and the popularity of older varieties revived under the focus of the horticultural world. It is the garden design equivalent of a catwalk at a fashion show. In 2008, there are around 600 exhibitors at the show. This includes: 22 show gardens; 22 small gardens, including courtyard gardens and urban gardens; 100 floral exhibitors in the Great Pavilion; approximately 300 garden product exhibitors.

Visit the show’s official website: http://www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea/2008/index.asp