2012 Boston Flower & Garden Show

This snowy scene at the Cut Flower Garden at Mount Auburn Cemetery
only lasted about 4 hours.  Glad I had my camera at hand!

In the Northeast US our winter has been mild (so far), so this week's Flower Show has not been the respite from winter that we usually need.  The show runs for 2 more days (March 14-18th at the Boston World Trade Center).  This year's theme is 'First Impression - The Wow Factor to  Outdoor Spaces.'  Most of the displays this year capture that theme quite well.  In past years some of the exhibits were way over the top, but I could see how many of the ideas presented this year could be used without breaking the bank.

What follows are some of my favorite picture that I took at this year's show.

Many of the exhibits contained water features.
This one works in a very small space

Here the water feature is the main event.

The shapes and colors in this display caught my attention.
Again the self-contained water feature can work
in a relatively small space.

Just to air one gripe I have at the Flower Show, it's the lighting.  While much improved from when the show was held at the Bayside Convention Center, the lighting is still occasionally very harsh.  It is especially bad when the color is tinted to 'enhance' the flower colors.  For this photo with the vase I had to compensate for a heavy red cast projected onto the scene from the overhead lighting to make it look more natural.

In addition to all the plants, most of the exhibits included some arty do-dads.
I like the little fishes in the lower right here...

... and the 'sparkily' ornaments here were a nice addition,
without going over board.

I did venture into the flower arranging and amateur horticulture exhibits as well.  It is amazing to see what can be done with individual plants.

This Mexican Grass Tree caught my attention.
It looked like it was swaying in a breeze.

Flower arranging is really not my thing, but there are many fantastic creations made here including plant materials.  

The Pincushion Flowers, Leucospermum cordifolium,
used here appeared in many of this year's arrangements.

So with this I'll say farewell to the Flower Show.  Now it's time to start getting to work!