The show as always was a breath of fresh air and walking through the Garden Gallery, looking and brushing my fingers lightly over the myriad of plants that had been brought in made me want them all. But not having a truck or greenhouse (and enough money), I just satisfied myself with looking and looking. I did notice at one kiosk that they were offering tomato and various pepper plants plus basil, etc. These plants looked healthy and inviting but I knew the weather wasn't ready for them to be planted in the garden so I hope whoever bought them, will keep them warm until mid-may.
This year the metal garden ornaments were the big thing it seemed. A whole forest of these stood in several places tempting buyers as well as causing questions in the form of "which one do I want?"
I am always totally awed at the patio displays that are complete and oh, so, beautiful. Those cause me to "want one" big time. I satisfied myself with walking through them, picking up advertisements and business cards and hoping after all the work it took to bring in and set up those dreamy displays, that they would have a lot of orders to take home with them.
Of course I loved the Master Gardener booth. It felt like home to see it setting in its familiar place. Master Gardeners were busy helping people find seeds and talking to others who had gardening questions. Our group in Allen County has grown so large that I didn't recognize some of the people working the booth. As a matter of fact, our program has grown from a few master gardeners in 1997 to over 300 thanks to the energies of the Horticulture Educator, Ricky Kemery.
Finally after making mental notes for my garden of what I saw in the gallery, I headed to the hallway where at the end was our seminar area. On the way I saw friends in the break/cafe area and stopped to visit, then on to get a good seat so I could really enjoy the instructor's presentation. I did notice that the room was full by the time it was over and later found out that some of the seminars had over 100 people in attendance. That told me plenty. People are hungry for spring and gardening season and of course, fact-based gardening information.
From a Master Gardener's perspective it was a success!!!
