Tickets are now on sale for the 2014 Arkansas Flower and Garden Show Feb. 21-23 at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. The show, which benefits educational scholarships to Arkansas horticulture students and beautification programs across the state, features more than 100 vendors, beautiful display gardens, demonstrations and how-to sessions.
Dedicated to improving the lives of Arkansans through creating greener and cleaner surroundings, the Arkansas Flower and Garden Show is the premier horticultural event in the state, with nearly 12,000 visitors, 100 vendors and five beautiful display gardens.
Proceeds from the show provide educational scholarships in horticulture-related fields to students in Arkansas colleges and universities. Since the show began in 1992, the nonprofit organization has awarded more than 30 scholarships to students studying horticulture and landscape architecture in Arkansas. In addition, proceeds support the Greening of Arkansas grant program, which provides grants for community beautification projects throughout Arkansas. More than $40,000 has been given in the last eight years to communities to beautify public areas such as parks, community entrances and schools.
The Arkansas Flower and Garden Show is more than just the annual show in February. It is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance gardening and beautification in Arkansas, promote local horticultural businesses and educate the public about gardening, landscaping and floral design.
“Horticulture plays a vital role in Arkansas’ economy, bringing in billions of dollars, and providing employment for thousands of people,” says Arkansas Flower and Garden Show Executive Director Krista Quinn. “It’s also an important part of our daily lives — from the food we eat to the green spaces we enjoy. The Arkansas Flower and Garden Show seeks to support young people interested in learning more to ensure a prosperous and green future for our state.”
Keynote speakers include executive chef Don Bingham, landscape design lecturer and author C. Colston Burrell, Janet Carson and Dr. Dustan Clark of University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, Arkansas Master Gardener Don Greenland, Lissa Morrison of Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, Arkansas Master Gardener Lucinda Reynolds, and Nicholas Staddon of Monrovia Nurseries.
Friday speakers include Burrell on “Finishing Touches: Details in Garden Design” and “The Art of Perennial Combinations”; Clark, an Arkansas poultry specialist, on “Backyard Poultry: From Community Zoning to Your Breakfast Omelet”; Greenland on “Grow Your Own Groceries”; and Morrison, lead gardener at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks in Fayetteville, on “Taming the Wild: Arkansas Natives Come Home.”
Saturday speakers include Bingham on “Outdoor Arkansas Party Time!”; Carson on “Ornamental Edibles/Edible Ornamentals”; Reynolds on “Remarkably Reliable Plants for Arkansas”; and Staddon, director of new plants for Monrovia Nurseries, on “Behind the Curtain” and “Your Urban Farm – From Plot to Pot.”
Monrovia Nurseries will sponsor a drawing for plants following each of Staddon’s presentations.
Sunday is Family Day, during which kids accompanied by one or more adults may attend two free 30-minute gardening workshops at which they will learn about butterflies and growing plants from seeds. Faulkner County Master Gardener and retired teacher Betty Baxter will direct “Sensational Seeds,” and Faulkner County Master Gardener and retired teacher Sheryl Whited will teach “Bring on the Butterflies.”
