THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 23, 1997 TAG: 9701230499
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: 58 lines
If you know a child who wishes to build a worm bin or if you're inclined to engage in that rewarding pursuit, help is at hand.
That is one of many lures at the three-day Virginia Flower and Garden Show beginning Friday at the Virginia Beach Pavilion.
It began six years ago with a few speakers in the lobby and grew into one of the nation's largest horticultural gatherings. It engulfed half the Pavilion last year, master gardener Duane Harding recalls. Now it fills the building with exhibits, 100 vendors, 15 speakers and other experts offering advice.
In January's cold choke-hold, the Pavilion is all abloom for Friday's opening at 10 a.m. Last year 8,000 attended.
Among speakers, Felder Rushing, garden editor of Southern Living magazine, will discuss ``getting away with wild stuff in an urban garden'' and how to grow old-fashioned plants passed along from mothers to daughters and friends to friends.
Tools and techniques to make gardening easier for people dealing with carpal tunnel syndrome will be discussed by Bonnie Appleton of the Hampton Roads Research and Extension Center.
Buddy Spencer, the city of Norfolk's landscape architect, will talk about backyard wildlife.
The lazy, selfish gardener, which would seem to fit me, will be aided by Janet Leatherman of the Norfolk Botanical Garden in lecturing on growing plants in containers.
Among half a dozen other enticing topics is ``little sprouts in the garden'' as Ann Parsons of the Norfolk Botanical Garden teaches children about worm bins, composting, and planting seeds.
The 6-year-old perennial garden show for home gardeners is an offshoot of the Professional Horticultural Conference of Virginia, which today will wind up its annual conference in the Pavilion Hotel.
Jo Anne Gordon, horticulturist for Norfolk's parks and forestry division, recalled Wednesday how horticulturists of Hampton Roads realized they could recruit the professional experts to linger and share their expertise.
A feature this year will be a flower show within the main show - a judged one sponsored by the Tidewater District of the Virginia Federation of Garden Clubs.
Another contest will be landscapes constructed by 13 firms. First-place winner last year was All Thumbs. The Norfolk Botanical Garden's whimsical children's garden won the People's Choice last year. The public again will be invited to vote for its favorite landscape.
Admission is $5 for adults, $4.50 for senior citizens. Children under 11 are free when accompanied by an adult. The show will run Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
The Virginia Flower and Garden Show at the Virginia Beach Pavilion
will run Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Admission is $5. Children under 11 will be
admitted free when accompanied by adults.