Want a great way to shake the late-winter blahs?

Get over to the Maryland Home and Garden Show at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. It is overflowing with signs of spring and the hope of warm weather to come. The theme of the show is "Symphony of Spring," so be sure to keep an eye out for the various ways this theme is used in the display gardens.

The winner of last year’s garden competition, Carroll Landscaping, Inc., welcomes visitors to the show at the entrance with a large display.

What a welcoming—Masses of bright yellow daffodils and various spring flowering bulbs confirm the message that spring is almost here. Go see for yourselves the clever water feature they used in the right half of their creation. 

Each year, landscape companies install gardens that are judged and rated according to size (three  space categories ranked from large to small) and various design and plant criteria. For the first time in the history of the show, a small space garden has run away with Best In Show. And it is a beauty. 

Arbor Ridge Services in Kingsville, MD, has created a gorgeous garden vignette incorporating a stone path , with musical references imbedded in the stone work. The garden also features a stone bench with lots of soft cushions for comfortable seating, tucked under a wooden pergola. A well-designed very realistic water feature replete with moss covered tree trunk, fallen mossy tree branches and stone boulders rounds out the champion garden.  The plant material is well chosen and cleverly used to draw the viewer’s eye up and through the wooded setting.

Stone work is everywhere and mostly on a grand scale at the show. Owner Justin Milio of Nature’s Artisans designed a raised garden setting that incorporates artistically designed stone flooring and water feature. Two large pergolas by Dave Chicherio of Maryland  Arbor frame the entrance and side of the area. This garden display won two awards—the Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation award and the ribbon for Best Educational Display.

Fox Run Nursery took the prize for Best Water Feature Display and Best Use of Wood in a Design. The award for the Most Practical and Realistic Design went to The Outdoor Advantage.  European Landscapes and Design, previous winner of Best In Show, won three ribbons for its outstanding design, which includes a flat-screen television suspended from a large tree trunk, a dry stream bed running through a river of stone surrounded by mixed plantings of evergreens, and flowering trees and shrubs.

But these are just a few highlights—there is so much more to see. There really is something for everyone: decorative goods, live plants, gourmet foods, hot tubs, hardscape, and home improvement vendors of all sorts. When your feet grow weary and your stomach begins to growl, check out the food court.

And there are specialty lectures throughout the three days and evenings from March 11 to 13. You can see a full list of lectures and special events from the Maryland Home and Garden Show here. 

Next week, I will write about the exhibits in the Horticulture Hall, which is special to this upcoming weekend's events. The Maryland Orchid Show, orchids for sale, Bonsai demonstrations, talks and supplies, various garden-related organizations and so much more will be featured. 

There is also a separate building housing a craft show for a separate entrance fee.

Don’t delay! Come celebrate spring!

 Happy Gardening.