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Summer's scorch may loom but, this weekend at least, plant fairs lavish us with cool green. It's a refreshing repast for fans and families.
By JOHN A. STARNES Jr., Times Correspondent
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 28, 2000
We fight traffic all week, cope with office politics, try to please our Significant Other (or get one). We haul the kids from here to there, try to keep the bills paid and the house and yard looking respectable. When it's all done, maybe we squeeze in some fun or just pass out in front of the tube.
By the end of the weekend, we hope we have rested enough to do it all over again.
Quiet moments spent gardening alone or with a good friend offer precious opportunities to find a calm center, a quiet oasis from the shrieking demands of adulthood.
Screaming with thousands of other fans at a baseball game does offer togetherness of sorts, but a lot of us need to cool our jets.
Strolling through an open air plant fair on a gorgeous day for some precious alone time, or with family or friends, is like a good deep rain for a drought-stricken soul. No fast rides or blaring music. Instead, fascinating exhibits, beautiful plants and friendly fellow gardeners blend to celebrate nature's gifts to us.
As the weather heats up, the gardening show schedule slows down. But this, the final weekend of April, offers all kinds of opportunities.
There is the Green Thumb Festival in St. Petersburg and the National Orchid Show at the Belleview Biltmore Resort and Spa in Belleair. If you don't mind a drive to Orlando, the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival starts this weekend and continues through June 11.
Farther afield, Miami's famous Fairchild Tropical Garden holds its Spring Plant Sale on Saturday, your chance to buy plants from the garden's own nursery and local plant societies. Next weekend offers the Tampa Rose Society's annual rose show, and the Sarasota Bromeliad Society Show and sale. Details accompany this story. Stay tuned to the St. Petersburg Times' Home & Garden section every Saturday for the complete garden calendar.
There's no end to what you'll find at these shows.
Curious about orchids? Stroll over to a booth brimming with them, inhale their amazing fragrances and chat with folks who grow them easily in their back yards.
Ever eat a red banana that tastes like a very sweet pineapple? Get to know the growing number of folks cultivating exotic tropical fruits in Central Florida, and taste free sample slices so you can pick out your favorite for your landscape.
Gave up on roses years ago? Learn about varieties that thrive here and bloom year-round with no chemical spraying.
Already bonkers over a certain kind of plant? Join local plant clubs at their membership tables so that once a month you can hang out for an evening of friendship, excitedly sharing your obsession with ferns or daylilies or roses or what-have-you.
If you have children, a plant fair can be a chance for them to have fun while learning -- just don't tell them about the educational part.
A lot of us are, to be polite, frugal. Our friends may think us cheap. In any event, who doesn't like a bargain? How about coming home from a plant fair with potted trees the height of an adult for a few bucks? How about FREE trees given away by a city reforestation program? Imagine scanning a table for way-cool potted plants that cost less than a fast-food meal?
John A. Starnes Jr. is an avid gardener and rosarian who studies, collects, cultivates and hybridizes roses for the diverse regions of Florida and Colorado. He can be reached at: THE.GARDEN-DOCTOR@worldnet.att.net.
Whether you're an experienced gardener or a novice facing a barren yard, plant and garden shows are a great place to get and share knowledge and inspiration. Here are shows this weekend in the Tampa Bay area and a couple farther afield: