Flower Show: ‘After the Storm’
by Nancy Brennick, CHS vice president

The call for help with the CHS exhibit in the 2012 Connecticut Flower & Garden Show was answered by more than 100 CHS members and friends. Once again, CHS volunteers presented a show-stopping display for the tens of thousands of show-goers in late February.

More than a dozen volunteers dug from their gardens groundcovers, saplings and mosses; collected woodsy artifacts, including stones and trunks; and saved leaves so the woodland display would mimic the real thing. The display showed that even after the worst of Mother Nature’s ravages, the bulbs will bloom, the peonies will pop, the saplings will sprout.

More than 60 CHS members hosted the CHS exhibit and introduced seminar speakers at the show held at the Connecticut Convention Center.

The CHS Board of Directors would like to thank the volunteers and families who gave their time and resources to the effort. Special thanks go to

* Katie Shipman, who designed the landscape and provided plants, props and construction guidance;

* David Smith, who tended the bulbs and is always a divine resource for horticultural questions;

* Joan and Ken Stubenrauch, who bought and cared for the plants and jumped at opportunities to help; and

* Cathy Testa, who organized show volunteers and provided training.

CHS is especially grateful to the Glastonbury VOAG and Gideon Welles School for the use of their greenhouses, and to the teachers and students who helped care for the plants.

Please help thank donors to the CHS exhibit by supporting their businesses: White Flower Farm, Morris; Cedar Mountain Stone & Mulch, Wethersfield; Broken Arrow Nursery, Hamden; Moore’s Sawmill, Bloomfield; Shipman Nursery, Glastonbury; B&B Landscaping and Design, Glastonbury; and Cricket Hill Garden, Thomaston.