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Saturday, March 10, 2007

Hicks Flower show

March is here and of course that means it's time for the Hicks flower show.


For those of you who don't live on Long Island, Hicks nursery is well over 100 years old. It's just outside the perimeter of Old Westbury Gardens. At one time I think they supplied the bulk of plants to Old Westbury.

Years ago their display's always blew me away. There were different themes, amazing shrubs I'd never heard of and perennials that turned me into a drooling idiot.


When one of the mom's up at school introduced me to another mom, I found out this second woman was the designer, the heart and soul of all the flower show exhibits at Hicks. Her name is Gianna and I've mentioned her here before and will certainly mention her here again since she is an amazing friend.

This year there were the usual tons of forced bulbs, the pink ones above were some kind of tulip. They were so beautiful but I wonder how long they would last on a windy day?



As nice as it was to peek at their sales area, they seemed much smaller and less well stocked than in the past. Well, maybe there were as many plants but it was hard to find something different or unusual.


The one plant that really blew my mind was this chartreuse Hellebore foetidous. I wanted one so badly and hunted all around the sales areas trying to find one. Finally, there they were, maybe 20 of them all bunched together and not a single space showing that any had been purchased. Well DUH, I took one look at the price tag showing $49.99 and I knew why there were still on the table. They sure were stunning but that's a lot of money for a single stemmed plant. I guess I'll have to wait a few years until the price comes down a bit.

I only found one idea worth photographing at the show. I'll save it for my next message.

Think green!

2 comments:

Gotta Garden said...

Don't these blooms just warm your heart! It really does make me want to rush spring...but I know things will happen and happen quickly before I know it!

(Of course you have "the best" taste!)

Unknown said...

Hey... I found your blog from the message you left on Kylee's (Our Little Acre) and I'm glad that I did! I'm with you on that hellebore... beautiful. :)