|
 
News > Press
Springfest Garden Show: A Privileged Space
In Second Nature: A Gardener's Education, author Michael Pollen states: “A garden should make you feel you've entered a privileged space – a place not just set apart but reverberant – and it seems to me that, to achieve this, the gardener must put some kind of twist on the existing landscape, turn its prose into something nearer poetry.”
For gardeners who understand this mission, there is no better place to be inspired than the 17th annual Springfest Garden Show, March 14 – 17, 2013, at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, New Jersey.
With beautifully crafted mahogany beams rising graciously to a height of 34 feet, the custom glass Springfest Conservatory encloses a sun-filled space blooming with garden exhibits. The building, a gift to the Fairgrounds from Bev and Bruce Gordon of Sussex County, houses what has been proclaimed “New Jersey's finest flower and garden show” (Star Ledger). Springfest, a non-profit show produced by garden-lovers for garden-lovers, hosts more than 8000 visitors from the tri-state area. Proceeds benefit the promotion of excellence in horticulture, including year-round educational opportunities.
The friendly faces of the Sussex County Master Gardeners greet visitors to the Show in The Entry Garden, designed by the staff of Three Seasons LLC. In this garden you will find beautiful vignettes serving as a backdrop for the “Container Competition.” Here both amateur and professional contestants create clever arrangements full of ideas for your own garden.
In that quest to turn the landscape into something “nearer poetry,” Springfest is an inspiring event. The creative ideas and talented skills of the area’s premier garden designers and landscape companies are featured in displays of natural stone, ponds and waterfalls, arbors and patios, and, of course, garden plants and flowers in all their splendid variations of form, fragrance and color. Representatives of these premier companies are present throughout the show to share their knowledge and expertise.
Garden enthusiasts can plan their visit to catch a free lecture, included with paid admission to the show, in the lecture hall. Among the speakers this year is renowned garden writer Margaret Roach, former garden editor for Martha Stewart Living and author of the just-released The Backyard Parables: Lessons on Gardening and Life. Returning favorite Produce Pete from NBC’s Saturday Morning News highlights Sunday’s schedule, which will also include scents from Ben Del Coro from Fossil Farms, and a talk by Alana Chernila on freezing, canning and dehydration.
This year Springfest will be showcasing the newest trend in outdoor living – Designer Sheds: Living in Your Garden. Get a premier peek into three sheds with style, all professionally furnished by designers Tracy Gibbins Interior Designs, Maxwell & Molly’s Closet Pet Boutiques and LoHo Living. You will see a transformation of a garden shed into a “Garden Guesthouse/Home Office,” “Your Pooch’s Poolside Palace,” and a “Mancave.”
Visitors will find an all new expanded show this year, making room for a Bonsai Display & Demonstration Garden. Watch experts clip and style what was once a shrub into the beginnings of a magnificent miniature tree, while learning about their care and history.
The show’s marketplace shops are carefully selected to reflect Springfest’s commitment to quality. Tucked among the curving paths throughout the show, visitors will find such widely diverse items as garden ornaments and furniture, hats and gloves, dried flowers, fertilizers, garden machinery, fencing and sheds, seeds, bulbs, and potted plants, including orchids, topiaries and perennials.
Arborists, outdoor lighting and irrigation specialists are among the expert service exhibitors. Educational displays offering information and advice include public gardens, the Master Gardeners, and various birding and plant societies.
Much anticipated, year after year, is the Kids Plant Your Own Zone, where children discover the enjoyment of gardening. Another popular feature for children is the Treasure Hunt.
The Garden Café, with its creative and inviting décor, encourages visitors to linger while they enjoy a delicious lunch or fine pastries with gourmet coffee, teas, and wine bar.
Springfest is sponsored in part with generous donations from Intercar Mercedes-Benz of Newton, Eastern Propane and Stihl, Inc. and with support from Brodhecker Farms, The Morville Agency, Appleby’s Corp., Tri-State Insurance Agency, Lakeland Bank, Blue Ridge Lumber and many more.
Make your plans to enter the “reverberant space” that is Springfest 2013 and be ready to turn the prose of your existing landscape into something “nearer poetry.” It all begins Thursday, March 14, from 10 – 5 daily at the Sussex County Fairgrounds, 37 Plains Road, Augusta, New Jersey and runs through Sunday, March 17.
-----------------------------------------------------
DESIGNER SHEDS: LIVING IN YOUR GARDEN
Featured at Springfest Garden Show
Springfest Garden Show at the Sussex County Fairgrounds is well known for showcasing flower-filled garden displays designed to inspire visitors with the latest trends and ideas for their own home landscape. This year’s expanded show, held March 14-17th, promises not to disappoint with a whole new display of a whole new trend in outdoor living - actually a whole new way to live in your garden. The lowly backyard shed; whether ready made, stick built or a renovated tumble-down structure, are being transformed into architecturally charming garden structures. while adding functional square footage to your space-challenged home or just providing a plush, cozy retreat surrounded by gardens overflowing with flowers.
Imagine all the possibilities: a creative art studio, a Zen getaway, a charming tea house, a mini-gym or perhaps a writer’s private oasis with an inviting candle in the window. How about a sleek modern hang-out spot, a wine tasting room, a woodcarving studio, a collector’s showcase or possibly a rustic, woodland outpost in a small clearing, deep in your woods. Popular in Europe where space is at a premium, these sheds can be equipped with most all of the cozy comforts of home: electricity, portable heat and A/C, cable and internet. Be sure to check your local building codes and then get planning! Have fun furnishing the interior and designing and planting the landscape to create your one of a kind abode.
Visitors to this years’ Springfest Garden Show will get a premier peek into three sheds with style, all professionally furnished by design gurus challenged to create the most imaginative spaces.
Tracy Gibbins Okeson, a well known interior designer and owner of Tracy Gibbins Interior Design in Branchville, NJ has started the creative juices flowing with a ‘Guestroom & Home Office’ that will make you or your guests feel like you’re on vacation in your own backyard. Tracy received her BS in Interior Design from Pratt Institute and has been transforming homes in the tri-state area for more than 13 years. Prior to that, Tracy was associated with the home furnishings empire of John Rosselli.
If you have ever been to the charming Maxwell & Molly’s Closet Pet Boutique on historic Spring Street in Newton, NJ then you know that owner Bonnie Bitondo will be creating a shed space; “Your Pooch’s Poolside Palace” that will be worthy of sharing with man’s (or woman’s!) best 4-legged friend. ”Bonnie’s decorating talent is evident in both the Newton store and their inviting new Rt. 94 location in Hardyston, NJ where pet owners shop among crystal chandeliers, antique cabinets and armories beautifully stocked with fur-baby favorites.
The much anticipated ‘Mancave’ shed designed by Colleen Brennan of LoHo Living, an eclectic home furnishing , lifestyle store in Olde Lafayette Village, promises to be the ultimate space to indulge in all things manly. Designed in Colleen’s signature ‘rustic glamour’ style, visitors are sure to utter “WOW” and “OMG” (the usual reaction from shoppers entering her store for the first time) as they peer into the unexpected, elegant man-space she has created.
The exterior architecture of your shed is just as important in creating an inviting and functional space that fits comfortably in your landscape. At Brodhecker Farms in Newton, owner Phil Brodhecker says “Ready-made sheds can be customized with all manner of architectural features.” In fact, Phil has provided all three custom sheds for the Springfest display. They will be among a sampling of outbuildings that Brodhecker Farms will have on display at Springfest.
.
Visitors are encouraged to vote for their favorite shed in the ‘People’s Choice Designer Shed’ contest. The Designer Shed display is provided by generous donations from Springfest Sponsors: Bruce & Bev Gordon, Brodhecker Farms and with help from Blue Ridge Lumber.
Springfest is a non-profit show produced by garden-lovers for garden-lovers held each spring in the Conservatory at the Sussex County Fairgrounds, Augusta, NJ. Featuring beautiful Garden Displays by premier landscape companies and some of the greatest garden shopping under one roof. Springfesters also enjoy renowned speakers and a beautiful Café. Children enjoy learning about plants in the Kid’s Zone.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Springfest Garden Show: Hosting Bonsai Exhibit and Demonstrations
For more than 20 years, bonsai enthusiast, Hank Gross of Layton, NJ has been trimming, pruning, wiring, clamping and styling shrubs and trees into artistically shaped miniature trees perfectly proportioned and displayed as a work of art. Cultures throughout the world share his passion for the centuries-old art form which he will display at Springfest Garden Show, this March 14 -17th at the Sussex County Fairgrounds, Augusta, NJ.
The exhibit will display both evergreen conifers and deciduous trees just breaking from winter dormancy. Gross says, “Japanese often bring their deciduous bonsai trees to shows during the winter when the leafless branches and structure are fully appreciated without their summer foliage.” Pedestals will elevate the specimens so visitors can view all the important features from the most advantageous angle.
Visitors will be treated to a daily demonstration of the techniques, tools, aesthetics and care of making a tree from a bush up to a semi-finished state. “It’s a gradual process”, explains Gross, “the plant will spend a year in a nursery pot; gradually clipped, roots trimmed, and finally in 3-5 years it can be displayed in a formal bonsai container.”
Hank, having studied the discipline from experts in Montreal, served on the Board of Directors of the Vermont Bonsai Society, and currently is with both the Bergen and Great Swamp Bonsai Societies. He will be available throughout the show to answer questions about all there is to learn about the practice.
The 17th annual Springfest Garden Show, March 14-17th at the Sussex County Fairgrounds, 37 Plains Road, Augusta, NJ offers winter-weary gardeners and outdoor living enthusiasts an early indoor-spring featuring inspiring garden displays, lectures by distinguished speakers, great garden shopping, a charming Café and The Kid’s Zone
Please Note: The Springfest Garden Show is a fundraising event for Springfest, a division of the Sussex County Farm and Horse Show Association, a 501(c)(3) corporation. For more information see website or contact:
Springfest President: David H. Wright, L.L.A.
PO Box 100
Branchville, NJ 07822
973-948-9448
info@springfestgardenshow.org
---------------------------------------------------
PRESS RELEASE: February 2013
LECTURE SERIES AT SPRINGFEST GARDEN SHOW
Whether you’re a passionate plant geek, a veteran yard-crasher or a newbie homeowner; you’ll be sure to find inspiring landscape ideas or learn a new trick from an engaging lecture at this year’s Springfest Garden Show at the Sussex County Fairgrounds. In addition to flower-filled garden displays overflowing with ideas and charming shops stocked with gardening goodies, visitors to the 17th annual four day extravaganza will find a line-up of top notch speakers in all manner of gardening expertise.
Keynote speaker Margaret Roach has worked for more than 25 years to make her garden in the Hudson Valley-Berkshires area a visual treat every day of the year. Visitors will meet the plants and the philosophy that make it happen, delivered with a dose of “horticultural how-to and woo-woo.” After 15 years at Martha Stewart Living and a decade each at Newsday and The New York Times, Margaret now writes the nationally acclaimed blog, A Way to Garden (www.awaytogarden.com) and is author of the 2011 corporate-dropout memoir, And I Shall Have Some Peace There, about walking away from “success” for a quieter life lived closer to nature. Her new garden book, The Backyard Parables, will be available for sale after the lecture that starts at 2pm on Saturday, March 16th.
Produce Pete, from Weekend Today in New York, WNBC Channel 4 will meet and greet visitors starting at 2pm on Sunday, March 17th. This common sense expert “knows a little about a lot” when it comes to fruits and vegetables. Pete’s book, Farmacopeia, will be available for purchase. Buy one and Pete will autograph it for you!
A full lecture schedule is posted on the Show’s website www.springfestgardenshow.org and include such diverse topics as English gardens, annuals, perennials, roses and blooming trees, new plants for 2013, easy care gardens, garden design and container gardens. Cooking demos explain how to preserve your garden, how-to with root veggies, and Chef Ben Del Coro returns with cooking locally sourced food.
The doors to a debut of all things SPRING! will open to more than 10,000 winter-weary visitors at this years’ Springfest Garden Show, held March 14-17th at the Sussex County Fairgrounds, Plains Road in Augusta, NJ. Hours are 10am -5pm daily. Lectures are free with paid admission to the show. Adults: $12. Seniors 65+: $9. Children under 12 free. For more info: www.springfestgardenshow.org or call 973-948-9448.
Editor Please Note: The Springfest Garden Show is a fundraising event for Springfest, a division of the NJ State Fair/Sussex County Farm and Horse Show, a 501(c)(3) corporation. For more information see website or contact: Springfest President: David H. Wright, L.L.A., PO Box 100, Branchville, NJ 07822 973-948-9448 info@springfestgardenshow.org
|
