Show Highlights > Special Events

All Special Events are free with paid admission to the Show.

“A Garden for 365 Days”
Margaret Roach, Creator of the Nationally Acclaimed A Way to Garden Website and Author

Saturday, March 16th, 2:00 pm

Margaret 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. 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.

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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.  

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                                                         Designer Shed Competition

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.