If ever we needed a home and garden show to remind us of all that once was good about Milwaukee weather — and could be again — it’s now.
The 10th-coldest winter since the late 1800s and almost constant snow cover have left many pining for the sight of green grass and plants, blooming flowers, water fountains and smoking barbecue grills.
The good news is that, whatever you want your personal landscape of dreams to look like this spring and summer, exhibitors and experts at the annual Realtors Home Garden Show will try to help you — and offer lots of ideas for indoor projects and upgrades, as well.
The show, in the Wisconsin Exposition Center at State Fair Park in West Allis, runs Friday to March 30, with off days on Monday and Tuesday.
Among celebrity experts at this year’s show will be Roger Hazard of the AE channel’s “Sell This House.” Hazard, who will be on the Solutions Stage March 28 and 29, will be giving away one $5,000 room makeover that will be completed between March 30 and April 1. The makeover will be filmed and featured in a future episode of Hazard’s new reality show, “Roger That.” To register, visit www.rogerthat.tv/register.
Steven Katkowsky, a general contractor, designer and TV personality, will be on hand sharing tips and tricks, such as how to use hidden wall space to increase storage in kitchens and bathrooms, and how to create and decorate outdoor living space.
The Realtors Home Garden Show will feature more than 10,000 square feet of garden, nursery, landscaping, sculpture and fountain displays from area professionals. The show includes 12 showcase gardens.
Also on the eight-day agenda are daily cooking demonstrations and seminars on topics such as urban beekeeping and do-it-yourself fruits.
Presenting a seminar on do-it-yourself fruits will be Sharon Morrisey, consumer horticulture agent for the University of Wisconsin Extension in Milwaukee County. Morrisey is among those who will be happy to see the land in bloom again, but she said there are trouble spots homeowners should watch for in the aftermath of the harsh winter.
She said the long-lasting snow cover — Milwaukee had 92 consecutive days of at least 1 inch of snow on the ground, about 30 more days than normal — sheltered mice all season as they tunneled to the bark of shrubs and trees, which is a major winter food source. At the same time, rabbits have been chewing bark above the snow line.
“It may or may not heal itself,” Morrisey said. “It depends on how extensive it is. It can be deadly if it’s had all its bark stripped away all the way around. Then there is nothing left there to conduct water and nutrients up into that branch.”
Some plants might not have survived the extreme cold at all.
“There are a lot of things we’ve been planting over the last five, six, seven, eight years that are marginally hardy,” she said. “And because we’ve had mild winters, we’ve kind of been lulled into this sense of, ‘Oh, I can grow that here.’ But if we get a really cold winter like this, and it’s not completely hardy, the winter can kill it outright.”
Among plants to check for signs of life: herbaceous perennials, rhododendrons, witch elder and coralbells.
Morrisey also advised against working garden soil when it’s wet because it can break down its structure and usefulness for growing plants.
One thing that shouldn’t have a hangover from winter’s binge, however, is the lawn.
“I think our lawns are going to be fine,” Morrisey said. “They were underneath the snow and we had constant snow cover, and that really helps to insulate it.”
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IF YOU GO
What: Realtors Home Garden Show, sponsored by Unilock.
Where: State Fair Park Wisconsin Exposition Center, 8200 W. Greenfield Ave., West Allis.
When: Friday to March 30. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Hours: Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sundays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday, 4 to 8 p.m.
Cost: Adults $8; children 12 or younger and active military personnel with ID admitted free.
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