By Carol Stocker
Boston’s famous flower show has been signaling the wind-down of winter since 1834. This year’s version, The 2013 Boston Flower Garden Show, blooms indoors at the Seaport World Trade Center through Sunday. March 17.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, Saturday March 16, 9 .m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, March 17, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets for the show are $20 for adults, $17 for seniors, $10 for children 7-17. Children under six are free. For more information, visit bostonflowershow.com.

The theme “Seeds of Change” embraces both environmental concerns and the down home pleasures of vegetable gardening. The dozens of scheduled presentations will include tips on how to raise chickens and keep bees – two of the fastest growing environmental hobbies. Ecologists will lecture on controlling invasive species and reusing water. Local chefs will show how to grow, use and preserve herbs and produce. Whether your interests are pickling or pruning, you can learn about it here.There will also be plenty of pops of color, such as Deborah Trickett’s lecture on creating “Jaw-Dropping, Traffic-Stopping, Get-Your-Neighbors-Talking Container Gardens.”

Most appreciated will be the instant gardens in full bloom. Favorite returning exhibitors include Miskovsky Landscaping of Falmouth, Earthworks of Leverett, Heimlich Nurseries of Woburn and Peter R. Sedeck of Lakeville who includes exotic birds in his Eden-like designs. Some gardens will be large and some will be very small. Debi Hogan and Warren Leach of Tranquil Lake Nursery in Rehoboth will contribute one of their crowd pleasing miniature gardens where one inch represents one foot in scale and a begonia does a good imitation of a Japanese maple tree while nasturtium seedlings stand in for lotus leaves.

The roots of the Boston flower show go back to 1834 when the Massachusetts Horticultural Society held its first large show in Faneuil Hall, primarily for farmers and gentlemen to exhibit their homegrown produce, especially new fruit varieties. The Concord grape was introduced at the 1854 exhibition. The Society ran the show for 137 years before its financial melt down in 2009.This resurrected version of the show is produced by Paragon Group of Needham with long-time director Carolyn H. Weston. But Mass Hort, under new leadership and currently in the black, still has an important role. It oversees all the amateur competitions, including a floral design show and an Ikebana International Exhibit. Seven small gardens, called vignettes, trace Mass Hort’s long history, including its role in the creation of Mount Auburn Cemetery in 1831, the Window Gardening Movement of the 1870s, the School Yard Experiment of 1891 and the Victory Gardens of WWII. The noteworthy designers include Julie Moir Messervy, Paul Miskovsky and Marisa McCoy.

There will also be educational children’s activities and plenty of experts from government agencies and the state Master Gardener’s Association on hand for your questions.

Azaleas are a signature plant in southern spring and also in southern gardens.

Interestingly, North American native azaleas are all deciduous species. Most of the azaleas in our yards, however, are evergreen, with their ancient roots in Asia. The result is more than 10,000 registered or named varieties from hundreds of years of breeding.

As southern gardeners we are particularly aware of azaleas during the spring. Consequently it is a good time to look at caring for them.

Here are 18 things to know and do so our azaleas will thrive:

• Plant azaleas in early spring or fall; new roots need time to develop before summer heat and drought.

• Keep transplanted azaleas well watered, but not water-logged, until they are established.

• Azaleas grow best in dappled or part shade. Deep shade produces spindly plants with fewer blooms. Too much sun results in shorter bloom time.

• Plants require acidic soil with a pH of 4.5-6.0.

•  Soil should be loose, well drained and contain plenty of organic material.

• Plant the root ball higher than ground level.

• Azaleas have a shallow root system that spreads within the top 12 inches of soil. Protect roots with organic mulch beyond the drip line, but leave bare two inches around the stem.

• Fertilizer is usually not necessary. It can burn shallow roots. Azaleas get adequate nutrition as mulch and compost slowly decompose.

• Chlorosis (yellowing leaves with green veins) and stunted growth are likely indicators of nutrient deficiency. If a soil test shows a nutrient deficiency apply a scant amount of slow release fertilizer for acid loving plants.

• Too much water, too little water, or too much fertilizer can cause brown leaf tips and leaf drop.

•  Prune azaleas when they have finished flowering, and before mid June. If you prune after that you reduce next year’s blooms.

• Cut leggy stems back to the place where they meet a larger branch.

• A cool damp spring can lead to petal blight, an airborne fungus. Flowers appear spotted and turn brown. They look mushy and water logged, sticking to the leaves. The fungus over winters on the fallen blossoms. Remove and destroy dead blossoms from your plants and the ground around them.

• Leaf gall is a fleshy fungal growth that begins shiny green. White spores cover then cover the mass which dries brown. Pick off, bag and throw out the growths, ideally before the spores are released to become new galls next spring.

• Azalea lace bugs can be a problem – their population continues to increase if they are untreated. Look for small black specs on the underside of leaves. Their sucking sap causes a stippled effect on the surface of leaves turning them from green to grayish. Lace bugs overwinter on plants as eggs. Spray plants thoroughly with horticultural or control lace bugs chemically with Sevin, malathion, cyfluthrin and imidacloprid products. Follow label instructions.

• Red spider mites start on the underside of leaves. They look like tiny specs. As the population increases they move to leaf surfaces. Look for fine webbing on leaves to help identify the pests. Horticultural oil will help control the numbers, but a chemical miticide will be more effective. Always follow label instructions.

• Azalea caterpillars are small. They grow from about 1/2-inch to 2 inches long beginning brownish black with yellow and white stripes. They mature black with yellow and white stripes and a red head. Typically they feed in groups and devour leaves quickly. Look for the caterpillars during August and September. Use Bacillus thuringiensis, horticultural oil, malathion, Sevin, or cyfluthrin products to control them. As usual follow label instructions.

• Check the bark on plants, especially crotch areas, for azalea bark scale. Scale insects are damaging because they suck the sap out of plants. Scrape off scale insects as possible. Use horticultural oil to kill adults and eggs. (Insecticidal sprays kill only the crawler stage of scale.) Follow label instructions. Be aware that you will need to spray multiple times to control the pest.

Azaleas are beautiful and easy to grow. Just give them the right conditions and know how to trouble shoot a few problems.

Reach DEBBIE MENCHEK, a Clemson Master Gardener, at dmgha3@aol.com.

jaf701@frontier.com. You also can read her What’s Bloomin’ blog at www.news-sentinel.com. This column is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of The News-Sentinel.