Indiana Flower & Patio Show to provide breath of spring

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After months of record snowfall, freezing temperatures and killer wind chills, the 56th annual Indiana Flower Patio Show’s glimpse of spring is more than welcome.

About 100,000 people attend the show every year, said Donell Heberer Walton, executive director of HSI Shows, which produces the nine-day event. The show continues through March 16 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

This year’s landscapers designed gardens to fit the theme of Personal Space, reflecting the hobbies and interests of their creators, Walton said. “I asked them to create space in the garden that tells a little bit about themselves.”

For instance, Calvin Landscape’s display is called “Colts Backyard Tailgate”; Hittle Landscaping’s exhibit is “Room

with a View and BBQ”; and Berger Hargis Landscape Management has “Family Game and Garden Movie Night.”

Cool Ponds’ owner Steve Wicker’s garden “For the Birds” reflects his love and interest in our feathered friends. In his landscapes, he plants native perennials and shrubs to support native bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects.

Some of the plants, such as viburnums, provide shelter and produce berries, which birds like to eat.

For ponds, Wicker said, his “waterfalls always allow (the birds) access to water.” If the water moves too fast or the rocks are not positioned correctly, birds and other animals will not be able to take advantage of the asset. For the Flower Patio Show, his garden will feature a pond and bird feeders placed among the plants in the landscape.

More than 40 gardens make up the show this year, along with about 450 exhibitors. Most of the gardens are in the West Pavilion, but there also will be exhibits in Expo Hall.

The gardens take a lot of planning. Designers developed the gardens in the summer or fall. It’s done this early so plants can be ordered and forced to leaf out or bloom in time for the show. Specialized nurseries, including some in Ohio, do the forcing, and landscapers travel to get the plants. That can be hazardous this time of year because of snow and ice on the roads and the threat of freezing temperatures on plants in transit.