The New England Spring Flower Show in Boston enjoyed a run of 137 years before being canceled after last year's event because of financial constraints. With that aromatic respite from all things frozen gone, what are the chilled masses to do?
If only a flower show will do, plan a trip to Providence. The 16th annual Rhode Island Spring Flower and Garden Show will be at the state Convention Center, Feb. 19-22, with the theme "Gardens of the World." (For more details, see Short Hop, M12.)
For those open to exploring something different there is no shortage of options to warm the body and the mind if you know where to look.
The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, which ran the New England show (and which has launched a fund-raising campaign to bring it back in 2010), is planning a free event, Blooms!, March 13-15 in the lobbies of International Place, the InterContinental Boston, and 125 High St., buildings abutting the society's Greenway Gardens. Besides standard exhibits and floral design displays, the event will feature a lecture series highlighted by a presentation by Roger Swain, former host of "The Victory Garden" and editor of Horticulture magazine, a master garden information booth, orchid and bonsai exhibits, and a gala party.
International Place, 1 International Place; InterContinental Boston, 510 Atlantic Ave.; 125 High St., free, masshort.org, 617-933-4900.
The largest indoor public garden in New England is the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center in Providence, some 12,000 square feet of displays boasting exotic floras that include a cabada palm tree from Madagascar, the Asian alocasia calidora, and the exceptionally fragrant orange jasmine from India. The center also partners with the University of Rhode Island to offer horticultural and environmental programs, including a spring gardening school.
1000 Elmwood Ave., Providence, adults $3, children ages 6-12 $1, under 6 free, providenceri.com/botanical-center, 401-785-9450, ext. 240.
Staying warm in Vermont can be a challenge, but the Inn at Weston has a toasty warm and sweet-smelling greenhouse that owner and orchid grower Robert Aldrich describes as "really a disconnect for the brain. There's something magical about being in a greenhouse and seeing snow outside." The 32-by-21-foot oasis is bursting with more than 375 species of orchids, hybrids, and mericlones.
630 Main St., Weston, Vt., innweston.com, 802-824-3073.