After a four-year hiatus, the popular Vermont Flower Show was held from March 3 to 5, 2023. The flower show has been a signature event for the Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association (VNLA) since the nonprofit started in 1964. It has been a primary way to build public awareness of the benefits of gardens and landscaping, as well as to promote the professional services of VNLA members including growers, garden centers, landscape designers, arborists, turf specialists, and other Vermont green industry professionals.
With the theme Out of Hibernation, the 2023 flower show saw record attendance with around 13,000 people visiting the event. As you can imagine, putting together a three-day public event that included about an acre of landscaped display, gardens with 14,500 bulbs, over 1,000 perennials, almost 500 trees and shrubs, and 100 recycled Christmas trees requires many hands and UVM was there to help!
The UVM Extension Master Gardeners, a group of trained volunteers, have been supporting this event for many years. This year, 59 Extension Master Gardener and Vermont Master Composter volunteers contributed their time and knowledge at the show. VNLA executive director Kristina MacKulin said, “This year, we saw the return of many veteran participants as well as new volunteers. They are all tireless in their work in completing all the tasks: moving bark mulch, setting cobbles, planting trees, bulbs and shrubs, to helping build and stage the structures that make up the display.”
In addition to helping construct and deconstruct the display gardens, volunteers staffed three educational exhibits to provide science-based gardening, composting and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) information to the public.
MacKulin said, “Not only does the VNLA rely on Master Gardeners help each flower show, we recognize how this long-standing collaboration of volunteerism speaks to the heart and soul of our flower show, which is built and staffed by so many volunteers. There is no other show in the U.S. quite like ours. The show could not exist without these volunteers. It truly speaks to what a group of people can do together: build a 13,000 square foot landscaped display in the dead of winter and then open the doors to the public for three days to share this amazing accomplishment.”
MacKulin continued, “We are certainly looking forward to what comes next and are ever grateful to all the Master Gardeners who were able to help with the 2023 Vermont Flower Show!”