Central Ohio Home & Garden Show - Want to Go?

Central Ohio Home & Garden Show 2011

Having just returned from the Northwest Flower & Garden Show in Seattle earlier today (more on that later), the flower and garden show season has officially begun. It's a pretty exciting time, because it means that spring truly is right around the corner and soon, we'll be up to our elbows in soil and sweat and the sweet fragrances that make up the perfume of the spring garden.

One of the next garden shows that I'll be attending is a lot closer to home than Seattle. From February 25th - March 4th, the Central Ohio Home & Garden Show will rock the Ohio Expo Center, located on the grounds of the Ohio State Fair in Columbus, Ohio. I've attended the show before and came home inspired by the beautiful display gardens and design ideas I've see there.

This design from McCullough's Landscape & Nursery, LLC
won Best of Show in 2011.

Some of the highlights of this year's show include:

Candice Olson
Photo courtesy of HGTV

• Eleven display gardens play out this year's theme, "Happy Birthday, Columbus," as the city of Columbus celebrates its 200th birthday this year.
   
• Designer Candice Olson of HGTV’s Candice Tells All and Divine Design will make her first-ever appearance at the show on Saturday, March 3, at 1 p.m.
   
• Renovation specialist Marc Bartolomeo of DIY Network’s Kitchen Impossible, HGTV’s Design Star, and The Nate Berkus Show will appear at 3 p.m. on the show’s opening day — Saturday, Feb. 25
  
  
• Learn how to do it yourself at the brand-new Lowe’s DIY Stage with a non-stop lineup of expert demonstrations and classes. It’s just one of three stages at the show, all packed with home-improvement, cooking and gardening demonstrations.
  
  
• On Feb. 25, you can watch as some of the area’s top flower experts are put through the paces during the floral arranging competition.
  
  

  

  Miniature garden at the 2011 Central Ohio Home & Garden Show

   
• Don’t miss popular Dispatch Food Editor Robin Davis (also of the Dispatch Kitchen segments on 10TV) when she takes the stage on Sunday, Feb. 26, at noon.
   
• Watch out for appearances by NBC4 gardener extraordinaire Tom McNutt, “Living Statue” Mark Abbati, Dr. Insecta and more.
  
  
• Saturday, March 3 is Kids Day at the show. There will be creatures from the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium, activities at the Kids Korner presented by CW Columbus, appearances by Dr. Insecta and his bugs, a demonstration by the Young Chefs Academy, cupcake decorating and more!

You can find out all the information at this website, including hours, cost of admission, and a map showing you how to get there. A PDF brochure for the event can be downloaded here.

GIVEAWAY!

Would you like to go to the show? Their promoters have kindly offered to let me give away a couple of sets of tickets to my readers! There will be two winners, and each winner will receive two tickets to attend the show (any day).

All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post by midnight EST this coming Friday, February 17, 2012, telling me what flower you most look forward to seeing when spring gets here. You must also fill out the Rafflecopter form, where the winner will be chosen at random using Random.org.




a Rafflecopter giveaway


*The Central Ohio Home & Garden Show has also provided me with complimentary tickets to attend the show. I'm not required to write about the show after attending it, but I will be doing so because I want to share what I see there.