The fifth Virginia GoGreen Garden Festival (and more …), sponsored by the Virginia Green Industry Council (VGIC), will put the spotlight on the Virginia Nurserymen’s Association Horticulture Research Foundation Inc. plant introduction program, Beautiful Gardens.
The festival will be held (rain or shine) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 11 at the Garner Pavilion located behind the Science Museum of Virginia (SMV) in Richmond, Va. Adult festival admission is $3; parking is free. For directions, see web site www.smv.org.
Talented individuals from all facets of Virginia’s Green Industry will be on site to make this event an educational and fun-filled family experience. The list of scheduled speakers includes Neal Beasley, who will provide a hands-on demo on Beautiful Gardens' plants of distinction program.
“As spokesperson for this program featured by the festival, I found initial plant development to be diverse: ranging from Tyler’s farm Pine Knott located in south-side Virginia to a grower for the Stokesia located in Mississippi," Beasley said. "A few plants are quite old and difficult to credit to any particular developer. And, of course, some are native, so, God gets that one. Still, regardless of the plant's initial origin, the result is Virginia consumers have a wide-range of choices supported by demonstrated sustainable use. ”
Richmond-based Sylvia Hoehns Wright of The Wright Scoop is a hostess for the festival's special events. She regularly encourages Virginia’s consumers to garden green, and to create sustainable urban/suburban landscapes. An advocate of the Retail Merchant’s "Think Shop Buy Local," Wright challenges consumers to take the concept of sustainability a step further by not simply using plants that work well in a region but choosing options that contribute to regional economic sustainability.These plants could be developed, grown and distributed within the community – such as the plants offered through the state of Virginia Beautiful Gardens program.
A total of 26 garden centers state-wide are scheduled to participate in festival activities. “We are proud to be selected by the Beautiful Gardens program to participate as a retail garden center," said Doug Hensel, president of Great Big Greenhouse & Nursery (GBG&N) in Richmond. "Beautiful Gardens offer retailers a unique opportunity to participate in a program that is specific for plants proven successful throughout the state of Virginia."
Hensel said the program gives the public assurance that selected plants have proven success. "In the future, new plants will be offered, and only participating retail garden centers will offer these plants," he said. "This distribution edge is a huge incentive for a garden center to become involved with Beautiful Gardens -- now. ‘Plants of Distinction’ are not new but are determined by Beautiful Gardens to be underutilized in the landscape. This program is a great way to enable public appreciation for the value of chosen plants.”