News Release Distributed 03/11/15

NEW ORLEANS – The 36th Annual New Orleans Spring Garden Show will be held at the City Park Botanical Garden April 11-12 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Lee Rouse, LSU AgCenter horticulture agent in Orleans Parish, said the show will feature plant and garden products, exhibits and sales throughout the garden, a kids’ discovery area, educational programs, music, and arts and crafts in the Azalea Garden.

Master Gardeners and LSU AgCenter horticulture experts will be available to answer questions from homeowners, who also may bring soil samples for analysis by the LSU AgCenter Soil Testing Lab.

“We have vendors from around the state to give gardening tips and techniques, giving insight on new plants and varieties,” Rouse said.

For those coming in from out of town, attending the garden show will be a great experience, he said.

“New Orleans has a great growing season of about 11 to 12 months out of the year,” Rouse said. “There are probably plants growing here that you’ve never seen before.”

The spring garden show is a staple event for the New Orleans area, where thousands of people come every year to learn and to purchase garden products, said Sarah Bertrand, LSU AgCenter horticulturist in Jefferson Parish.

“Each year we have displays from a number of governmental agencies and the LSU AgCenter,” Bertrand said.

The spring garden show offers more than just a place to come and buy plants. Gardeners can do that at a local nursery any day of the week, she said.

“People normally go to the nurseries to find trees and shrubs, but here at the spring garden show, we are catering more to the home gardener,” Rouse said.

The kids’ discovery area will feature crawfish, so the kids can see the anatomy of the different crawfish parts, said AgCenter 4-H agent Neron North-Green.

“They also will be able to watch a ryegrass plant grow from week to week. We also will have face-painting,” North-Green said. “I really think they’re going to like the take home ryegrass project, where they can watch the growth process of their plant.”

Admission to the garden show is $8 for adults and $4 for children ages 5-12. Children under 5 and members of Friends of City Park may enter for free.

For additional information, contact Rouse at 504-658-2900 or Bertrand at 504-736-6519.

Johnny Morgan