Talcott Greenhouse to showcase Spring Flower Show

Mount Holyoke’s Talcott Greenhouse will be showcasing the Spring Flower Show once again, an event that always takes months to prepare. It will take place from Mar. 1 – Mar. 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. The theme for this year’s show is “Birds in the Backyard.”

Most of the bulbs came from Holland and were shipped in the fall. Student workers planted the bulbs at the end of October to be put into a cooler until mid-January. During these months, the temperature was monitored weekly and the bulbs were watered accordingly. Russ Billings, the greenhouse manager, was in charge of this delicate process. He occasionally needed to adjust the temperature in accordance with how fast or slow they were growing. Even while the show is going on, the greenhouse team has to be careful that “the bulbs don’t pass too quickly,” especially if the weather is sunny and warm. As a precaution, Billings painted the greenhouse with a special paint that provides extra shade.

Gale Fuller is a greenhouse technician who has been in charge of the artistic direction of the show for the past five years. She has also taken a master gardening class and volunteered at the Talcott greenhouse during that time. After her volunteer hours were completed, Billings offered her a position, which she gladly accepted. Fuller comes up with the themes and brings them to life by organizing the margins and the sections in the center of the show house. The middle portion represents the theme with bird nests delicately perched in bushes and a white picket fence lining the end of the display. All of the props are brought in from the grounds department and Fuller is in charge of arranging them. She finished the middle section over the weekend, while also moving 75% of the show house’s current flowers into the side rooms. Over the course of two days, she swapped the current flowers for the exhibition flowers all by herself. It’s a time consuming process, but “[she] love[s] it.” In fact, the main issue with executing the show is the constrained space. “Finding room for everything and shuffling all the plants from every room can be stressful,” explained Fuller, “but it’s worth it.” As for the composition of the sides, Fuller says she doesn’t have an initial plan, but that the ideas come to her spontaneously.

She did say that she draws inspiration from the flowers. Daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and other seed grown flowers are her go-to favorites, as they come in a variety of colors and provide an intense fragrance. She begins from one side and ends at the other, organizing the flowers by color and size, keeping in mind that photographers like certain color combinations. Her ultimate vision is that the sides “pop out as masses of color and fragrance.”

The entirety of the show seems to be catered towards the public. People throughout the Pioneer Valley come to experience it. “It is a tradition that has been going on for about 50 years,” explained Billings. The local paper advertises it every year, and the greenhouse posts flyers and hands out cards. But overall, most people know about it by word of mouth. The whole point of the show is to provide people with an early spring. In fact they showcase grass every year, in order to make up for the lack of it outside. “Everyone’s happy when they come in.” There’s something very settling about making one’s way into the warm green house, being surrounded by fragrant flowers, when the air outside is so cold.

As for next year, Fuller already has a few ideas, but her lips sealed.