In 2008, when the Massachusetts Horticultural Society (MassHort) ended its 137 year old tradition of hosting a major flower show in the City of Boston, Needham-based consumer show producer Paragon Group was unwilling to let this beloved harbinger of spring fall by the wayside.  Cognizant of its importance as an economic engine for the region’s green industry, Paragon Group engaged the services of the Horticultural Society’s former show director, Carolyn Weston, and undertook to start up a brand new flower show.  In a fresh location in Boston’s blossoming Seaport District, with a new name, and incorporating many similar features and participants of the former event, as well as many new ones, the Boston Flower & Garden Show began to take shape.

In a nod to tradition, Paragon Group proposed participation in the event to MassHort so the Society could produce its popular and educational volunteer-run amateur floral design and horticulture competitions at the show.  Paragon Group also offered to provide complimentary tickets to MassHort to offer as a benefit to its members, whose horticultural savvy and inquisitiveness make them an appreciated audience for the show’s speakers and exhibitors.  Dozens of other non-profit, member-based horticultural organizations, as well as green industry professional associations, pitched in to launch the show by donating awards, providing judges, offering speakers and creating displays for the initial event.

The Boston Flower & Garden Show launched March 24-28, 2010 at the Seaport World Trade Center with the theme “A Feast for the Senses”.  New features to the show included a Garden of Cakes, showcasing the floral talents of area cake artists, a very successful English Garden Tea program at the Seaport Hotel, and cooking demonstrations by area chefs.  The show featured 24 gardens, dozens of displays by enthusiastic amateur competitors and a very popular program of lectures and demonstrations featuring the talents of top names such as Roger Swain and author/garden curator Bill Cullina.

The show continued to grow in its second year, with all of the garden space spoken for by late September and a complete sellout of the Garden Marketplace booths.  After a particularly long and snowy winter, and with its colorful container gardening theme, the show ran March 16-20 to a crowd very eager for a break from the long gray days behind them. New features of the 2011 show included the Container Garden Invitational, the Professional Florists Invitational, an amateur photography competition, and the first appearance of MassHort’s popular miniature gardens at the new show.  Great garden writers graced the show’s lecture stage including Tovah Martin, Ray Rogers, Charlie Nardozzi and Ed Smith, educating the audience on all possible nuances of container gardening and many other topics.

The Honorable Mayor of the City of Boston, Thomas M. Menino,  officially opened both the 2010 and the 2011 Boston Flower & Garden Shows and has expressed his appreciation for the work of all involved in keeping the Flower Show alive.

Paragon Group is proud to announce that the 2012 Boston Flower & Garden Show will take place March 14-18, 2012 at the Seaport World Trade Center.  The show producer’s other events include the New England International Auto Show, the Denver Auto Show, the Connecticut International Auto Show, the Jacksonville (FL) International Car & Truck Show, and the National Golf Expo – Boston.