5/18/2019 - 5/19/2019

Connecticut and Massachusetts

 

The Rare Plant and Garden Antiques Sale will be held at LionRock Farm in Sharon, Connecticut, with up to 60 vendors showing their rare and unusual plants and garden antiques. When you are done adding to your plant collection, take a self-guided tour of four beautiful private gardens located in Falls Village, Connecticut, and nearby Ashley Falls, Massachusetts.

And your plant purchases will go to a good cause (as if you need more reasons to buy plants), as since 2001, Trade Secrets has supported the work of Women’s Support Services in Sharon, Connecticut, whose mission is to create a community free of domestic violence and abuse through intervention, prevention and education.

But don’t take my word for it—Martha Stewart loves this show too:

“One of the few events that goes on to my calendar a year in advance is Trade Secrets Rare Plant and Garden Antique Show in Sharon, CT. Why? Because I find amazing varieties of plants, meet all kinds of extraordinary gardeners and find many antiques and tools for my own garden. It’s exciting, very beautiful and benefits the Women’s Support Services in Northwest CT—a most worthy cause.”

While I can’t promise that you’ll see Martha there … it’s a possibility. I love Martha, I remember watching her show with my mom and doing her craft projects (although hers always came out a bit better than mine did).

For more information, visit www.tradesecretsct.com.

5/22/2019 - 5/24/2019

Las Vegas, Las Vegas Convention Center—Las Vegas, Nevada

 

The 7^th Annual Indoor Ag-Con’s focus is “Growing the Future,” and it’s billed as the premier event covering the technology of growing crops in indoor systems. I’ll leave that up to you to decide, but if you grow indoors, I would suggest that you check out this show. All kinds of people will be there, including growers, investors, chefs, tech geeks, produce buyers, academics, policymakers, industry suppliers and advocates. These diverse groups come together for conference proceedings, practical mini workshops, exhibits and lunch table discussions. In addition, pre-registered attendees are invited to schedule a private tour at Oasis Biotech.

The schedule is organized into tracks, those being Grow Equipment, Crop Selection, Business, Customers and Supply Chain, Policy and Societal Impact.

Several of the presentations to catch are:

• "Indoor Farming: Restaurant Perspectives"

Speaker: Sam Khoury, President, Next Stage Partners and Board Member and Treasurer of the National Restaurant Association’s Executive Supply Chain Board

• "Transcending niche markets: How automation will drive commercial adoption of vertical farming and CEA"

Speaker: George Carter, Account Manager, SNAP Inc |SananBio

• "Hemp: Cannabis Genetic Landscape"

Speaker: Christian Gray, Partner, Atlas Consulting

For more information and to register, visit www.indoor.ag.

6/11/2019 - 6/12/2019

Hilton St. Louis Ballpark—St. Louis, Missouri

 

Here’s a show where you can get down to business. This show focuses on connecting buyers and vendors for pre-set, 10-minute, scheduled appointments. Save time and money by having all your meetings in one location.

If you’re a buyer, you’ll want to come to source new and unique products, have directed and concise discussion with vendors, the ability to see up to 100 companies in two days and best of all, buyers have their own personal conference table and vendors come to them.

If you’re a vendor, you’ll want to attend for the opportunity to connect with qualified, decision-making buyers, 30-40 guaranteed appointments, no booth setup costs (no booths at all, in fact) and the ability to get written feedback from industry buyers and your new product.

Speaking of products, a product display area allows buyers to see and touch new products and see what it looks like at the point of purchase. Also, a new product/prototype area allows for vendors to get feedback from attending buyers.

Sounds like a win-win! To sign up and get more information, visit www.nlgshow.com.

6/19/2019

The Gardens at Ball—West Chicago, Illinois

 

As the bumper sticker on my desk says, “Friends Don’t Let Friends Plant Annuals.” So be a good friend and come out to Darwin Perennial Day to check out what’s new and exciting from Darwin Perennials and Kieft Seed. You’ll be able to meet more than 30 leading perennial suppliers, discover the latest perennial trends and attend production and retail education sessions.

For more information, visit www.darwinperennialsday.com

8/21/2019 - 8/22/2019

DCU Convention Center—Worcester, Massachusetts

 

The Griffin Massachusetts expo is coming up and it is open to all Griffin customers, including greenhouse and nursery growers, independent garden centers and controlled-environment agriculture operations. The show will feature suppliers, exclusive product specials and educational opportunities representing the company’s spectrum of products—grower supplies, green goods and retail products.

Their expos have been an annual tradition for Griffin customers, and the events serve as a kickoff to the booking season, offering customers a range of expo-exclusive promotions, booking specials and educational sessions.

If you can’t make this one, no worries—there is a second expo on September 25-26, 2019, at the Lancaster County Convention Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

For more info, visit www.griffins.com.