Field Trip: Adams Garden Show 2024

It’s that time of year again when I happily stroll the floral displays at the Adams Fairacre Farms Garden Show! I have been coming to this annual garden show for over sixteen years and look forward to it every year. It always comes when I need it most, after a long, grey winter when I’m craving to see flowers in bloom. The pops of color instantly lift my spirits and remind me that spring is coming. Since 2021, I have been taking you along and sharing my experience each year at the show. So, in today’s post, I’m bringing you once again on a field trip to the Adams Garden Show.

This year was the first time that the garden show had a theme. The show’s title was ‘Adams in Wonderland,’ based on the book and popular film Alice in Wonderland. Nods to the theme could be spotted throughout the displays, with appearances from the White Rabbit, Cheshire Cat, Hatter, Bill the Lizard, and the Queen of Hearts.

There’s always at least one water feature display at the show, and this year’s waterfall archway and ponds didn’t disappoint. Pumps and pipes transferred water from one pond to another over an arbor you could walk under. The cascading water and mist it created provided an ideal environment for a tropical display filled with bromeliads, anthuriums, crotons, and other tropical plants.

Garden beds, expressly set up for the show, teemed with tulips, azaleas, daffodils, impatiens, chrysanthemums, crocus, salvia, nemesia, and lilacs. Their bright pops of color and sweet fragrance filled the space. The traditional ode to vegetable gardening was also displayed this year as a farmstand overflowing with fruits and vegetables.

Another Wonderland-themed display reenacted the famed tea party scene with Hatter, although here he was a gardener complete with trowel and flower in his hat. The table was surrounded by chairs decorated by community members to fit the theme. Adams had held a contest where people could submit a themed Wonderland chair to be part of the show. There were some excellent entries! As I meandered on the path, I couldn’t help but smile. This was just what my soul needed: flowers and fun.

This year, our Kingston store dedicated the show in honor of Dillon Gokey. He was an Adams employee and Kingston High School student who passed tragically in January. Having known Dillon and his family, it was nice to see this dedication gesture, which was a tribute and remembrance of his life and made the show all the more meaningful.

I’m always reluctant to leave the show after experiencing the creative and joyful displays. When I walk outside the greenhouse doors, I will again be in winter with its grey skies and cold temperatures, no longer in an Adams Wonderland full of bright, beautiful colors and warmth from the greenhouse. The show lasts just over a week, and I find that I often return again and again just to soak in all the spring vibes the show emits. It helps me to get over the last hump of winter until our spring flowers begin to bloom. “Spring is coming soon” is a mantra I repeat over and over after the show ends. I can’t wait to see floral displays like those in the show in my garden beds on the farm. Spring will be here soon, and I’m grateful to the Adams Garden Show for giving me a much-needed preview. I hope you enjoyed our field trip, and until next time, happy dreaming of spring.