ST. ANDREWS, New Brunswick — Joni Miller of Calais, Maine, who is a member of the St. Croix International Garden Club, on Saturday attended the sixth annual Charlotte County Blooms Garden Show.
The daylong event was held at the New Brunswick Community College.
“Everyone has done something unique and different, and they’ve certainly made a great showing,” Miller said.
More than 100 gardeners attended the show that offered information on everything from battling slugs to gardening by the sea.
Betty Kennett, gardener and on-air radio personality for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., offered an entertaining commentary titled “Dodging Disasters and Reaping Rewards.”
Besides plying slugs with beer to get rid of them, she also talked about how to stop deer from attacking trees and shrubs — put pieces of Irish Spring soap into the toe of knee-high nylons and hang them on the tree or bush.
Jodi DeLong, writer and gardener, talked about gardening by the sea. DeLong said she lives in Nova Scotia in an area that is covered in fog most of the time. “[But] living by the sea can be extremely lovely,” she said.
Among the plants that do well along the shore are sea holly, euphorbia ‘Fireglow,’ Siberian iris and iris ‘Butter and Sugar.’
Gardener Sue Crawford of Robbinston, Maine, said it was an exciting day. “What a celebration of spring,” she said.
She said she enjoyed the speakers. “They were wonderful. They not only gave you the kinds of things to think about, but they also did it humorously,” she said.
Meg Scheid, who lives in St. Andrews, said she enjoyed seeing the flowers “and all of the possibilities for gardens this year.”
In addition to the speakers, there were several vendors selling everything from hanging pots to an elaborate array of flowers.
Pat Bernier of St. Andrews said her favorite part was Kennett’s presentation. “She was so pleasant to listen to, and she has so much experience in gardening,” she said.
Kathy Berry of Robbinston also said she appreciated the workshop. “It was just absolutely wonderful,” she said.