There may still be snow on the ground, but springtime is already here with the Annual Spring Bulb Show held at Smith College’s Lyman Conservatory. Beginning Saturday, March 3, the show will run daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; it ends Sunday, March 18 and is free and open to the public. The Bulb Show is a collaborative effort by conservatory manager Robert Nicholson, as well as the rest of the staff in the greenhouses, and students in Smith’s horticulture classes.

The show will feature a spectacular display of spring flowers from all regions of the world. The different plant species will make a fragrant and colorful spring debut. The show will include flowers such as tulips, from Western China; hyacinths, from the dryer parts of the Mediterranean; the lesser-known garden plant amaryllis, from the West Indies; the Canary Island Broom, from the Canary Islands; and the strongly scented freesia plant of South Africa.

Preparation for the show is a month-long project. Beginning in October, some 5,000 bulbs are held in a cold room for many months. In January, the bulbs are transferred to the greenhouses, and with monitored temperature control and timing, begin to bloom earlier than they naturally would for their multi-colored unveiling in March.

The show’s opening lecture at 7 p.m. on March 2 will be given by John Burk, E.D. Simonds professor in life sciences at the Weinstein Auditorium in Wright Hall. His talk, “The World in a Garden,” focuses on the role that botanic gardens play in increasing our understanding of the plant life of other continents and climatic regions. The title of the talk refers to the Garden of Eden, where a diverse species of plants were also expelled along with Adam and Eve. The goal of the Bulb Show is to recreate the paradise of the Garden of Eden by bringing together plants from around the world.

Burk’s talk is in conjunction with a new show at the Church Exhibition Gallery which is on display this year from March 3 to Dec. 21. The exhibit will serve as a starting point for the Bulb Show and will explore the ways that botanists and botanical artists have sought to describe and illustrate the diversity of the plant world for the last 200 years.

Included in the exhibition are panels incorporating botanists from the time of Shakespeare and posters depicting the artistry behind botanic gardens. The exhibition, featuring dazzling images from the National Geographic Image Collection and historical botanical books from the Mortimer Rare Book Room collection, will culminate in the presentation of the role of the modern botanic garden.

Burk, who has taught at Smith since 1961, wants first and foremost for everyone to enjoy the show. He added that he wants people to get a sense of the diversity of plant-life, saying, “I just want them to have the idea that plants represent different regions of the world and that the garden is very international, the equivalent of the UN of plants!”

A Smith tradition dating back to the early 1900s, the bulb show will continue to be an annual event as long as people have an interest and curiosity in plants from all over the world.

source : media.www.smithsophian.com