The Cincinnati Flower Show, staged annually on the banks of Lake Como at Coney Island, will be held April 21-29. Advance general admission tickets, $15 for adults, will be available beginning Monday at all area Kroger stores and at National City bank locations. To order by phone: (513) 872-5194 or (800) 670-6808.

Show details are online at www.cincyflowershow.com.

The Cincinnati Horticultural Society, the show’s producer, will continue the tradition of bringing in national speakers to discuss gardening and cooking. The price to all lectures includes show admission. Reservations are required; order at the phone numbers or Web site listed above.

This year’s speakers:

Stephen W. Kress, vice president for bird conservation for the National Audubon Society and manager of the society’s Maine Coast Seabird Sanctuaries. He wrote “The Audubon Guide to Attracting Birds,” “North American Birdfeeder Guide,” “The Audubon Society Bird Garden,” “The Audubon Society Birder’s Handbook,” “Project Puffin, Saving Birds” and the “Golden Guide Birdlife.”

In his lecture “Attracting Birds to Properties Large and Small,” Kress will recommend which plants to select for the Midwest and describe how to arrange the plants in the yard for maximum benefit to birds. Using slides taken in model bird gardens, he will demonstrate some of the best bird-attracting techniques and discuss why native plants are usually better for birds. Kress will also discuss how to create backyard water baths and pools and how to encourage cavity-nesting birds. He’ll describe how to create a hummingbird garden, too.

Kress’s lecture will begin at 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 26, in the Moonlite Pavilion at Coney. Cost will be $30 per person (includes a light lunch and show admission).

Todd Meier credits his father, whose two hobbies were golfing and growing things, for his interest in gardening. Since Todd showed little interest in golf even after receiving a miniature set of plastic clubs for his third birthday, he did please his father by showing an interest in growing things. Todd remembers helping his father drape blueberry bushes with cloth to keep snacking birds away, staking tomatoes, starting plants from seed, and cutting lots of grass. After graduating from the University of Connecticut and working in banking and real estate for a few years, Todd decided he needed a more creative career and enrolled in classes at the New York Botanical Garden School of Horticulture. He joined the staff of Fine Gardening magazine in 1997 and is now its publisher. Meier will present “How to Design With Containers.” In addition, Meier will present “Learning the Secrets to Successfully Combining Plants.” Meier’s lecture will begin at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 22, at the “Ask the Expert Pavilion” in the Grand Marquee tent at Coney. Cost will be $25.

Ellen Ecker Ogden says her new cookbook, “From the Cook’s Garden,” is for “cooks who like to garden, gardeners who like to cook, and everyone who wishes they had a garden.” She’s co-founder of the Cook’s Garden, a source of seeds, recipes and ideas for the kitchen gardener. Her articles are frequently published in Vermont Sunday magazine, Vermont Life, Vermont magazine, Organic Gardening, Better Homes and Gardens and the Boston Globe newspaper. Ogden will present “The Artful Palette,” at the Flower Show lecture, focusing on planting for an artistic palette and a culinary palate.

Ogden’s lecture will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 21, repeating on Monday, April 24, at the Grand Marquee kitchen garden presented by Lowe’s. Cost will be $25.

source : news.cincypost.com