PORTLAND, Maine — The Maine Landscape & Nursery Association, or MELNA, said the popular Maine Flower Show would not be happening this year or in the coming years, for now.
Don Sproul is the executive director of MELNA and the former producer of the Maine Flower Show. He said two big reasons made the association come down to the decision not to move forward with the show.
One reason was not having a permanent venue to host the show for two straight weeks, and the other was major financial losses that the association has not been able to fully recuperate from.
Sproul said in a news release the roughly 60,000 visitors to the association's March shows over the past few years had a great experience and found some inspiration for their gardens throughout Maine.
"Unfortunately the venue we are at, Thompson's Point, which is a lovely facility, they had booked our traditional date, and for us to put on a show we need to have the venue for two solid weeks in order to set up and run the show and everything. So, the venue wasn't available so we had to cancel this year's show and therefore that gave us pause to think about what we are going to do in the future if we couldn't have a venue that we could count on on a regular basis," Sproul said.
Sproul added although vendors are sad and disappointed about the news, they are always willing to meet in person or answer any questions about your garden.
A list of professional landscapers and gardeners can be found on MELNA's website.
"Never say never, it's possible things could line up that something could come back, and we are always open to options of maybe something smaller in the future, too. As far as anything the size of the Maine Flower Show, it will be very difficult unless we can get the venue situation worked out," Sproul said.
You can click here for a list of members who could assist you with your future garden and landscaping needs.