Spring was bursting out all over at the Southern Spring Show in Charlotte Feb. 24 through March 4. The Southeast’s largest gardening and horticultural exposition was a showcase of the College’s Cooperative Extension activities.

Junior Master Gardeners from Mecklenburg County created a display garden near the entrance to the show, and Extension teamed with the North Carolina Association of Nurserymen to build an information area, where guests had access to Extension educational materials and computers with links to Extension, horticulture and gardening Web sites. Representatives from the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh provided information in a booth alongside agents and Master Gardeners from several counties.

Extension Master Gardeners were honored for their ongoing help with the annual show at a luncheon and with a “Southern Extension Agent and Master Gardener Day” Feb. 28. Then March 2 was “Extension’s Successful Gardener Day,” featuring seven lectures at the show’s horticulture theater as part of a series of regional seminars. “Perennials for Dummies,” “Landscapes Alive,” “Creating a Beautiful Lawn” and “Gardening Myths” were among the offerings.

More than 100,000 people attended the Southern Spring Show. In addition to the horticulture theater and the many display gardens, the show featured an orchid pavilion, an outdoor fitness and recreation product area, a flower show, an indoor/outdoor furnishings area, a bonsai display and a horticulture marketplace.

—Alexandra Mordecai