With spring in full bloom, Savannah Flory will have flowering shrubs and plants on display at the TLC Garden Center’s booth at this weekend’s Chamber EXPO.
“We’re excited about being able to show so much more of what we have available,” Flory said of her LaHarpe business. The previous eight years the Iola Area Chamber of Commerce EXPO has been held in January.
Friday’s session will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday’s portion of the show will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In addition to TLC, two other of the EXPO’s exhibitors — Duane’s Flowers, Iola, and Terry’s Flower Shop and Home Decor, Humboldt — will have colorful arrays of flowers, but neither will exclusively depend on floral displays to draw folks to their booths.
“We’ll have some houseplants, but we’re also going to play up our statuary and yard ornaments,” said Duane McGraw. “We’ll have stepping stones, angels and figurines, all of which may be used in memorial settings, such as cemeteries, as well in home flower gardens and on lawns.”
A special exhibit in Duane’s booth will be angels and crosses that glow after dark, thanks to solar batteries that recharge during daylight hours.
“We’ll also have birdhouses and other wooden creations that can be used to hold flowers,” live, fresh or silk, McGraw said.
The layout of the booth is a work in progress — longtime employee Stephanie McDonald is in charge — and however it shakes out promises to be a eye-catcher.
“We’ll have drawings each day, but haven’t decided yet what we’ll give away,” said Kristina DeLaTorre, who works with her parents, Duane and Judy, at the flower shop.
TLC WILL GIVE away a full landscape design to a lucky showgoer at the conclusion of the event. Its value will depend on the winner’s home and lawn setting, Flory said, based on TLC’s charge of $25 an hour for the process.
“It could take anywhere from two to 10 hours depending on how much planning is required,” she said. “We’ll also give everyone who visits our booth a coupon that they may redeem at the greenhouse for a plant.”
The landscape package includes an exacting on-site assessment of one’s setting. After ideas are collected, Flory and her crew will develop a full-color design that best suits the home’s environment and owners’ wishes.
A feature of the booth hopefully will be a lawn fountain. “It was supposed to be here today (Monday),” Flory said, who has her fingers crossed that the fountain will arrive soon.
“We’ll have shrubs and flowers on display and, since they’re arriving every day, lots of annuals,” she said. “For us, this is a much better time of the year to have the show. We have so much more available.”
