In any direction you looked, everything and anything you could want for your home or landscape filled the massive Earth Expo & Convention Center at Mohegan Sun this weekend at the three-day Southeastern Connecticut Home & Garden Show. More than 350 exhibitors offered products, services, and ideas — designers, decorators, remodelers, landscapers, contractors, and consultants, there to make those home dreams come true.
For the avid gardener, professionals from many areas offered landscape design, architectural concepts, irrigation and lawn services, as well as all the tools and supplies needed to have a beautiful outdoor experience, large or small.
Jenks Productions puts on this show, and Wes Jenks was enthusiastic about the venue.
“I love the building here. It’s very conducive to having a ton of vendors,” he said. “There’s no structural columns and it allows for us to keep everything really organized, having big displays, knowing where we’re going to have power and water.”
Well-known experts in several fields were on hand Saturday for hourly lectures about garden topics. Meteorologist Art Horn talked about Your Weather, Our Garden; Mike & Angelina Chute discussed Roses for New England; Sally Brockett presented Butterflies: Jeweled Pollinators for Gardens; Gardening in Deer Country was presented by Donna Katsuranis; and, Lorraine Ballato offered Success with Hydrangeas. Specialty exhibits varied widely, offering gourmet chocolates, organic soaps, jewelry, pottery, artwork, and even a mini-golf set-up. While the majority of the vendors are companies from the local area, the show also includes some well-known national companies.
Sunday’s speakers will feature Michael Russo on Cutting Gardens for the Home Gardener; Tovah Martin talking about the Indestructible House Plant; Tina Balboni presenting Home Decor Ideas from Interior Designers; Ken & Tori Pond on Tiny Home Living; and Michael and Evelyn Schraft of Summer Beez who specialize in beekeeping. Alistair Mateja was manning the booth for Millstream Construction out of Glastonbury.
“This is my first time and I’m really looking forward to it,” he said. Millstream specializes in roofing, mostly in the Northeast.
Popular attractions were meeting celebrity Danielle Colby from ‘American Pickers,’ who was at the XFinity booth to sign autographs. Another big draw was the Tiny Homes display by Craft & Sprout. The model home had a long line of people waiting to go inside.
Sunday’s show hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parking is free.