On Thursday, February 12, Paul Kelly and I set out for the long drive to beautiful Madison, Wisconsin. What’s that you say? Drive even further north in the winter??
Yes, that’s right. We drove 11.5 hours (that includes not just one, but two, snow squalls!) to exhibit at the Wisconsin Garden Expo. The show ranged from February 13-15, and included all sorts of the vendors that typically exhibit at these venues: garden wares (plants, seeds, garden tools), home gadgets (rubber brooms, anyone?), yard services, and yes, my personal favorite, jewelry. I did take home a brooch fashioned as a ladybug, so hey, that’s kind of gardening, right?
These garden shows are important to us. They allow us to not only present and sell our titles, but connect with our readers. The feedback we get is invaluable. We hear a range of comments (and compliments) about the color, photographs, size and quality of our books. Among the comments that we heard – which I consider among the best – was a lady who stopped by our booth and said, “I was hoping you’d be here! I’ve been waiting for this title to come out since last year!” The book in question was A Garden to Dye For (author: Chris McLaughlin), and she waited for this year’s expo to buy this book from us at our booth. That really made our day! And it reinforced the importance of visibility at these shows. Connecting to our readers remains a priority for us. Attendance at garden shows all over the country allows us to do that.

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