Flower Show avoids latest weedy patch

17 March 2004

Perhaps it's a sign of the times, but my first thought upon walking through the doors to this year's New England Flower Show was, "Gee, these would look great at a gay wedding."

It's almost impossible to consider the Flower Show except as it juxtaposes itself against the events of the day. The five acres of indoor displays offer a striking diversion from culture wars, terrorism, Kerry versus Bush and, of course, the worst winter ever (a superlative, it seems, we attach to EVERY winter). As Massachusetts Horticultural Society co-chair Keith Hutchins said of the hundreds who worked to pull the complex displays together, "We created spring in four days." And once inside, snow or not, you really believe they succeeded.

But the open question is: Will they have the chance to be able to do it again?

MassHort is the ultimate in venerable New England institutions. Founded in 1829, its annual flower show is the second largest in the nation, the third largest in the world and - now in its 133rd year - the longest-running show of its kind. Those are remarkable antecedents, and they echo in the theme of this year's show, "Deeply Rooted."

Yet this has been a tough time for Mass-Hort, one that has posed a threat to the organization's very survival.

The Flower Show may be a spring tradition, but it's a tradition on a decline. Ten years ago, attendance exceeded 190,000; last year's show, however, drew just 120,000.

That in turn has precipitated a crisis within MassHort. The organization depends on the show to support the rest of its activities. With attendance down, it barely makes any money. Never a particularly frugal enterprise anyway, MassHort's finances have become a mess, with deficits said to be in excess of a million dollars.

In 2002, it had to sell $5.45 million in rare books from its collection simply to make ends meet. Its longtime president, John Petersen, was forced out in August. On top of that, MassHort had allowed itself to become preoccupied with its fanciful plan for a Garden Under Glass, a $60 million-plus dream it committed to build on three post-Big Dig greenway parcels.

All of which left many wondering whether MassHort would survive at all. That, in turn, created a bit of a crisis for another, more recent Boston institution: the Bayside Exposition Center.

Bayside has been the long-time host of the Flower Show and regarded it as one of its premier events. But this year marks the end of a 10-year contract, and MassHort was openly contemplating major changes.

"You move, you stop, you downsize," MassHort's Hutchins said last December.

That would have been a severe blow to the Expo Center and its chief, Joseph Corcoran. Corcoran's operation has been under siege of late as intense marketing efforts on behalf of Boston's brand new Convention Center in South Boston have threatened to cut into his business. It wasn't supposed to be this way; the original legislation that created the convention center sought to protect existing, private operations like Corcoran's. Nevertheless, Bayside recently lost the Boston Gift Show to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, as it's properly known, and fears it may lose others as well.

After Petersen's resignation, MassHort began to whip itself into shape. "The boat is still leaking," Hutchins says, "but the water is no longer pouring in." The organization has cut costs and "narrowed our vision," he adds, spending "less time and energy on Garden Under Glass," which has been spun off to a separate working group.

Moreover, MassHort and Bayside appear to have reached some sort of accommodation and likely will sign a new, 10-year contract. "It is my intention to remain here," Hutchins said this week, speaking by cell phone from somewhere within the caverns of the Expo Center. For their part, Corcoran and his team, with a vested interest in the show's long-term success, are assisting MassHort on setup, design and marketing. The hope is to reinvigorate a genuine Boston tradition that, in all truth, had become somewhat tired over the last few years.

And that already seems in evidence. I'm no expert on flowers or landscaping; every effort I make to grow something ends up as someone else's compost. And it's sometimes hard to figure why many of the displays at the show merit a blue ribbon while others get scathing comments from judges or the ignominy of an "honorable mention." Nevertheless, this year's exhibits are strikingly original and endlessly fascinating; hours at the show pass quickly. It's easy to become immersed in beauty, leaving politics and conflict behind.

Hutchins says crowds are somewhat up this year, which is a good thing. Ultimately, attendance will make or break the show and MassHort itself. So consider this a plug: Go. The Flower Show runs through this Sunday. This is one of those traditions that's well worth keeping, and the only way to keep it is to show up.

Talk back to Tom Keane at tomkeane@tomkeane.com.