P.Allen Smith speaks...

Nationally renowned Arkansan gardener, P. Allen Smith spoke Saturday at the Jacksonville Art & Antique Show. While a student at the University of Manchester, Mr. Smith was inspired by retracing steps of the journey made by Thomas Jefferson and John Adams several decades ago throughout gardens in England. A gifted and entertaining story-teller, Mr. Smith offered a number of gardening words of advice as well as comical tales of roosters, horse manure, and lords and ladies in England. He suggested using inexpensive, faux roping purchased at Walmart as a foundation combined with fresh boughs and branches of greenery at holiday time. He encouraged the use of decorative LED lighting rather than traditional incandescent bulbs as a way to conserve energy in seasonal displays. PAS endorsed the use of herbs and plants in biodegradable peat pots from Bonnie plants as an alternative to the countless plastic pots characteristically used by nurseries and are rapidly filling up our landfills. Attendees were delighted to take along with them a sample of these pots, each filled with an herb. I took home flat leafed parsley!