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Fruit / veg guides and picking tips How do I need to pick?? Apples Blackberries Blueberries Cherries Figs Green Beans Peaches, Plums and Apricots Pears Raspberries Strawberries Vegetables

This month's notes: November 2024: Stored US apples are still  available.  See your state's crop availability calendar for more specific dates of upcoming crops.

Valentine's Day - February 14 - See this website for Valentines Day history, facts and top picks for fast, easy, inexpensive gifts for the man, woman or children in your life!

Easter will be April 16, 2017 - if you want to take your children to a free Easter egg hunt - see our companion website to find a local Easter Egg hunt!

And we have home canning, preserving, drying and freezing directions. You can access recipes and other resources from the drop down menus at the top of the page or the site search. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to write me! Also make your own ice cream; see How to make ice cream and ice cream making equipment and manuals. Have fun, eat healthier and better tasting, and save money by picking your own locally grown fruit and vegetables, and then using our easy  directions

Please tell the farms you found them here - and ask them to update their information! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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2024 Flower Festivals and Flower Picking: Where, When and More to Find an Flower Festival or Place to Pick Flowers Near You in 2024!

Take the mom and children to see a field of tulips on Mother's Day!  Or take the family out to pick flowers on a summer day! Flower festivals and Flower Picking occur almost everywhere, but it can be hard to find reliable information about where and when.  I've listed every known Flower festival below, organized by country and state (or province / region) along with contact information and links to their websites.  Please write me, if you know of any to add!

Always click on the links (the blue, underlined name of the each festival) to confirm this year's dates on the website for each festival. If they don't have a website, call the phone number provided, but ALWAYS CONFIRM THIS YEAR'S DATES AND TIMES BY EITHER VIEWING THEIR WEBSITE OR CALLING.

For other fruit and vegetable festivals, see this page!

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[United States] [Canada] [Britain] [Australia] [Japan]

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United States

Alabama

Alaska

Arkansas

• Annual Jonquil Festival - March
  Washington, Arkansas. Includes a 19th-century restoration village with thousands of blooming jonquils, many planted by early settlers, over 100 craft vendors, musicians performing varied types of music, surrey rides, food vendors, special interpretive programs and historic tours, and other added attractions.

• Magnolia Blossom Festival, Sidewalk Art Show & World Championship Steak Cook-Off - May
  Magnolia, Arkansas. The even has music, art, crafts, sidewalk art show and sale, 5K run, fun run, fishing tournament, food booths, gospel singing, live entertainment, championship steak cook-off.

Arizona

California

Colorado

Connecticut

• Connecticut Flower & Garden Show - February
  Hartford, Connecticut. The show includes over 200 exhibitors displaying fresh flowers, plants and herbs.
• Elizabeth Park Rose Weekend - June
  Hartford, CT. Phone: 860-231-9443. Open: typically held in late June. Rose Weekend has been held annually for more than a century in Hartford, Connecticut's Elizabeth Park, the nation's oldest municipal rose garden.
• The Fairfield Dogwood Festival - May
  Fairfield, CT. Phone: 203-259-5596. Open: typically held in mid May. The Dogwood Festival has been held at Greenfield Hill Congregational Church for 77 years. Thousands attend this event that celebrates the beauty of dogwood trees in bloom while also raising money and awareness for women and children in need. The festival is always held Mother's Day Weekend.
• Meriden Daffodil Festival - typically held in late April
  Meriden, CT. Phone: 203-630-4259. Open: typically held in late April. Besides over 600,000 daffodils in bloom,there is also music, carnival rides, arts and crafts, food, fireworks and entertainment for children at this free festival.

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

• Conyers Cherry Blossom Festival - March
  Conyers, Georgia. The festival offers multiple stages for continuous entertainment, over 300 booths consisting of arts and crafts vendors, various children's activities.

• Annual Rose Show and Festival - April
  Thomasville, Georgia. Since the 1920's, the Thomasville Rose Show & Festival has been held in downtown Thomasville. The festival include parades, live music, fantastic food, exciting sporting events, arts & crafts . and everything from an elegant plantation ball to a family-oriented street dance. 

Guam

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

• Tulip Time Festival - May
  Pella, Iowa. Tulip Time is held the first Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in May. The festival celebrates Pella's Dutch Heritage with parades, stage performances, a Dutch market, and quilt and flower shows. Streets are scrubbed for twice-daily parades complete with Dutch dancers in authentic costumes in 3 afternoon and 3 lighted evening parades.

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

• Deer Isle Lupine Festival - June
  Deer Isle, ME. Phone: 207-348-6124. Open: typically held in mid June. Lupines and a weekend of activities like a craft fair, boat excursions, scenic plane rides, a quilt show, garden tours, open studios, children's activities and more.

Maryland

Massachusetts

• Nantucket Daffodil Festival - typically held in late April
  Nantucket, MA. Open: typically held in late April. Phone: 508-228-1700. Fields of millions of daffodils in Nantucket. On the weekend, there will also be an antique car parade, a tailgate picnic and more.

Michigan

• Blossomtime Festival - April / May
  Benton Harbor / St. Joseph, MI.  Michigan's oldest and largest multi-community festival, celebrating 101 years. Take a self-guided driving tour through blossoming orchards, then sit curbside to watch the two-mile-long Grand Floral Parade, as it winds through these neighboring Lake Michigan shore towns. Flower-decked floats and marching bands from 24 area towns participate.

• Fields of Lupine Festival - June
  Franconia, Sugar Hill and Easton, Michigan. The communities of Franconia, Easton, Sugar Hill, Bethlehem, Littleton and Lisbon join together to put on the events such as historic tours, garden workshops, concerts, contests, and performances. Artists and crafters using all types of media exhibit their work.

• Mackinac Island Lilac Festival - June
  Mackinac Island, Michigan. A ten day celebration highlighted by many free events including the world's longest horse hitch parade and a fireworks display. Guests stroll and enjoy the fragrant blossoms and colors of some of the oldest living lilacs in North America. Family hayrides, country line dancing, scavenger hunts, free outdoor concerts, boat cruises and garden tours are some of the highlights of this festival voted one of the top 100 festivals in the United States by Bus Tours of America.

• Tulip Time Festival - May
  Holland, Michigan. One of the largest flower festivals in the United States, this unique festival features the display of millions of tulips and celebrates Dutch heritage and culture through dance (with 1,500 wooden-shoed dancers), art, theatre, and different events. The festivities include three exciting parades, Klompen Dancing, big name entertainment, free concerts, music and variety shows, a Dutch market, trolley tours, children's events and fireworks.

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

• Fields of Lupine Festival - June
  Franconia, NH. Phone: 603-823-5661. Open: June 2-17, 2012. The 19th annual Fields of Lupine Festival includes special tours, horse-drawn wagon rides, concerts and more.

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

• Annual Tulip Festival - May
  Albany, New York. Phone: 518-434-2032. Open: typically held in mid May. One of Albany's oldest events, with more than 200,000 tulips, it has been a hit for 60 years.Attractions at this three day event include the street scrubbing on State Street, the Tulip Queen Coronation, Tulip Queen and Court Luncheon and Royal Tulip Ball, music events, children's activities, food, and art and craft vendors.

• Rochester Lilac Festival - May
  Rochester, NY. Phone: 585-279-8300. Alternate phone: 800-677-7282. Open: typically held in mid May
  Lilacs have bloomed in Highland Park since 1892, and there now are more than 500 varieties of lilacs in bloom. This free annual festival also features music including performances by national recording artists, children's activities, a parade, an art show, international food vendors, plant sales and more.

North Carolina

• The Biltmore Festival of Flowers - April / May
  Asheville, North Carolina. Biltmore's gardens, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, are alive with color as spring arrives. Guests enjoy special events and the beauty of tulips, azaleas, and countless other flowers during Festival of Flowers. On the weekends, Biltmore Winery joins the celebration with a commemorative Festival of Flowers wine and music, wine programs, and children's activities. In the Farm Village, blacksmiths, woodworkers, and farmers demonstrate their skills on Saturdays and Sundays.

• North Carolina Azalea Festival - April
  Wilmington, North Carolina. A springtime tradition celebrating Wilmington's exceptional artwork, gardens, history and culture, activities at the annual North Carolina Azalea Festival include headline concert entertainment, a three-day river front street fair with arts & crafts, food, a spectacular parade, triathlon and more. The Festival is an extended weekend celebration that attracts more than 300,000 people and the largest festival of its kind in the state.

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

• Azalea Festival - April
  Muskogee, Oklahoma. Named as one of the United States' "top 100 events" to attend by the National Bus Association, attracting over 300 thousand visitors.The annual Azalea Festival includes a parade through downtown Muskogee, with a Chili Cook-off and Barbecue contest.

Oregon

• Portland Rose Festival - March - June
  Portland, Oregon. For one hundred years, the Portland Rose Festival is attended by more than two million people annually, the festival is annually one of the top three most highly decorated events by the International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA) and in 2007 was named Best Festival in the World. Among the festival's most popular events are the Grand Floral Parade, one of the nation's top two all-floral parades, and the WaMu Waterfront Village, which features the Best Children's Programming in the World, according to the IFEA.

Pennsylvania

• The Philadelphia Flower Show - March
  Philadelphia, PA. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, established in 1827 is America's first horticultural society and in 1829 was responisble for producing the nation's first flower show. Today, the Philadelphia Flower Show is the nation's largest indoor flower show, featuring the country's premier landscape designers and florists who turn 10 acres of the Pennsylvania Convention Center into a floral fantasy world with exotic plants and eclectic designs. In addition to the major garden displays, the Flower Show hosts world-renowned competitions in horticulture and artistic arranging, hundreds of gardening lectures and demonstrations, special events, a mammoth indoor Marketplace, and a city-wide Flower Show Week celebration throughout downtown Philadelphia. 

Rhode Island

• Daffodil Days at Blithewold -
  Bristol, RI. Phone: 401-253-2707. Open: April 1-29, 2012.
  During Daffodil Days at Rhode Island's Blithewold Mansion, you will see more than 50,000 daffodils growing in gardens and along woodland paths. For an added treat, enjoy afternoon tea Tuesdays through Fridays (reservations required) during the month-long event.
• Rhode Island Spring Flower and Garden Show - February
  Providence, Rhode Island. A tradition for over 15 years, the Rhode Island Spring Flower and Garden Show at the Rhode Island Convention Center showcases extraordinary gardens woven with original art creations. Visitors can meet the artists and designers, and learn more about their own garden designs at lectures, seminars and demonstrations by nationally recognized experts.

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

• Dogwood Arts Festival - February
  Knoxville, Tennessee. The Dogwood Arts Festival House & Garden Show is the largest house and garden show in Tennessee for the do-it-yourselfer and the gardening enthusiast. Visitors walk along more than 60 miles of trails featuring some of the most spectacular dogwood trees of all kinds and colors. This event offers a chance to visit and admire beautiful gardens that features an arts & crafts fair, outdoor and more.

Texas

• Dallas Blooms - April
  Dallas, Texas. The Dallas Arboretum, arguably one of top five floral display gardens in North America, features more than 400,000 spring-blooming bulbs, 6,000 azaleas and thousands of annuals and perennials spread throughout the 66-acre garden. Included in the festivities are music, food, celebrities, poetry and rich history.

• Azalea & Spring Flower Trail - April
  Tyler, Texas. Officially certified as an Azalea City in 2007, the Tyler festival has been a tradition here for 50 years, with  miles of azaleas, dogwoods and spring flowers amidst beautiful historic homes as they tour residential gardens, enjoy plant sales, arts and crafts shows, historic home tours and living history exhibits set in a backdrop of vibrant azaleas.

Utah

Vermont

• Spring Fest at the Shelburne Museum - May
  Shelburne, VT. Phone: 802-985-3346. Open: May 13, 2012. More than 400 lilac bushes, gardening-themed and family activities as Vermont's Shelburne Museum celebrates its opening day on Mother's Day each year.

Virginia

• Virginia Historic Garden Week - April
  Statewide, Virginia. Regions across Virginia host garden tours throughout the week. Each tour features four to seven sites, including private homes and public attractions, showcasing formal gardens, walled gardens, cottage gardens, cutting gardens, annual and perennial gardens, herb gardens, water gardens, and even secret gardens.

Washington

• Skagit Valley Tulip Festival - April
  Skagit Valley, Washington. They have daffodils in late March,tulips in April and irises and lilies in May on over 300 acres plus  festivities in La Conner and Mount Vernon, the Tulip Festival Street Fair, Tulip Parade, Kiwanas Club Salmon BBQ, art shows and quilt Walk.

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming
 

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Canada

British Columbia

Manitoba

Nova Scotia

Ontario

Saskatchewan

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Britain (England, Scotland and Wales)

• Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew - Year round, but best in April.
  London, England. Phone: 44 (0)20 8332 5604. Email: tours@kew.org. Over 250 years old, Kew Gardens spreads over 121 hectares, holding over one in eight of the known plant species in the world. The massive garden is carpeted with five million blooming bulbs and many attractions. Blossom and bloom tours: Register 15 minutes before tour start at the Guide's Desk, spaces are limited to 15 people per tour. Groups larger than six will need to book in advance.

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Holland (The Netherlands)

• Tulip in Keukenhof - March 22-May 20.
  Lisse, Holland. There are 15-kilometer footpaths, several cycling trails as well as a one-hour boat tour. The annual flower parade is held in April, starting from Noordiwijk to Haarlem (outside Keukenhof) and will pass through Keukenhof in the afternoon. Visitors are allowed re-entry into the park after the flower parade on that day. Opens daily from 8 a.m.-7.30 p.m. Standard ticket for adult costs €14.5 (US$19.3) and a combo ticket including bus transportation from Schiphol costs €21 (US$28),

Australia

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Japan

(English websites)

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