Thursday afternoon at the Portland Flower Show was great, including talking to some readers at the Press Herald booth.

But I want something from my readers. The people I talked to walked by and recognized me, but none of them said they were coming by specifically because they were invited on this blog to do so. So, I would love it if someone would do that on Friday.

Business was steady this afternoon, and Jan Love and Joanna Sprague, who run the show, said business is ahead of last year. They expect Saturday to be the busiest day, while Thursday is usually the slowest, with an older crowd.

If you prefer a less crowded time, it seems that the crowd seems to thin out a bit between 2 and 3 p.m. The mornings are definitely busier. So if your timing is flexible, come later in the day.

In my previous postings I said I would find out when the next issue of People Places & Plants magazine was coming out. Publisher Paul Tukey said in his lecture that they are cutting back to three issues a year. The person staffing the booth said it will come out in April.

I was amazed at the number of freebies you can pick up at the show. Everything from chocolates, herb dips with pretzels and a plastic device to remove ticks from your skin safely. I just searched my desk and I can't find the device, but I am pretty sure it came from Atlantic Pest Solutions.

One person stopped by the booth and said she was disappointed that there were very few seeds being sold at the show. The only ones I found on sale were at the McLaughlin Garden booth. Michael DesPlaines, the garden director, said he was having a very good show so far but will really miss the Bangor show.

I got to attend two more lectures.

Kerry Hardy, a former director of Merryspring Garden in Camden, spoke on native plants. He had a lot of useful information, and I will just toss out two quick facts: Of course you should not remove wildflowers from the wild, but if you were to do so, never do so when the plant is in bloom. That is when it is at its weakest, and it will not survive the transfer. Come back in the fall and do it then. And one of the best viburnums is a hybrid of the Maine native viburnum called the hobblebush and the Leather-leaf viburnum called the Allegheny viburnum. It is resistant to the viburnum leaf beetle.

Pat Blake, a writer and herbalist, talked about colonial herbs and herbal treatments, how to preserve them, and the different ways that colonists and American Indians used them.

I will be back tomorrow. I feel lucky to call this work.

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