Recession takes its toll on flower shows

The recently-closed New England Flower Show and flower shows in Bangor, Maine; Allentown, Pa.; and Cleveland are victims of the economic crisis and shifting demographics, The New York Times reported. In Maine, Scott Wilkerson, whose nonprofit group, Keep Bangor Beautiful, has run the show there since 1991, said: “We’ve had increasing costs and decreasing revenues. We basically just fell on the sword and said, ‘Hey, this is more than we can handle without gardening ourselves into the poorhouse.’”

-- Sarah