SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - Blooming flowers and fresh fragrances are giving people an early taste of spring at Mount Holyoke College’s annual Spring Flower Show.

What You Need To Know

  • Mount Holyoke College is hosting their 51st annual Spring Flower Show
  • The Botanic Garden is the greenhouse on the college campus where the event is being held

  • There are thousands of plants in the greenhouse including flowers and cacti

  • The event will run until Sunday, March 19 and is free and open to the public

"The show is kind of all about the display, the color, the beauty of plants," said Tom Clark, director of the school's Botanic Garden. "But there's so much more here that we hope people engage with when they come visit the show because as we like to say, 'plants are absolutely essential to life.'" 

Clark said the smell of the flowers from the school’s Botanic Garden are a huge draw, with some plants standing out more than others.

"It's something that people always comment on when they walk into the front door of the green house," said Clark. "They don't see the show right away, they actually smell the flowers. They're overwhelmed by the scent of high essence, which have an intoxicating fragrance, and then Freesia's which are just coming into bloom, they also have this sweet wonderful fruity fragrance."

There are thousands of plants showcased in multiple rooms, including a cactus and succulent house, which features plants which mainly exist in the world’s more dry regions.

"People always think of cactus as being super spiney and thorny and yes many of them are," Clark said. "And they just have a lot of different adaptations that enable them to grow in really dry habitats and the thorns and the prickles and spiny stuff that people associate with cactus, they're there to protect them."

Clark said plants play many roles, including as food and as medicine, so it's important to protect them for future growth.

"They help to change the climate and help moderate the climate in areas," said Clark. "They protect coastal areas from storms. They provide habitat for creatures around the world. So there's just so many ways in which plants are absolutely essential and we try to share that message with as many people as we can."

This is the 51st Spring Flower show at Mount Holyoke. It runs every day through March 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.