The Chrysanthemum Show at Smith College

In the Spring the Lyman Conservatory produces the annual Bulb Snow.  In the late fall, it's the Chrysanthemum Show.  These two terrific exhibitions are lovely bookends to the outdoor growing season.  A fun part of the show is voting for one's favorite chrysanthemum. The college offers horticulture classes and one of the rooms of the conservatory has student work on display.  Two of the four flowers in the composite photo above are student creations.  

Smith has much to offer: the Smith College Museum of Art hosts first class exhibitions and the campus is an arboretum with many grand, old trees identified. The town of Northampton, with a population of approximately 30,000, is a remarkably cosmopolitan place.  Located in the Connecticut River valley, the town is in close proximity to many farms that take advantage of some of the best vegetable growing soil in the world.