POP-QUIZ QUESTION number one: it’s March. Do you know where the flowers are?

If you’ve spent any time in Boston, you’re surely aware that the correct answer is the New England Spring Flower Show, which has bloomed here every year for more than a century. The third-largest show of its kind in the world, the Flower Show attracts more than 100,000 visitors and brings together many of the region’s best gardeners, designers, and horticulturists for more than a week of exhibits, entertainment, information, and competition.

Pop-quiz question number two: who’s been responsible for bringing the Flower Show to Boston for the last 130 years?

Perhaps surprisingly, even those who make annual pilgrimages to the show might be hard-pressed to come up with the answer. That’s because although the Massachusetts Horticultural Society (MHS) has been around since 1829 and its membership now exceeds 12,000, its presence isn’t widely known among the general public. And that’s one of the organization’s main missions: to increase public awareness, both of the value of horticulture, and of the Society’s very existence. To that end, last fall MHS moved most of its operations to Elm Bank, a hands-on educational and information center located on 36 acres in Dover. Now, in addition to the Flower Show, MHS offers horticulture programs year-round.

The man responsible? MHS’s president, John Peterson.

Q: What are some of the new features or events you have planned for this year’s Flower Show?

A: The theme for this year’s show is Shades of Spring, so I think you’ll see a lot of exciting color and the sense of the arrival of spring, which always occurs at the Bayside Exposition Center for the Flower Show, you know, earlier than the normal one, which is one of the great reasons why people like to come. This year, we’re having some larger exhibits than we’ve had in a few years; people said to us, "Gee, what happened to those old big exhibits that you used to have?" And we had increased the number of exhibitors; last year, I think we were up to around 65, which is one of the largest ever, and as a result the exhibits were smaller. So this year we have actually fewer exhibitors, but some real big, high-impact exhibits for people to enjoy.

Q: Do you feel a tremendous amount of pressure to make each Flower Show bigger and better than the previous year?

A: You know, I think it kind of occurs naturally, in the sense that gardening is a dynamic thing — the things that are hot and the things that are not change a little bit themselves from year to year, and the people who are the exhibitors at the Flower Show, they’re very much in tune with what the public’s desires and outlook are, and are really in tune with the changes in gardening, so they kind of make it happen every year. We set the tone with a theme, and we try to make sure we have a high standard of excellence, but we’ve got some very creative people, so they like to do things that are different from year to year.

Q: Do you find it difficult not to work when you’re at the Flower Show? Do you ever get to just melt into the crowd and enjoy it for yourself?

A: I do a little bit of that, but I think [I’m like all] people who are involved in something like this — I call them Flower Show junkies — I’m there pretty much every hour the show is open, and even before and after. Every now and then I melt into the crowd; I mean, I spend some time every now and then walking around and just listening to people, getting a sense of what people’s outlook is about the show. And again, it is different every year, even in terms of the way we design the show. I think last year I heard people say, "Gee, I’m getting lost in the show." Well, we actually had made it a bit of a maze for people to get through, and the intent was for them to get lost, whether they realized it or not, but I detected a little bit of frustration, so we’ve made it a little bit easier to have a sense of orientation this year. I think people really enjoy the excitement, the enthusiasm of the show, and I spend a lot of time kind of melting in and listening and looking and observing, seeing what works, what doesn’t work, so we can make it better the next year.

Q: As president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, is the Flower Show your biggest challenge? And if not, what is?

A: It certainly is a major component, and certainly probably the thing by which our identity has been defined for many years; you know, we’re the oldest incorporated horticulture organization in the United States, and the organization has always kind of reinvented itself a little bit every few decades, and now in addition to the Flower Show, we have a suburban site that’s open year-round to the public. I used to say that we used to do real horticulture about two or three weeks a year, which was when we set up and operated and took down the Flower Show, and we now have a site in the Wellesley-Dover area called Elm Bank, which is an old estate that we’re developing gardens on, so we get to be horticulture 365 days a year, including watering the plants in the greenhouse every single day. So I think probably the most challenging thing is making sure the organization is evolving with people and the outlook and the attitudes about horticulture and gardening, which is now the number-one outdoor leisure-time activity of Americans.

Q: What do you consider the biggest threat to the area’s horticulture?

A: I’m not sure there are a lot of threats. I see the challenge as really meeting people’s need for information, because if they don’t get good information, they can be frustrated and disappointed in their level of gratification with growing plants; I mean, it’s a very gratifying experience, unless you come away feeling like you have a black thumb. So I think probably the biggest challenge that’s out there — and it’s for the horticulture industry, people selling and producing plants, as well as for us — is to really fill the gap of information for people, so they continue to enjoy it and appreciate it, and so that it enriches their lives.

Q: How’d you first become interested in horticulture?

A: Gosh, I remember when I was in first grade, my first-grade class took a field trip to a greenhouse. Now, this field trip was: we walked two blocks from my school. And I vividly recall going into this greenhouse — it was a carnation greenhouse — and the impact of going in there, just the sense of life, and the smells were so great, and the humidity, and I just thought it was the greatest thing that I had ever experienced. And I remember going home and telling my parents, "I’m going to work there someday." And it was the place where I got my first job. I just really thought it was the greatest ever. And I still feel that way.

Q: I assume you garden at home?

A: I do, I do. You know, as the president of the organization, I don’t get to really do a lot of hands-on horticulture, but I built a new house — well, I didn’t build it; I got a contractor to build it for me — and I did all the landscaping myself, so I get to do my horticulture kind of privately at home.

Q: What do you grow?

A: Just about everything. Whether it be trees and shrubs, kind of the unique, special things, fruits and vegetables. I dabble in just about everything.

Q: Do you have advice for people who think they have a black thumb?

A: Plants are living things, and they require attention and time and some level of knowledge and interest ... just look at it as something to enjoy and something to gain some insight and information about. You know, I think, like everything else, sometimes we succeed and sometimes we don’t, and just keep working at it.

Q: What kind of flowers are most often in a vase in your house?

A: I’ve been really enjoying growing some orchids. Some types are fairly easy to bloom, and others are a little bit harder. I’ve gone to the next level of Lady’s Slipper orchids — Slipper orchids, they’re called, and they’re a little bit more difficult than the ones I’ve grown before. I’m just trying them myself, and got them in bloom once; the trick is to be able to a second time and a third time. But that I won’t know for another six to 10 months.

Q: Do you have other hobbies, aside from horticulture-related ones?

A: I enjoy boating. I’m restoring an antique car; I’m doing that myself — I acquired that about a year ago, and have been working on it myself, with my son and with my daughter as well; we all kind of work on it, help pull the wire through the car. So I really enjoy gardening and do a lot of boating, sailing and motorboating, and the new challenge is the antique car.

Q: When’s the last time you killed a houseplant?

A: Probably last week. We all do it. Forget to water it for a week, and this is the time of year when it’s been kind of dark and a little bit dreary, and all of a sudden you’ll get a sunny day, and have forgotten to water that plant that’s sitting on the windowsill, and it’ll just cook in the bright sun. We all have that experience.

The 2002 New England Spring Flower Show is at the Bayside Exposition Center, March 16–24. Call (617) 933-4980. Tamara Wieder, who is renowned for her black thumb, can be reached at twieder[a]phx.com