Beyond the blooms lies a treasure of tips for improving your home, revamping your landscape and adding elegance to your decor. Just one glance at the marketplace filling the hall and you'll be eager to dive into seminars, walk across decks and wade through gardens. But first you have to get past the pirates.

Gracing the deck of a 32-foot-long ship floating in a huge water feature, buccaneers and cannons greet visitors to the 50th Colorado Garden and Home Show, Feb. 7-15 at the Colorado Convention Center. More than 70,000 visitors are expected to flock to the show, searching for information on remodeling, products for homes and hints on saving money.

"Our four gardens focus on tips for increasing your landscape value, or at least keeping the value up where you want it to be," says Robert Cox, Arapahoe County horticulture extension agent with the Colorado State University Extension.

The 2,100-square-foot booth, built by university staff and Colorado master gardeners, shows before and after examples of how your yard can be improved through quick fixes or significant overhauls.

Great landscaping can increase a home's value by up to 11 percent, Cox says, citing a Michigan State University study. While many of us have a few junipers or an overgrown spruce, they make the home look outdated or small. Replacing those with slow-growing dwarf varieties can freshen the space and turn your ho-hum house into a hip bungalow.

"People are interested in investing in their home, the one large asset many of them have," said Jim Fricke, executive director of the Colorado Garden Show Inc. "In times like these, they're looking for ideas, either with a contractor or do-it-yourself projects."

Because projects vary from home to home, the show offers an assortment of exhibitors, from fencing to plumbing, kitchen remodels to landscape renovation.

Show-goers interested in stylish touches should check out the floral designs in Colorado's largest juried flower show, presented by the Colorado Federation of Garden Clubs. The theme "Playtime in the Rockies" asks contestants to dress up rustic spaces or picnic tables with floral flair.

"People think you can't have elegant things on a picnic table unless you're in Aspen or Vail, but you can have a nice table anywhere," says Ila Sheehan, who's entering the team event with her Longmont chapter club. Groups are challenged to set a table for dining alfresco.

No anniversary is complete without a cake, and for the 50th year of the show, 120 of the frosted confections face off in eight categories of the Sugar Art Show competition. The event, presented by the Colorado Chapter of the International Cake Exploration Society, begins at 10 a.m. Feb. 7. Cakes will be on display through Feb. 8 next to the show's main entrance, with the top five winners on display for the rest of the show.

And, of course, there's the pirate ship to see. Though not quite life-size, the ship is large enough to dwarf all other entryway displays in previous shows. "This makes the T. rex from a couple of seasons ago look like a midget," Fricke said.

Search for whimsical touches, such as talking parrots or eerie skulls, throughout the 2,100 flowers surrounding the ship.

Carol O'Meara is a local gardening expert. omearac@yahoo.com

Details:

* What: 50th annual Colorado Garden and Home Show, featuring 50 educational seminars, home improvements, gardening tips

* When: Feb. 7 to 15. Show hours are noon to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays

* Where: Colorado Convention Center, 700 14th St.

* Admission: $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, free for children under 12

* Information: 303-932-8100, gardening colorado.com

* Benefits: Colorado Garden Show scholarships and grants, fostering horticulture and horticulture education