Cathedral in Bloom is bringing a hint of spring to February in Albany. "I think people feel the itch of winter and I think this event adds almost a soothing balm, if you will, to that itch," Cathedral in Bloom co-chair Louis Bower Bannister said. Cathedral in Bloom will occupy the Cathedral of All Saints from Friday though Sunday in its second consecutive year. Thirty area florists are creating 38 displays to fill every part of the building. "February is kind of a gray month, and you come into the cathedral and it’s just bursting with life and flowers," said the Very Rev. Leander Harding, who serves as dean of the cathedral. The event also includes workshops and presentations by the participating florists, tours of the cathedral, a champagne reception on the first night of the festival and an afternoon tea on Saturday. Bannister, who owns Enchanted Florist in Albany, said he conceived of Cathedral in Bloom after the State Museum ended New York in Bloom, a floral festival that had run there for 25 years. His biggest hurdle was finding a venue. Following an interaction with a woman at a coffee shop in which she said how much she missed New York in Bloom, Bannister headed to the Cathedral of All Saints, where he is a congregant, for a meeting. Error 0: He walked halfway through the worship space, he said, when he "stopped short and looked around and realized it made complete sense that the cathedral could be a venue." Harding said that the church was quick to agree to host. "We’re about beauty and we’re about supporting creative people," he said. When Bannister approached him, Harding recalled, "We said, ‘It fits perfectly with our mission statement.’" "We didn’t even have to think about it," he said. […]