Sunday, April 10, 2011

Flower Show Recap

Don't you love the color of these orchids?
The Garden Club of Nyack held it's 18th annual Flower Show on Saturday.  Both adult and child gardeners were able to enter in several horticulture and design categories, and for the first time this year, there was a photography division.  Last year, I really enjoyed clerking for Jeanne, who was the chief judge for the design division. This year, I clerked for the children's judges Joanne and Celia.  I also served as an entry clerk for both the children and adult divisions, helping the exhibitors categorize and display their entries. (I even worked up the courage to submit a few entries of my own this year - and have included them in this post.)

There were so many outstanding submissions this year - it was hard to pick a few favorites, and I was limited by a dead camera battery that forced me to take most of these photos on my phone.

The "invitational" category, which is unique every year, asked that the exhibitors create a place setting for a celebration.  I liked the more formal entries best- this one celebrating spring, and another for a garden wedding.  

There were lots of great entries in the children's divison.  Classrooms at Upper Nyack school, and my group of afterschool gardeners at Valley Cottage were among the groups submitting.

This was the entry from our class -- it won second place!

This class had their seeds "race" to the finish line!

More entries from the kindergarten classes.


I loved this pasta herb garden, planted in a colander, and mulched with real pasta!

This gorgeous and heartfelt tribute to a gardener who passed away won "Best in Show" in the children's  category. 
This colorful flower cart won the People's Choice award in the children's division.

Here's one of the recycled soda bottle planters we did in our afterschool gardening class.  The idea for this project came from Mike Lieberman's Urban Organic Gardener site.  It won a second place!

Another one of our group submissions, a gourd grown from seed in our school greenhouse, placed first. 


Richard's tribute to the people of Japan won "Best in Show" for the Adult Horticulture Division.  It was accented with handmade origami cranes.

Here's my little dish garden, which was inspired by my facebook friend Helen Yoest, who has been posting photos of some amazing creations from Moss and Stone Gardens. 
Unfortunately the handles prevented this from qualifying in the the miniature category, so it went into a separate division called "other plant designs," and won a second place.  (I also learned that some varieties of moss are endangered in New York State, and because of this, moss may not be allowed in future shows.) 

A spectacular succulent that we had some trouble identifying. 


Here's an unusual and creative egg arrangement that won a first in the miniature category.  I love the way edibles, including chili pepper and asparagus, were used in this arrangement.


I tried to duplicate last year's daffodil bouquet, but not all of the varieties I used then were in bloom yet, so I supplemented with pussy willow and forsythia.

It got a first place in the forced branches category.

Isn't this an amazing Christmas Cactus in bloom?  It comes from the owner of one of our favorite restaurants, the Golden Mushroom.


There was a good turnout for the photos.   I entered a photo of an allium in the first stages of bloom, and got an honorable mention.  Congrats to Phoebe Farrell, who took home a first place ribbon for her tulip photo in the children's photo division!


Don't miss the Garden Club of Nyack's plant sale on May 22!

8 comments:

Joanne said...

What a nice way to celebrate Spring, among so many flowers. I like the formal place setting entries too. It's interesting to see the flowers really having a purpose in bringing elegance and atmosphere to their table settings. I kind of wanted to sit down there and be waited on :)

Helen Yoest @ Gardening With Confidence said...

Well done! What a wonderful group of spring inspiration! H.

tina said...

Gosh I wish I could be there at that plant sale. Congrats on winning the ribbons. I bet the competition was stiff as you showed so many great designs.

TALON said...

This had me smiling from beginning to end, JGH! Congrats to everyone! What a wonderful way to celebrate the season. Those orchids are stunning! And your forced branches arrangement is just so blooming happy! Congratulations!

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Congratulation on winning! It is so wonderful that kids have their own categories as well to enter.

Unknown said...

This was fun - you got some great pictures considering you had to change plans with a dead battery. What a bunch of beautiful arrangements.

Hook Mountain Growers said...

Really interesting arrangements. My favorite was the one mulched with pasta. It works as an arrangement then when cooked, nothing wasted. Looking forward to the annual plant sale too!

Pam J. said...

Yours is obviously the best and should have won first place, but second isn't bad. Interesting about mosses being endangered up your way. I thought they were one of the oldest living things on the planet and therefore had shown that they can withstand invasions of everything. I guess not.

The unknown succulent looks a lot like the aloe plant I have (at least I think it's aloe). It gets those same peculiar flowers in the spring.

All in all, a wonderful show! Thanks.