Garden Club of Nyack Centennial Flower Show

You'll have to put up with lots of photos from me for the next couple of posts.  I just attended two awesome, but very different flower shows.  The first one is the Garden Club of Nyack Annual Flower Show.   This year's show was special because the club is celebrating their 100th year!  I've been a member of the club for just three of those years.  



Artctic penguin made from eggplant and cauliflower



Many of the photos shown here were taken by some fantastic teen volunteers who came to judge the children's photography division.  Many thanks to Nina Skoko, Sarah Demarest and Valerie Newell for their great photography skills!

The "schedule" for the flower show, which is the list of categories and rules for submission, changes every year.  This year new categories were added in celebration of the Centennial.  The categories were very unique and creative  to commemorate events that took place 100 years ago.  (I apologize for not having the space to include all entries.  If I didn't include an entry, it's probably because we didn't get a photo of it.  If you have one that you'd like included, please email it to me at nyackbackyard@gmail.com)

Discovery of the South Pole: An arrangement in white to suggest the antarctic.

To commemorate the found of  the Girl Scouts in March 1912, an arrangement using cut evergreens and/or green vegetables and/or green fruit.



I used kale, andromeda, broccoli, asparagus and euphorbia for this.





An arrangement reminiscent of the 1912 song, "Red Pepper-- A Spicy Rag" by Henry Lodge. 



I used bottlebrush, mint, parsley, oregano and thyme in this arrangement



Invitational:  Mrs. M.W. Swift, an early member of the Garden Club of Nyack, is invited to Tea on the Titanic.

Miniatures are always a popular category.

Horticulture Entries:



a coleus cutting contest



Here are some of my favorite entries in the Children's division: 

Centennial Hat Special: 100 years ago everyone wore hats.  Make a floral design using a hat:

Other great kid's entries:

 

 


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Suzana Wagt won "Best in Show" in the children's division
with a collage and lentils started from seed!
Congratulations, Suzana!



If you live nearby, I encourage you to get the schedule from the Garden Club of Nyack website/blog and join us next year!  You don't have to be a Garden Club member to enter.

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!