This blog about the PHS Flower Show is sooo late, but I couldn’t give up on not sending it to you even at this late date.  Here are some stories from our members who entered the show and from our president Karen Helm:

It gives me the utmost pleasure to announce that The Gardeners won the Margaret Buckley Zantzinger Award for the Garden Club accumulating the the greatest number of points in all competitive sections of the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show.  A minimum of three members must exhibit in the Artistic Classes and a minimum of three members must exhibit in the Horticulture Classes.  For Horticulture, Deb Donaldson, Binney McCabe and Connie Stelzenmuller were entrants, and in the Artistic classes, Eileen Longacre, Dora Rogers, Sydney Spahr, Pat Fernandez and Wyn Coghlan were entrants.  The entire Club is indebted to these talented ladies for enabling our club to win this prestigious award!  

Hopefully I will get the details correct, as follows:

Deb had a whopping 498 entries in Horticulture, for a total of 3,223 points!  She received 6 rosettes signifying Best of Day for 5 fuzzy cacti and one succulent, 56 Blue ribbons, 139 Red ribbons and lots of yellows and whites.  Binney, who entered the Show for the first time this year, won 2 classes (as in Blue Ribbons! YAY, Binney!), and she also received 4 Red ribbons, 3 yellows and Honorable Mention.  Many thanks to Connie whose entries on the first day enabled us to qualify for the sweepstakes!  In the Artistic classes, Dora won the Blue Ribbon for Jewelry; Pat Fernandez won HM for a Mini; Eileen won two Yellow Ribbons in the Medium Niche and the Red ribbon for her Hat; and Wyn and Sidney won a Blue ribbon in the Medium Niche.

Congratulations to All!  And a heartfelt thank you to you for sharing your talent and enthusiasm for the benefit of The Gardeners!

Karen Helm

Editor’s Note:  We heard last month that Deb Donaldson has been awarded Full Horticulture Judge Status by the GCA.    What a personal achievement.  What  credit she brings to our club.  Congratulations again Deb.

Here are a few photos of Deb Donaldson’s entries in Horticulture in the 2016 PHS Flower Show.  Can you guess which entry is over 100 years old?  

I asked Deb for some comments on how her life is affected by preparing and entering some 400 plants:

It takes three days to pack up the first batch to the philly show past three years, numbers on that  initial move were 165-180. Numbers of helpers varies dramatically can be just me ( as in Friday judging day morning) others like first entry day that Thursday before preview party.  At that time  there are seven here to pack up the truck and personal vehicles for transport. Then 7-8 more meet at show. Come last entry day ten to eleven helpers. Everyone has a job hey are comfortable with at the show since we have a great deal of plants to get up to show floor, unpacked, groomed again from transport, other last two entry days many plants are packed up and taken to vehicles to bring home….normally well over 100 are picked out if beds, off benches, and completely regroomed for passing and entering again. Lots of paperwork is generated by me to keep it all straight, nonetheless we laugh a lot and have been known to dance. I take shows history and prominence as much as any exhibitor ever.  All the while comprehending at beginning and end of days it’s a flower show and NOT my life, AND the show is volunteer driven and one must be respectful and polite as well as understanding. Plus one must comprehend judging is subjective. You can make yourselves crazy! I’m already crazy enough before I entered any flower show! Having lots of help is key to getting everything accomplished in a timely fashion with minimizing stress levels. Not a soul on the planet with better friends!

I never stop caring for my plants and as such rarity go on vacation. I turn down multiple invitations to friends condos and houses in winter in Florida , and jersey shore , Aspen, summer as too cold ( fear heater  will die in greenhouse, or possible heavy snow requiring multiple trips to rake  off greenhouse roof in blizzard conditions) or its just too hot in summer . I won’t leave fans on when not home). This  week because of clean up and now the mulch probably only 10? Hours working on plants weeks before Philly 40-60 hours a week.

Wyn Coghlan and Sidney Spahr’s entry in artistic depicting Muir Woods in Monument Park.  Just heard it was pictured in one of the design magazines.

Binney McCague’s entry for Horticulture

Anne Kellet’s entry for Horticulture with her story:  My friend Mary Jo Strawbridge and I went to a judging workshop at a time when we were prospective judges and a man from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden spoke on judging ferns. At the end of his talk he said he had a fern to give to a person whose birthday was the closest to the day he spoke. That happened to be Mary Jo ( an arrangement prospective) who handed it to me. When it is good it is very good but sometimes it takes a little break and when you are just about to toss it, it has a rebirth!! Presently it is fabulous!! I am vice chair of passing at the Philadelphia Flower Show in the Horticourt and because of that, I don’t have the time to show BUT I couldn’t resist making the time for this  little treasure!!—three entries = 2 firsts and a second!!

Dora Roger’s entry into the Jewelry Class:  Here is what she had to say:

The class was to create a pictorial brooch interpreting a National Park.  Not one to do the obvious, I decided to find one that challenged my imagination and choosing Haleakala, the volcano on Maui did just that! A volcano is rather monolithic so I had to find out what made it unique.  So I took Rob to Hawaii for his birthday, and had a chance to check out Haleakala!  Standing near the top of the volcano, I saw the features that stood out and were incorporated in the brooch – it’s size and shape; that it is kua mauna (“the land above the clouds”), and the ahinahina (silversword) only grows there.  

The next challenge was to find the right material for the volcano.  I originally thought of carving natural cork bark, but had to abandon that idea.  At about the same time I came across the Calice Mushrooms and had an aha moment!  Wyn’s wisteria pods provided the soft texture I needed for the clouds, and my Christmas tree provided the materials for the silversword.  Lots of trial and error went into creating the end result.

Delving into Botanical Art does change how you approach Mother Nature.  Everything in the natural world has the potential to become something else so you become quite a collector of odds and ends…. just in case.  And you always have to remember that for many Shows, you need to know the botanical name of your twiggy bit for the legend card.  Fortunately the Philadelphia Show did not require that, but I spent almost as much time trying to find out the Calice Mushroom’s botanical name as I did creating the brooch. And I’m still not sure I have the right name!  So the hunt is still on since I know I’ll use them again.  They are much too much fun to work with.

Dora’s jewelry was also pictured in a design magazine.

In ending this blog, you have to think what makes the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society flower show one of the top in the world because of the effort put in by individuals who are given the opportunity to challenge their creativity and to exhibit their passion for horticulture.  We are wowed by the commercial exhibits for sure, but the “other side” of the convention center is where the “real” action is.

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