Category Archives: Flower Show

Flower Show

Dazzling Dahlias!

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Dahlia or Dahlia hortensis is an amazing spiky flower grown in some areas as a perennial bush.  It belongs to the Compositae family.

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It has approximately 50,000 cultivations, the flower was named after the  18thcentury Swedish botanist Ander Dahl.

These amazing flowers were on display the first weekend of Fall at Longwood Gardens along with The Greater Philadelphia Dahlia Society. They hosted the American Dahlia Society’s 2018 National Show.  Over 2,000 blooms filled the Conservatory during this competitive show with the major dahlia species featured in the Exhibition Hall. These flowers range in size from 10 inch (dinner plate) across to 2 inches (pompon or some are labeled pompom)!  The trail garden at Longwood featured Dahlias specifically because of the show this year.

In this garden region Dahlia’s need to be removed and stored over the winter. This can be done after the first frost and when the foliage has blackened. Then carefully dig up your dahlia tubers and cut the stalk 2 inches away from the tuber.  Let the tuber dry out in a frost free area for a couple of days. Once the tubers are dry brush off excess soil and store in ventilated box, basket or heavy brown paper bag. Cover the tubers with slightly damp sand, peat moss or vermiculite and place in a cool dry place where temperatures are between 45 and 55 degrees.  Check on them periodically to make sure they are not rotting, have become a winter snack for a critter or have shriveled up.  If they do not look plump in appearance just mist them lightly with water.  The tubers are quite fragile at this stage so be careful handling them.  They can be replanted in the garden when temperatures warm up consistently later in the Spring.

It was fun to learn and experience the joy dahlias bring; the show made you want to plant a special area in your garden and share in the same delight of all the proud owners of these wonderful plants put on display.

See photos of the show below, enjoy and maybe you will be inspired to plant a dahlia next season or better yet visit a friend’s garden who already has them and help them dig up the tubers and prepare them for winter and maybe you will be sent home with a few tubers of your own!

Till next time, delve and delight in nature!

 

Events of the month, Flower Show

Recycle, Reimagine & Reinvent

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A small standard flower show created with a large dedication to excellence due to a combined and beautiful effort from Countryside and Moonflower Garden Clubs. Two sister clubs that really showed off what it means to recycle in style!

There were a plethora of blue ribbons given to both clubs in design, horticulture and a newbie to the scene photography. The show was held at Cokesbury Village a sassy retirement residence that graciously shares its space and welcomes the outside community to bring in the joys of life that they once embraced on a daily basis. We gave Cokesbury their very own entry for horticulture, open only to this special community. It was our pleasure to encourage them to participate in something they probably had more knowledge about then us, LOL. Its just pure respect for the wise and wonderful and it blessed our hearts to include them.

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There were three classes of design, recycle-photgraphy, reimagine- horticulture and reinvent-functional, small and creative designs. The functional table design blue winners were Patti McCarter and Barbara Boyce awesome job ladies.

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I just wanted to sit down and have Chinese take out at their table! Hiro gave his best in his entry and placed third while Marsha took a second for her creative design.

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In the small design an outside participant took the blue but our very on Phil Worrell proudly took the second he is quite elated with his win. Way to go Phil!!!

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In creative mass another outside participate took the blue for a very unique design utilizing small volume water bottles just lovely indeed!

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We even entered our challenge plants and as you can see most survived and one in particular bloomed fabulously! Congrats Joan Yulduzian on doing as you said “ Oh nothing, I did nothing” (yeah right, LOL)

 

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The photography class was such a hit there was a waiting list and it closed with the maximum of 27 entries.

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Many of us took a chance on being creative including myself by entering into classes we have never done before. It’s quite evident that being in a flower show is truly about surrendering to something new and taking a leap of faith, of course you may not walk away with a blue ribbon but you definitely earn a blue for effort!

There were also lessons on how the rule book is really interpreted even by the judges; most of us (the participants) were more by the book then they were. That was obvious with a winner that won by not following the rules a good lesson for all of us to let go and learn; and just being accepting to the powers that be. Another schooling on how judging is totally subjective.

So, a year worth of efforts led by our fearless leader Ann Perry and the commendable support and teaching of Dottie Howatt has finally come to an end, fulfilled with lots of enlightenment along the way. Many thanks to all the members of each club that put forth their time and talent and ultimately encouraging all that visited our show that recycling can be a beautiful thing!