How does your garden grow?
May flowers will put the competition in full bloom next month during the Town and Country Garden Club’s flower show.
The show will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. June 17 at Greene Valley Presbyterian Church in Carmichaels and will feature a variety of locally grown flowers, plants and horticulture. It is open to the public, but only club members can participate in the competitions.
“There will be tables and tables of hundreds of displays and different cut examples of horticulture,” club president Terri Laird said Tuesday while preparing for the show.
The club has been around since 1951, with people of all ages and from all over Greene County participating.
“We do one show every two years,” said Kay Bair, a member of the club, adding that 24 members are expected to participate in this year’s show.
Nine National Garden Club accredited judges will determine winners of several competitions in different categories.
Laird said the public often attends the shows to get ideas and tips on how to grow certain plants and to learn which methods produce results.
Members of the club met Tuesday morning in Rices Landing for a workshop in anticipation of the flower show, which will have a theme of “Nursery Rhymes of Olde.”
The workshop was conducted by one of the judges, Marie Mueller, from the Pleasant Hills Garden Club. She gave a presentation about looking at arrangements and plants from a judge’s perspective, and taught the group about how to get a higher score.
“Largest isn’t always better,” she said.
After her presentation, Mueller critiqued some practice arrangements club members had made.
Laird said the group is trying to increase membership by reaching out to younger generations as well. She said they offer a $1,000 scholarship each year for students who show an interest in environmental sciences, relating specifically to gardening.
“It’s a love of gardens, flowers and growing things,” she said. “And that can be vegetables, too. You meet a lot of friends and learn that this environment provides a track for study courses.”
For more information about the show or garden club, call Bair at 724-966-5856.