Jul 24, 2013 2 min read

While exploring the final frontier may be hard for Washington County residents, the floral frontier is right around the corner.

“Space: the Floral Frontier” is this year’s theme for the Martha Washington Garden Club’s annual flower show. The show will be held Aug. 2 and 3 at Washington Crown Center.

The Martha Washington Garden Club has 72 active members, and the club has been operating for close to 80 years. Betty Bedillion of Lagonda comes up with creative themes for the flower show each year.

Members will “go out to eat after the show and ask Betty, ‘What are we doing next year?'” joked 35-year member Grace Mitchell of Washington.

Last year’s theme was “What a Circus,” and when Bedillion suggested doing “Space: the Floral Frontier,” a few of the ladies were skeptical.

“I said, ‘I don’t think so!'” Peggy Condon of Eighty Four said. “Then I thought about it. … It’s different, unusual. It’s out there.”

The annual flower show is broken into two parts: horticulture and design. Each individual class has a specific theme, with names varying this year from “Dining with the Stars!” to “E.T. on TV.”

“It could be flowers shaped like a rocket … or a napkin with stars. The most important thing is the arrangement,” Bedillion said.

In this year’s flower show, there are 200 specimens in the horticulture class and 44 design classes. The show is open to everyone, not just garden club members.

“People think, ‘Oh, I can’t join,’ but all you need is a love of gardening,” Mitchell said.

The club’s annual flower show has been named “Best in the Nation” several times by National Garden Club Inc., and even with the upcoming competition, they joke about asking one another for advice.

“A lot of our members are knowledgeable and share,” Bedillion said.

“I’ve never had a sister,” Mitchell said as she looked around the table at the women seated around her. “But now I have at least 50 of them. The best friends of my life, I’ve met through the garden club.”