Everything came up roses…and peonies, wisteria and allium, succulents and topiaries at Garden Club of America’s (GCA) Zone IV Meeting and Flower Show hosted by Rumson Garden Club (RGC) on May 30 and 31 at Navesink Country Club. Although the weather was unseasonably cool and grey, Navesink Country Club bloomed with color and excitement, with hundreds of GCA members from as far away as Hawaii enjoying the inspiring talents of our Club members.
As the only Zone IV club sited on the New Jersey coastline, RGC chose “Greetings from the Jersey Shore” as our theme with topical titles ranging from “Bay Head” for a floral design sun hat and “Seaside Park” for a topiary shaped like a boardwalk ride; from “Locust” for a photograph of “grand old trees” to “Loveladies” for a botanical arts rendition of a sailor’s valentine.
Event Co-Chairs Jeanne Shanley and Christine Hetzler, along with Flower Show Chair Elizabeth Lilleston, outdid themselves, planning and organizing two days of meetings, field trips, speakers, and fun.
One of the highlights of the event was a magnificent mosaic created by Stella Ryan and Lucy Kalian. Stunningly beautiful from a distance, closer inspection revealed that it was made completely from trash which had been collected along the Jersey shore in a single day.
The “Greetings from the Jersey Shore” Flower show was open to the public on Thursday May 31. Hundreds of attendees viewed the “Best in Show” of the Horticulture division’s container gardens, propagated plants and flowering specimen cut from gardens throughout the GCA’s 12 clubs in New Jersey. The show featured floral arrangements, photography and botanical arts, as well as displays on Conservation and Garden History and Design, which illustrate the GCA’s strong environmental mission and RGC’s dedication to preserving local natural resources.
RGC members shown like superstars, taking many awards:
GCA Botanical Arts Creativity Award: Stella Ryan
Best in Show–Botanical Arts: Stella Ryan
Ann Lyon Crammond Award: Avery Brighton
Harriet DeWaele Puckett Creativity Award: Pam Russo
Best in Show–Floral Design: Pam Russo
GCA Novice Award in Horticulture: Christine Hetzler
Catherine Beattie Medal: Diane Guidone
Best in Show–Horticulture: Diana Landreth
Corliss Knapp Engle Horticulture Sweepstakes Award: Rumson GC
All the RGC members should take a bow for a job well done!
KPS 9/2018
