Flower Shows and Artistic Design

July 7, 2022

Chairman Betty Michelson, The Princess Anne Garden Club

June 17-19, 2008, Winchester-Clarke Garden Club hosted the Lily Show, “Ex Libris,” chaired by Jean Gilpin and Susan Claytor, who reported 150 stems, 62 arrangements and 114 exhibitors. Photos

The Board of Directors approved a plan, in July 2008, to allow flower show host clubs to include fundraising activities in conjunction with the shows for a trial period of four years, to be overseen by the Flower Shows Committee.

Flower Arranging School was held on Tuesday, September 23, 2008, at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. The sold-out event featured Julia Clevett, who demonstrated modern arrangements. Frances Lee-Vandell of Albemarle Garden Club won the point scoring mini-show blue ribbon, receiving the first Elizabeth A. M. Booker Award given by the Charlottesville Garden Club in memory of Mrs. Booker, a noted Charlottesville arranger. The beautiful silver cup was presented by Mrs. Booker’s daughter, Betty Morriss, a writer and former journalist with the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Photos

The 2008 Rose Show was hosted by the Franklin Garden Club on October 1-2 at the Paul D. Camp Community College Workforce Center. “Restoration and Roses” was chaired and beautifully orchestrated by Jane Beale and Mary Nelson Thompson. The Rose Show boasted spectacular blooms, as 130 exhibitors entered 398 stems in the horticulture division and 82 arrangements in the artistic division. Photos

On Oct. 9, 2008, the GCV Lily Committee hosted a workshop for club chairmen and interested members at the Kent-Valentine House. David and Genie Diller, Spotswood Garden Club, opened the program with a beautiful PowerPoint presentation on the nine divisions of the genus Lilium. Mary Queitzsch, Dolley Madison Garden Club, demonstrated techniques for grooming, placing and judging the entries. Tricia Kincheloe, Garden Club of Fairfax, reviewed the responsibilities of club lily chairmen, and Sandy Aman, also of the Garden Club of Fairfax, shared hints on successfully using lilies in floral designs.

Julia Clevett conducted a workshop for judges, student judges and perspective judges on March 23, 2009, at the Kent-Valentine House. Joyce Moorman of the Lynchburg Garden Club had put together a great day. Her program was titled, “I am in my ELEMENT, working on my PRINCIPLES.”

The 2009 Daffodil Show, “Celebrate the Northern Neck,” was hosted by the Garden Club of the Northern Neck, April 1-2, 2009, chaired by Candy Carden and Suzanne LaPrade, who reported 1981 stems entered by 182 exhibitors. The Lockwood and Gale Frizzell Award and the Pat Lawson Memorial Trophy were presented for the first time. Photos

The 2009 Garden Club of Virginia InterClub Artistic Award was presented to the Little Garden Club of Winchester.

The 2009 Lily Show, “Petersburg: A City Under Siege,” was hosted June 17-18 at historic Union Train Station, hosted by the Petersburg Garden Club and chaired by Elizabeth Johnson and Suzanne Wright, who reported 222 stems in horticulture and 63 artistic designs. The Ronald J. Chiabotta Trophy was awarded for the first time. Photos

Flower Arranging School was held September 22, 2009, at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden featuring Massachusetts floral designer Tony Todesco, contributor to Designing by Types, published by the National Garden Clubs in 2008. He also conducted a sold-out, hands-on workshop in the afternoon. Photos

The 2009 Rose Show, “Restorations and Roses,” was hosted on September 30 – October 1, again by the Franklin Garden Club. Chaired by Jane Beale and Mary Nelson Thompson at the Workforce Center, the show boasted spectacular blooms, as 114 exhibitors entered 353 stems in the horticulture division and 82 arrangements in the artistic division. Photos

The 2010 Daffodil Show, “The James Runs Through It,” was hosted by Hillside Garden Club, chaired by Melanie Christian and Becky O’Brian on April 7-8 at Sweet Briar College. A new class, Floor Designs, was introduced. The show reported 111 horticulture exhibitors and 1861 horticulture stems. This count included 862 exhibits, of which 16 were the club collections. The Anne Duvall Miller Massie Perpetual Trophy was awarded for the first time this year. Photos

The 2010 Garden Club of Virginia InterClub Artistic Award was presented to Roanoke Valley Garden Club.

The Garden Club of Virginia approved six awards presented by the Lily Committee in 2009 — the David Diller Award for the Best Martagon Lily; the Vicki Bowen Award for the Best Trumpet Lily; the Sara Ann Lindsey Award for the Best Oriental Lily; the James A. McKenney Award for the best Longiflorum/Asiatic Hybrid Lily; the Eugenia Diller award for the Best Oriental/Trumpet Hybrid Lily; the Lily Committee Interdivisional Hybrid Lily Cup for the best Longiflorum/Oriental Hybrid Lily – to be awarded for the first time at the 2010 Lily Show. The board also approved a daffodil award, presented by the Daffodil Committee — the Anne Duvall Miller Massie Perpetual Trophy, to be awarded for the first time at the 2010 Daffodil Show.

The Board of Directors voted at its January 2010 meeting to require member clubs to enter only two flower shows each year on an assigned rotating basis, beginning with the Lily Show in 2011. The decision became known as the “opt out” decision.