Learn floral art tips at Valley City’s flower show

Take a break on Monday from 4 to 7 p.m. at Valley City’s Eagles Aerie and attend the beautiful “Garden Favorites” flower show.

At the Sheyenne Valley Garden Club’s 29th annual standard flower show, you’ll see the best of horticultural entries and an artistic design division filled with sculpted art made from living or dried plant materials.

Entries in the design and horticultural, educational and junior entries are judged by state and national regulations.

Judges are trained in regionally accredited schools conducted by specialists in plant societies and design.

There are master and life judges and amateur and student judges. To qualify for each stage of expertise, the person at that level must have gone through rigorous training and displaying.

The judge at his/her level will have knowledge about specific plant specialties the average gardener may not know even exists. The judges’ vernacular overlaps art, agriculture and science.

Every state has club guidelines and flower show handbooks that instruct each club how to organize garden clubs, select officers, run meetings, organize standard flower shows, and how to promote the mission of the national organization.

What all that means is this: Any flower show presented (such as the one in Valley City) will be up to national standards, conducted by an accredited club, and entries awarded ribbons will be deserving in all aspects for standard awards.

A blue ribbon winner will deserve that ribbon, or it will be withheld. The meaning of standard implies the very best in keeping with rules laid out by a fair and unbiased board of rule makers. Judging must be done by accredited judges and they are fair and unbiased in their standards.

When I was involved in judges’ school and flower shows/garden clubs in Georgia, the state headquarters, in Athens, Ga., was a buzz of activity all year ‘round.

The national headquarters is located in St. Louis, Mo. In central Georgia we had dozens of shows annually where many hundreds participated and thousands attended.

Like an art show sponsored by a large art club, exhibits drew in people curious to learn about the creativity and technical aspects of entries. Flower shows do the same thing.

Unfortunately, North Dakota does not have a state headquarters nor is a member of a regional organization.

That means there are fewer opportunities for people to attend and learn from accredited shows.

That’s one of the reasons why the show in Valley City is so important. This is a rare opportunity to view outstanding growing expertise as well as artistic skills presented in ways not often seen.

The artistic division includes:

Section A — Designer’s Choice (dried/fresh): “My Specialty,” “Rainbow Hues,” and “Garden Royalty.”

Section B — Distinction (all dried): “Dakota Colors,” “Easy Elegance,” and “Everlasting Beauty.”

Section C — Tricolor (all fresh): “Quilt Patch,” “Garden Charmers,” and “Summer Jewels.”

Section D — Novice Class: (fresh and/or dried), “Sunny Days.”

Section E — Mini Design : (8”x8” or smaller, fresh and/or dried), “Dainty Dreams.”

Entries must be taken to the Aerie between 8 and 11 a.m. Monday. I recommend getting a copy of the rules beforehand. Either Carol Knutson 701-845-4552 or Sandy Bauer at 701-845-5328 can send rules.

If anyone has an item for this column, please send to Sharon Cox, PO Box 1559, Jamestown, ND 58402-1559.

Tags: sharon cox, diversions