Garden Club members enjoy successful fair flower shows

The Highland County Fair flower shows at Floral Hall were stunning and well-attended by exhibitors and visitor alike.

Beautiful dahlias filled the hall on Monday and Tuesday for the Dahlia Show, from the largest blooms to tiny Poms in every color of the rainbow. Always a favorite of visitors, the array of blooms is really breathtaking.

A lot of hard work paid off for Larry Moore, who had the largest bloom, as well as for Mark Neel with the smallest bloom.

The Jacque Laymon Award was won by Larry and Judy Moore, and the Emile Tissot Award was taken by Larry Moore. The Young Exhibitor Award went to Anna Neel.

Best Multiple Blooms was won by Nancy Baldwin. The artistic classes were swept by Baldwin as well, winning Best of Show and the Judges’ Award of Distinction.

Educational displays were supplied by Hillsboro Garden Club members Nancy Sonner and Baldwin. Displayed throughout the week, Sonner’s “Small Gardens” featured small fairy gardens, information on proper plants to use, books to look through and handouts for those interested in making one.

Baldwin’s display informed which flowers and plants are edible and which are poisonous. This was quite an eye-catching display, since many of the poisonous flowers, plants and seeds are in many of our homes and gardens. Both displays were of great interest to our visitors.

The theme for all the shows was “Sing Along With Us,” with each class to be an interpretation of a song title. On Wednesday and Thursday, the Open Flower Show showcased creative designs and horticulture specimens from non-Garden Club exhibitors, with Dr. Linda Welder winning first place and Best of Show with her “Three Coins in the Fountain design,” an abstract creation of three dried allium blooms, a circle representing ripples in the water and strands of silver as water.

Second place went to Deborah Hirsch, with third place going to Judy Hatfield.

Hirsch, of Wilmington, placed first with her small design “Little Things Mean A Lot,” comprised of white hearts enhanced by red roses.

Hatfield took second place with her small design of three perfect little zinnias fixed to decorative driftwood. Dr. Welder placed third with her design, featuring a teddy bear and three small zinnias.

First place and second Best of Show was won by Dr. Welder for her “In the Garden” inspirational design, featuring sprays of homegrown red roses on a decorative piece of driftwood.

Second went to Hirsch for her design, featuring white roses in a decorative container, while Hatfield took third place for her design, featuring a garden gate enhanced by beautiful white dahlias and white dried alliums.

The senior horticulture winner was Judy Hatfield and her dahlia “Vicky” receiving Best of Show and also claiming second Best of Show with her “Valley Porcupine” dahlia.

Garden Club Invitational class included a Niche, a design telling a story and staged in a three-sided recessed structure, which interpreted a song of the designer’s choosing.

Carol Gorby took first place and Best of Class with her depiction of “Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay,” featuring an old post wrapped with fish net and rope populated by Birds of Paradise blooms.

Second place and second Best of Class was taken by Beryl Gruelle’s “Love Me Tender” design of white-tipped red dahlias affixed to a red and white branch with smaller branches artfully shaped into hearts.

Baldwin claimed third place with “Play Misty for Me,” featuring a saxophone and red roses. “Don’t Fence Me In” by Rose Marie Cowdrey, with a bevy of sunflowers trying to escape the confines of a wooden fence, took fourth place.

The second class was an Exhibition Table Setting, where again the designer chose the song to interpret. “Wasting Away in Margaritaville” by Gorby claimed first place and Best of Class with her design, featuring gladiolas and Fuji mums, dishes with a Mexican flair and a large margarita glass.

Second place and second Best of Class went to Cowdrey for “Cheeseburger In Paradise,” an arrangement of red gladiolas and all the makings for a cookout with cheeseburgers.

Baldwin claimed third place with her design “June is Busting Out All Over,” featuring an arrangement of blue dried alliums and white Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick and blue flowered dishes. Fourth place was taken by Sonner’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” interpreted with black and white dinnerware and white dahlias.

Junior exhibitors were also front and center on Wednesday and Thursday. It is always a pleasure to see what they come up with.

The inspirational class of “Jesus Loves Me” was won by Lauren Grover. Second place went to Aubrey Baldwin and third to Lana Grover. Brooklyn Baldwin and Jayden Lanning received honorable mention ribbons.

The movie “Frozen” inspired the “Let It Go” class, in which Brooklyn Baldwin took first place and second Best of Show with her design “Let it Snow.” Second place went to Aubrey Baldwin for her interpretation of a “Frozen Love Bouquet,” while Lanning’s “Elsa’s Frozen Ice Castle” brought him third place. Grover’s “Olaf, the Snowman” garnered honorable mention.

The final class was an invitation to interpret their own favorite song. “Mama’s Broken Heart” by Brooklyn Baldwin won first place and also took Best of Show. Second place went to Aubrey Baldwin’s “Little Red Wagon,” while “Rock of Ages” by Lauren Grover captured third place. “Stuck Like Glue” by Jayden Lanning and “Three Wooden Crosses” by Lana Grover were honorable mention winners.

The juniors horticulture Best of Show winner was Lana Grover.

On Friday, the Garden Club Flower Show opened with the Inspirational Class, “In the Garden,” won by Gruelle. Her design of lavender dahlias and variegated euonymus with a wooden branch claimed first place as well as second Best of Show. Baldwin placed second, and Gorby took third.

In the Small Design class, “Little Things Mean a Lot,” first place went to Gruelle with her design of red roses and driftwood. Second went to Baldwin and her design using white peace lilies, while Gorby claimed third.

“This Old House,” a panel design, was won by Cowdrey. Larry Moore took second and Baldwin placed third, with Ed Davis’ design taking fourth.

“Three Coins in the Fountain” gave Baldwin second place for her interpretation using three gold rings, three red dahlias and a blue fountain. Third place went to Gruelle, who used decorative wood, white dahlias and several coins in her water-filled fountain. First place and Best of Show went to Gorby for her design, using a silver spiral ending in a pool of water, featuring white Fuji mums and hosta foliage.

Cowdrey took first place in “Happy Trails To You,” using a Western-type container holding a cactus skeleton and Birds of Paradise. Baldwin’s single large allium and reins tied to a post placed second.

The final class, “You Are My Sunshine,” required using a frame in the design. It was won by Larry Moore for his triangular frame and single large leaf (anthurium plowmanii) and one large yellow dahlia. Second place went to Cowdrey and her unique frame formed by a tree root enhanced by a single yellow and orange dahlia and euonymus foliage. Conner’s hanging design of a wreath with yellow dahlias representing rays of sunshine claimed third place. Gruelle placed fourth with her design of three roses in a wooden triangular frame.

Garden Club Horticulture winners were Larry Moore for his “Glorisa” dahlia and Teresa Cudkowicz for her beautiful potted African violet.

– Submitted by Carol Gorby, Secretary, Hillsboro Garden Club