Holiday Arrangements at Judges Council Meeting

On November 28th at the US National Arboretum there was a Judges' Council meeting.  At that meeting Mary Ellen Alden shared some beautiful holiday arrangements.  Please enjoy and maybe they will inspire you this holiday season.
Judges' Council was affiliated with the National Capital Area Garden Clubs, Inc. in 1956. An Accredited Flower Show Judge is formally instructed in the guidelines presented in THE HANDBOOK OF FLOWER SHOWS, a National Garden Club book of standards used to judge a Standard Flower Show. Judges attend National Capital Area sponsored programs at Judges’ Council meetings on design and horticulture to stay up to date on acceptable Standard Flower Show practices as approved by the National Garden Clubs, Inc.

The Council of Accredited Judges also sponsors two very popular teaching programs.

Morning of Design programs are presented by the Judges' Council several times a year.  Floral design demonstrations assist garden club members with interpretation of the flower arranging styles listed in the HANDBOOK FOR FLOWER SHOWS.

Flower Show School is where the requirements and procedures for becoming a Flower Show Judge are taught.

For more information please email:

judgescouncil@ncagardenclubs.org

CAR Meeting in Cleveland

Greatings from Cleveland, Ohio!   Danielle Brabazon, Anne Bucher, Betty Lewis, David Healy, Sandi Piccirillo, Vickie Godwin, Shirley Nicolai, Mary Corley, Poss Tarpley, Babs McClendon and Charmane Truesdall were able to represent the NCA at the 2012 CAR Convention which took place October 28-30th.  

The Ohio hostesses did a fantastic job putting together a wonderful conference.  The Monday tour of the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Botanical Gardens (CBG)  were quite enjoyable, even though there was plenty of rain.  Hightlights at CBG were taking in the Western Reserve Herb Society Herb Garden  (WRHSHG)

Overlooking WRHSHG

View of WRHSHG

from inside followed by a fabulous view of the Kohl Gates.  These Gates were designed by Albert Paley and totally complement the CBG collection as well as their Madagascar and Costa Rica exhibits.   The CBG very graciously opened their doors to us on a Monday and arranged to have tour guides walk us around.
Many enjoyed the famous Glasshouse that the CBG opened in 2003 featuring the spiny desert of Madagascar and the rainforest of Costa Rica.  These two rooms were fantastically planted.  The sinage was wonderful.  What a great refusge from all the rain pouring down outside.


We had tour guides that were very knowledgeable and who answered all our questions.  How wonderful that CBG has invested much time and energy into understanding to ecosystems that are threatened.  It was facinating to witness how animals and plants interact as well as to explore the different geology and climate.   Understanding our gardens is so much larger than just knowing what plants to put in the ground!

On the left one of the great signs used to explain inside the Greenhouse.
On the right, our tour guide drawing our attention to the plant.

Charmane and Vickie take a moment
to talk about the flora

The ladies of Ohio also put together a fun presentation using design to talk about the history of Cleveland.   Dottie Howatt gave a program highlighting all the fantastic ways to highlight Horticulture when organizing a flower show.  Frank Feysa showed all the great ways to use the new Oasis products.    Here is a link to the CAR summary .    In addition there were two excellent workshops on Tuesday, one featured the artwork of Pablo Picasso and was delivered by Felicia Zavarella Stadelman.  The other featured orchid cultivation and care by Edgar Stehli.