The Victorian Era was also England’s Golden Age of Plant Exploration. It was a time when the public’s growing interest in natural history and their obsession with “collecting” came together around plants. The variety of houseplants available for purchase burgeoned during Queen Victoria’s reign. Ever after, Brits and we Americans have been in love with them. Not only can houseplants complement and enhance any room’s decor, but NASA studies confirm their ability to remove indoor air pollution. Learn about many of the plants that populated Victorian parlors, how to care for them and simple ways to bring a Victorian touch to plantscaping your home.
Biographical information:
Garden historian and writer, Lesley Parness, has worked in public gardens in America and abroad for the past four decades. She is a popular speaker throughout the mid-Atlantic region, offering illustrated lectures and hands-on workshops to garden clubs, historic societies, Master Gardeners, public garden professionals, libraries, and institutions with rare book collections of horticultural merit. Lesley is a former Board Member of the New Jersey State Commission on Environmental Education and is a founding member and past President of Garden State Gardens, a non-profit consortium of New Jersey’s public gardens. She is a columnist for Gardener News Magazine, and featured writer in many print and online gardening publications. Artistic Design Exhibits — Please read “Artistic Design Rules” of this yearbook as well as the 2017 revised edition of the Handbook for Flower Shows.November Theme: Red-Orange
Challenge: Still Life Design, see Handbook, p. 76 Intermediate: Creative Parallel Design, see Handbook, p. 75 Novice: Traditional Mass Spherical Design, see Handbook, p. 70-71 Open: Designer’s Choice (one entry per member)
Horticulture Exhibits 1. Flowering, berried, fruited or coned branch (not to exceed 24″) 2. Tricyrtis hirta (Japanese Toad Lily) 3. Container grown flowering plant (container not to exceed 10″ in diameter) 4. Open (maximum 2 entries per person)