Boston Flora

Tag: Ngc

  • Thursday, October 30 – Sunday, November 9 – NGC Galapagos Island Tour

    National Garden Club members, families, and friends will have the
    opportunity to experience the fascinating Galapagos Islands aboard the National
    Geographic Endeavour, an expedition ship equipped to give you the most engaging
    experience possible, October 30 – November 9. You will have numerous options for viewing the endemic wildlife of the Galapagos with naturalists. There will be opportunities each day to tour the shoreline in a zodiac or kayak, take a gentle short walk or long hike with a guide, snorkel, or enjoy an undersea experience on the National Geographic Endeavour’s glass bottom boat.

    A week long optional extension will be an exploration of an extraordinary melting pot of Peruvian history and culture. You will see the architectural achievements of the Incan empire including Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo, and the vast Sacsayhuamán Fortress (pictured). And you’ll experience the decorative arts: pottery, textiles, jewelry, and sculpture that reveal the sophistication of their artisans. You’ll discover firsthand how the past echoes through contemporary life. Expert guides will introduce you to the art, music, and cuisine of this
    remarkable country. And each night your active days end at a succession of gracious and elegant hotels.

    NGC members participating in the optional post-voyage extension will be eligible to receive refresher credit for Gardening Studies School and/or Landscape Design School. The price for Galapagos aboard the National Geographic Endeavour ranges from $6290 to $10,280, depending upon cabin category. The optional Peru extension is priced at $4990 double occupancy. The full itinerary and hotel brochure may be viewed at http://gcfm.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=N99Vguqcb-A%3d&portalid=0. For more information, contact Mary Ann Bryant, NGC Tours Chairman, at maryannbryant1@gmail.com or call 770-893-1570.

  • Shirley Nicolai Named 42nd President of National Garden Clubs, Inc.

    Shirley Nicolai, of Fort Washington, Maryland, has been named the 42nd president of National Garden Clubs, Inc.  The Garden Club of the Back Bay  is affiliated, through its membership in the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, with the National Garden Clubs.  Quoting from an article published in The Washington Times, Shirley is “a former elementary school teacher who has been deeply involved in NGC-affiliated activities for more than 30 years…also recognized for her environmental activism related to aquatic ecosystems, having successfully submitted one of the first mitigation plans to satisfy Chesapeake Bay Critical Area legislation requirements.”  To read the full article, visit http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/making-change/2011/aug/7/national-garden-clubd-inc-welcomes-new-president/  We welcome Shirley and wish her much success during her two year term.

  • Wednesday, May 19 – Friday, May 21 – 43rd Annual New England Regional Symposium

    The 43rd Annual New England Regional Symposium will take place Wednesday – Friday, May 19 – 21, at The Colony Hotel, 140 Ocean Avenue in Kennebunkport, Maine (below).  This program is presented by the Garden Club Federation of Maine, Rebecca Linney, President, and New England Region Director Kathleen Thomas.  The course is accredited by National Garden Clubs, Inc.

    Instructor Dorothy (Dottie) Howatt is a resident of Wilmington, Delaware, is a NGC Accredited Master Flower Show Judge, a Flower Show School/Symposium Horticulture Instructor, and a Daffodil Instructor for the American Daffodil Society.  She holds a BS degree in horticulture from the University of Maryland.  Instructor Bobbi Heenan, a resident of Georgia, is also a NGC Accredited Master Flower Show Judge and a Flower Show School/Symposium Horticulture Instructor.  She has been exhibiting, teaching and lecturing on design for thirty years throughout the United States and South America.

    The deadline for hotel reservations is May 13.  All reservations are to be made directly with the Hotel at 1-800-552-2363, or on line at www.thecolonyhotel.com/maine/.  Register with the Registration Code: New England Regional Symposium in order to receive the NER group rate of $139 + 7% tax (tax amount subject to change), double or single occupancy.  The rate includes free parking and a breakfast buffet each day.

    To register for the Symposium, make checks (see amounts below)  payable to NER Symposium 2010 and mail to Nancy Atwell, 21 Scott Dyer Road, Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107-2307.  Deadline is May 10.  No refunds will be made after that date.  No telephone reservations, please.  Include your name, address, telephone number and email address with your check.  $145 will include the full course with exam, and includes one dinner and two lunches.  Another $145 option is for full course Audit, taking for Credit, and includes the same dinner and two lunches as above.  $140 pays for full course, no Credit, with meal options as above.  Please indicate if you prefer grilled salmon, chicken Wellington, or vegetarian lasagna.

    For more information, go to the NER web site, www.newenglandregion.org.

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  • Division II Seeks Designers for Next March’s Flower Show

    We reprint in its entirety a call for designers sent out by Massachusetts Horticultural Society.  For those floral arrangers out there, this is an opportunity to shine:

    If you were at Blooms! last March, one of the indelible memories of that event is likely the spectacular floral interpretation of a dragon created by renowned designer Arabella Dane.  Her colorful, imposing dragon seemed to leap out at passersby, hardly the stereotype of a ‘flower arrangement’.  It drew large crowds, many of them drawn by word of mouth from offices above the exhibit space.  “You gotta go down and see this thing,” people told one another.

    Ms. Dane’s creation was part of Blooms!, of course, but was mounted within a segment of Blooms! known as ‘Division II’, or MassHort’s ‘Open Class’.  She was responding to a challenge to ‘interpret the gates of Chinatown’.  And interpret them, she did.

    For the past quarter century, MassHort has divided its floral design competition into two pieces.  Division I adheres to the rules of National Garden Clubs, Inc., (NGC) and it produces memorable designs.  But near the top of Division I’s rules is a requirement that an exhibitor must be a member in good standing of an NGC-affiliated club.

    “MassHort created Division II to encourage amateurs who weren’t members of NGC clubs to participate,” says Joyce Bakshi, chair of Division II for the 2010 edition of Blooms!, which will be held in conjunction with the Boston Flower & Garden Show in March.  “The Society wanted to find a way to be more inclusive.”

    Joining a garden club wouldn’t seem to be a huge hurdle to a would-be designer, but not all designers are gardeners or have the time to join a club, and not all garden clubs are affiliates of NGC.  Also, some very good designers – including many professionals – have careers that preclude joining a club that meets on, say, Thursday mornings.

    “Your next-door neighbor may be a very talented amateur,” Joyce says.  “This is their opportunity to get a foothold in the very exciting world of floral design.”

    Both divisions follow the same general rules.  The chairman or an appointee writes a ‘schedule’ which becomes the law of the show.  The schedule contains a number of ‘classes’, with a minimum of four entries per class.  Division I’s Class 101, for example, is, “‘Romantic Abandon’, a design in the manner of the Victorian Period staged on a pedestal 36 inches high and 14 inches in diameter”.  To a floral designer, ‘Victorian Period’ is all the description needed to understand what kind of arrangement is acceptable… it’s all in that NGC rulebook.

    Division II follows the guidelines of Garden Clubs of America, or GCA.  A casual look at floral designs following NGC and GCA rules might not reveal much difference though, to a judge, the variations might be apparent.  The biggest difference is the club joining requirement. The schedule for Division II on the MassHort website (you can find it here) calls it an ‘Open Class’, which means anyone can enter, including that talented neighbor of yours.

    Division II allows designers to express their creativity in ways not allowed under NGC rules.  One isn’t better than the other, just different.  Many designers enter both divisions on different years.

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay is affiliated with NGC, so our members may exhibit in either Division.  For those of you who follow this site but are not members of a Garden Club, Division II is for you!