Flower show visit puts a spring in steps of garden-minded Islanders

By Janet Hefler - March 1, 2007

With Valentine bouquets just a fragrant memory, last week's Rhode Island Spring Garden and Flower Show provided some much-needed floral therapy for Islanders longing for a respite from winter's bleak landscape.

The Tisbury Travel Club, led by Tisbury Council on Aging Activities Director Sandy Whitworth, sponsored a trip to the show on opening day last Thursday. A $32 fee covered round-trip bus service to and from Woods Hole and admission to the show at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence.

"It will be my pleasure to take you to spring," Plymouth and Brockton bus driver Joe Zakszewski told his 37 passengers at the start of the trip at 9 am. On arrival in Providence about 80 minutes later, the convention center exhibit hall's strong, distinctive scent of mulch with a hint of floral undertones provided an aromatic fix for the gardening-deprived.

Garden displays incorporated the show's theme, "Artistic Impressions." Winning entries in the Rhode Island Federation of Garden Clubs' "Art in the Garden" competition provided a creative potpourri of color, scent, and beauty. The show also offered cooking demonstrations and seminars on gardening and landscaping.

"Tea for Two" took first place and best in show among the garden displays. A flowerbed crisscrossed with violet-blue patches of lavender plants contrasted by orange primroses and a Korean maple tree ringed with black velvet begonias framed the scene for a charming patio with a table set for tea.

Although it looked ambitious for a novice gardener, Alan McLaughlin, owner of Garden Designs of Newport, said his design featured something for everyone, from the plant-and-neglect type to the conscientious. For example, lavender, a perennial, requires minimal care once established, he said, and would grow well on Martha's Vineyard.

In contrast to Mr. McLaughlin's more formal garden, the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society's (RIWPS) woodland exhibit designed by Judith Ireland also took a first-place ribbon. "Every stick is here for a reason - even the leaves on the ground coincide with the tree near them," noted RISPW board member Dick Donnelly about the painstakingly detailed display.

For Vineyarders, it looked a lot like home, with juniper, pines, blueberry and shad bushes, inkberry, and many other familiar natives. "Almost everything in this exhibit will grow on Martha's Vineyard," Mr. Donnelly pointed out. Betsy Cabana of Vineyard Haven marveled that the warm convention center air had brought out buds, blossoms and shoots of new growth on some of the bushes and trees.

Other exhibits included water gardens and pondscapes, complete with brightly colored koi fish. Not just limited to flowers and gardens, however, the show also provided everyone with a day at the beach, watching sand sculptors Matthew Grace and Jessica DiConstanzo in action.

The two artists from Sandtasia, a company owned by Ms. DiConstanzo's brother Steve Topazio, carefully carved intricate designs including animals, flowers, and faces on a towering, 10-foot high, three-dimensional sand sculpture.

Sandtasia's sculptors work indoors and out, using anywhere from 50 pounds up to many thousands of pounds of sand up to create sculptures for parties, weddings, and all kinds of events. Sprayed with a white glue and water mixture while sculpted, the creations will last up to about two months outdoors, Mr. Grace said.

Adding a touch of Martha's Vineyard to the show, an osprey made of cedar pieces by Tom Carberry of West Tisbury perched on high in the exhibit hall lobby. He also created a sculpture of a woman featured in "The Feminine Garden" display by Nancy Jensen Carliss, a former Island resident and owner of Vetra horticultural services in Falmouth.

In an exhibit area displaying the winners in the "Art in the Garden" competition, garden club members throughout Rhode Island demonstrated their creativity in categories that went beyond traditional flower-arranging.

Projects included clever uses of plant materials in decorating everyday objects, including high-heeled shoes and pillows. A lizard made out of plant materials, its tail winding around to form it into a necklace, looked almost real

The vendors' section took up almost as much space as the flower and garden show, with some wares more garden-related than others. Not only were there ordinary garden tools available to buy, but also magnetic therapy devices and vibrating chairs for aching joints, wonder mops for cleaning up tracked-in debris, and jewelry - to deflect attention from dirt under the fingernails, perhaps?

Several vendors did offer live plants for sale, of course, for both indoor and outdoor planting. The most popular purchase of the day, especially among women, appeared to be a houseplant with corkscrew projections snaking out in all directions. Many who purchased the plant, including Kathryn Collins of Oak Bluffs and Times Calendar editor Anna Marie D'Addarie, said they could identify with the inspiration behind its name, "Bad Hair Day" (Juncus effusus 'spiralis').

With the Island group's bus ride back scheduled for 3 pm, the shopping-deprived among them had time for a quick visit to the Providence Place Mall, easily accessible from the convention center via an enclosed pedestrian walkway. On the trip home, several people, including Mary Ellen and Don Hill of Vineyard Haven, said they liked the Rhode Island flower and garden show because it was doable in one day and not as large and crowded as the one in Boston.

The Tisbury Travel Club, which operates out of the Tisbury Senior Center, is open to participants of all ages Island-wide, with seniors given first preference. For information about the club's upcoming trips, check the Island Council on Aging's monthly newsletter, the 55 Plus Times, or call 508-696-4205.