The Garden Club of Jackson put on a beautiful Flora & Eudora Zone IX Meeting and Flower Show in April, weaving the words of author, photographer, and gardener Eudora Welty through every aspect. Educational speakers included Susan Haltom, who revived Miss Welty’s garden at her request and documented the process in One Writer’s Garden, a beautiful chronicle of a garden over the decades.
Nicole Johnsey Burke, author of Kitchen Garden Revival and the new Leaves, Roots, and Fruits, shared the story of her Gardenary business and the elements of a successful kitchen garden. The final speaker of the meeting was Harvey Cotton, longtime leader of the Huntsville Botanical Garden, who spoke on native plants and planting for pollinators. During the meeting, participants enjoyed dinners in private homes, a reception in Eudora Welty’s garden, and tea at the Old Governor’s Mansion in Jackson. Garden tours before and after the meeting offered extra opportunities for exploring all the Hospitality State had to offer.
The culminating event was a beautiful awards dinner planned and executed by our own Barbara Bush in her role as Zone Representative for Awards. The highlight of the night was the presentation of a GCA Zone Award in Garden History and Design to our own Flora French for her decades of work on this important aspect of GCA. Many thanks to Kristi French and Dr. Ronnie French, who conspired to have Flora in Jackson for the event while maintaining the secret of her special award!
Floral Design Award
Lynn Box created a beautiful table scape for a bride and groom in the Delta Wedding Class, winning a yellow ribbon and incorporating silver, china, furniture, and linens from Barbara Bush, Helen Butcher, Mary Hines, Tina Kern, Dee McCloskey, and Lynn’s own collection. Roses and hellebores took center stage in her lush, romantic arrangements.
Horticulture Awards
Katie Rafferty and Kristi French did a wonderful job gathering cuttings for the show—many thanks to all who let the committee sneak into your gardens and take cuttings and to Kristi for acting as our horticulture delegate in Jackson, submitting specimen in the eight required classes.
Kristi won a blue ribbon and the Novice Award in Horticulture for our favorite pitcher plant: Sarracenia leucophylla.
Carro’s borage won a blue ribbon in an herb class.
Cathy Pierson won a red ribbon for the beautiful New Dawn climbing rose she propagated.
Dee’s bottlebrush took a blue ribbon and a good old loblolly pine won a red ribbon.
Finally, Kristi made a beautiful arrangement for the challenge class. Each of the 21 clubs had to make a bouquet of cut specimens that would have been in gardens in the 20s, 30s, and 40s. Kristin won third place with a beautiful white and green arrangement presented in a julep cup. The bouquet included cuttings from the Reily garden on Prytania, Carro’s native garden, the French farm, and McCloskey farm—apologies to any gardens overlooked!
Photography Award
Virginia entered a beautiful shot taken in the botanical garden for her Curtain of Green entry, winning a yellow ribbon and compliments from the judges!
Botanical Arts Award
Pierce Young’s necklace was a showstopper, as evidenced by all the GCA members stopping in their tracks to look more carefully at her piece. Judges awarded Pierce a blue ribbon and both the Novice Award and Botanical Arts Creativity Award, high praise! Pierce’s necklace incorporates the trellis design from the Welty garden and the most elegant garden hose you’ve ever seen.
As always, it takes a village to enter a Zone flower show—thank you to Barbara, Catherine, Lynn, and Dee for being on Kristi’s crew of runners and thank you to Lynn’s Delta Wedding Group mentors, Pike’s Peakers, and more: Barbara Bush, Barbara Rosenberg, Tina Kern, and Courtney Freeman as well as the members above who lent their items for the table scape.
