Flower show honors 250 years of American women
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WNKY) — The Cardinal Council of Garden Clubs hosted a petite design specialty flower show Wednesday at the Eloise B. Houchens Center in Bowling Green, using 40 floral designs and educational exhibits to celebrate women and their accomplishments over the past 250 years.
The National Garden Club show brought together members of the Bowling Green, Glasgow, Two Creeks and Warren East garden clubs. The event was free and open to the public from 1 to 5 p.m.
Turning history into floral design
The show’s design division, “Women Who Impacted American History,” featured classes inspired by women including Betsy Ross, Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, Helen Keller, Rosie the Riveter, Sally Ride, Amelia Earhart, Julia Child and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
Susan Throneberry, show co-chair and Cardinal Council president, said designers looked to each woman’s story when deciding how to approach an arrangement.
“Well, I think we’re dependent on the history that follows that person. Certainly Betsy Ross, red, white and blue. First flag. Rosie the Riveter. We can do it. And it involved doing construction design. Sally Ride, astronaut,” Throneberry said.
She said those connections helped produce a variety of designs based on the women being celebrated.
The show schedule called for different styles and materials depending on the woman and class. The Sally Ride class, for example, used a creative spatial thrust design, while the Amelia Earhart class called for a creative reflective design.
Recognizing women closer to home
Organizers also devoted an education division to “Women Conservationists in Local History,” connecting the broader anniversary to Warren County.
“I think we forget that the people that live here in Warren County and the surrounding area did great things,” Throneberry said. “Either we knew them well or were new to the community, and we didn’t know what they had accomplished while they were here.”
One educational exhibit focused on the restoration of Romanza Johnson Park and the Warren County woman for whom the park is named. Another, presented by Lost River Cave, highlighted Nancy Shreve and her impact on the organization.
More than a flower show
Throneberry said she hopes visitors leave with a better understanding of how floral design can reflect a person’s history.
“I think they’ve learned more about floral design than they’ve learned about the ladies that we’re celebrating, because they know that story,” she said. “And to see that floral design translated into their history. It makes them do a little wider opening. Oh, they did something like this. Or we can relate this design to what they’ve done in the past.”
Co-chair Mary Ann Hext said organizers also hoped the event would introduce more people to the Eloise B. Houchens Center.
“We want them to also go away and recognize that we have this wonderful historic home here in Bowling Green that many people aren’t aware of, and that they’ll go away and remember and tell their friends about this house,” Hext said.
Throneberry also encouraged people who enjoyed the show to consider getting involved with a garden club.
“We hope that they see that the garden club is a great place to be,” she said. “I always say we’re not the little old ladies wearing the white gloves and drinking tea. We wear our gardening gloves and get dirt under our fingernails.”
Information about the local clubs is available through the Cardinal Council of Garden Clubs and Garden Club of Kentucky websites.
