42 
House' & Garden 
Staging a successful garden show demands study, care and plenty of hard work. Crowding of exhibits should 
always be avoided, and a logical and artistic arrangement is essential. In this case an excellent and consistent 
feature was the school children’s exhibit of bird houses 
PLANNING A SUCCESSFUL GARDEN SHOW 
How One Garden Club Worked Out the Problem and Carried It Through—Suggestions 
and Definite Rules Which Are Based on Practical Experience 
OLIVE HYDE FOSTER 
T he widespread interest in war gardens 
last year stimulated the growing of new 
and rare varieties of both flowers and vegetables 
even by people who never before had attempted 
gardening. iMany became enthused, despite 
the excessive heat, to the point of steady and 
prolonged effort to excel, and neighbors vied 
with each other in producing the finest speci¬ 
mens possible. Naturally, then, garden shows 
enjoyed a fresh impetus, and wherever given 
were well patronized, resulting in increased in¬ 
terest in growing and the determination to make 
next year’s product even better and finer. Con¬ 
sequently we may expect to find the garden 
show more popular the coming season than ever 
before. 
Launching the Idea 
As the first step in the cooking of a hare is 
the catching of that animal, so the first work 
towards a garden show is the growing of the 
products to be exhibited. This necessitates 
planning the event months in advance, that 
people interested can inform themselves and 
prepare to show the very best they can raise. 
“Why, that six-pound egg-plant of mine I 
looked at the last thing at night and the first 
thing in the morning,” exclaimed one enthusi¬ 
ast, “I was so afraid something would happen 
to it, I watched it like a baby!” 
Thus at the very start of the season the Gar¬ 
den Club to which I belong devoted the first 
of its fortnightly meetings to the consideration 
of what should be grown for the June Show, 
with special reference to the kinds best adapted 
to our soil and climatic conditions. Our presi¬ 
dent, herself a most successful gardener, told 
of her personal experiences, failures and suc¬ 
cesses; others added their suggestions, and 
every one made copious notes. We were asked 
to specialize in some particular kind of flower, 
to grow as many varieties of that as possible, 
and to keep a record of the result, with date of 
planting, amount of cultivation, and the cost 
of maintaining a garden. Also to keep a record 
of dealers patronized, fertility of seeds, quality 
of bulbs, plants and shrubs purchased, and re¬ 
sulting satisfaction. As a second show was 
scheduled for September, this would mean a 
whole season’s data. 
For an exhibition so early in the season, 
especially when following a most backward 
spring, we could not count much on annuals, 
for all the flowers had to be grown by the ex¬ 
hibitor. This left us dependent on the early 
perennials, shrubs, tuberous plants and roses. 
How everybody cultivated! Beds were en¬ 
riched, plants and bushes sprayed, larkspurs 
staked, roses disbudded. Our second meeting 
was given over to a lecture by a well-known 
authority on the growing of perennials, just as 
another well-known florist had previously 
talked to us on the special cultivation of the 
iris. Each and every member was looking 
eagerly forward to what she would be likely to 
have ready by the middle of June. 
As the appointed day drew near, the actual 
work of giving the show demanded time and 
attention. Committees had to be appointed 
with reference to the special adaptability of 
each person to do the work to be assigned. 
Those with recognized executive ability looked 
after engaging the hall, advertising the affair, 
ordering display tables, arranging for outside 
exhibits of a suitable nature, and soliciting re¬ 
freshments for the “Tea-garden”, which was to 
be improvised on the stage. (Garden shows, 
like all other entertainments, involve consider¬ 
able outlay of money, and we were determined 
to make ours at least pay for itself.) Those 
having the technical knowledge—and they are 
always few!—^plaimed the class form book 
under the supervision of Mrs. Elsie Tarr Smith, 
and the club botanist devoted days to compiling 
a booklet that would provide for the offerings 
of the smallest amateur grower as well as the 
one with the skilled gardener and a big estate 
at her command. Entry tags also had to be 
printed, and the ribbons for the different 
awards. 
Copies of the class form book were mailed to 
the members in plenty of time to be studied, 
and contained the following information: 
Rules 
The competitions of the Club are open to all 
Club members. 
Plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables must 
have been grown by the exhibitor. Exceptions: 
wild flowers and table decorations. 
Each exhibit must be taken to the entry desk 
to be entered and tagged before being staged. 
Each exhibit must be properly tagged with 
the name and variety. 
Three entries by different exhibitors will 
make a class, in which case an award will be 
made. 
{Continued on page 62) 
