This weekend was the biennial Flower Show at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Since this year is the 50th anniversary of the garden, the theme of the flower show was Heirlooms, and the show featured exceptional creations. We had been to the show in 2024, so it was fun to go again and see the new creations on exhibit.
The show was divided into four primary types of art – Floral Design, Horticulture, Photography and Botanical Arts. Within each of these divisions were judged competitions, and the awards for First Place, Second Place, and Honorable Mention were displayed next to the entries.
The Floral Design division was probably the most interesting one. Each entry used flowers to create a work of art. The division was divided into six categories – Vintage Illustrations, Chapeaux de l’Epoque, Portraitures, Art on the Grounds, Keepsake China, and Time-Honored Anniversary Gifts.
The Chapeaux de l’Epoque category featured hat styles from different decades.
The Portraitures category featured bouquets that were inspired by portraits of women who made important contributions to the botanical garden over the years. Dorothy Chapman Fuqua and her husband donated the money to build the greenhouse conservatory on the property and provided the foundation for the garden’s orchid center.
Margaret Sheffield Martin was an influential member of the garden’s Board of Directors in the 1980s.
The Art on the Grounds category showcased floral pieces inspired by art objects located around the garden.
The category of Keepsake China showed designs interpreting china or pottery. Each of the entries was displayed in a box.
In the category of Time-Honored Anniversary Gifts, this one represented Silver:
The Horticulture division showcased plants that had been cultivated by home gardeners, and they were divided into two categories – Cut Specimens and Container-Grown Plants. Each subcategory was further divided into a series of classes such as annuals and biennials, perennials, flowering containers, foliage containers. There were a total of 41 classes across the two categories.
Some of the cut flower entries:
One subcategory was Cut Collection in an Heirloom Container:
There was a category called Collection of Three Flowering Geophytes:
The entries weren’t limited to flowers.
The Photography division had some interesting photographs on display. Flowers weren’t required to be included in every entry; it depended on the category in which the photo was entered – Estate Sale, Heirloom Stories, Beauty Never Fades, Whispers of the Past, A Moment in Time, Tools of the Trade, Jubilee, and Moving Forward by Reinterpreting the Past.
Each entry in the Estate Sale category was a composed still life, plant material not required but suggested.
Heirloom Stories featured close-up photographs of heirloom plants.
Whispers of the Past show images of a single bloom in an antique vessel.
A Moment in Time included images of a statue or monument from years past.
Tools of the Trade – photos of garden tools.
Jubilee depicted images of celebration.
Moving Forward by Reinterpreting the Past was very interesting. Each photographer had to take a photo of a bird and then use post-editing techniques to mimic an Audubon print.
The final division was Botanical Arts. In this group, artists created objects with dried flowers, leaves, and seeds in the categories of A Lady’s Ring, A Gentleman’s Pocket Watch, A Child’s Keepsake Box, A Christening Bonnet, A Jack in the Box, and A Cherished Heirloom Seed. I didn’t get any photos of these entries because, quite frankly, I didn’t find them very compelling.
As you can see, with the exception of the Horticulture division, each division had themes of the past, memories, time. The show and its exhibits were a great way to pay tribute to the 50-year history of the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
