Fall Flower Show looks to grow garden clubs’ membership

When the weather finally cools in Southern Nevada, garden club action heats up.

"A lot of flowers here will bloom early in the spring and then bloom again when it cools in the fall," said Roberta Baltz, president of the Rose Garden Club.

Baltz's club and other clubs affiliated with the Nevada Garden Clubs invite everyone to enjoy the fall blooms and autumn foliage at the Nevada Garden Clubs' Fall Flower Show, scheduled from noon to 4 p.m. Nov. 7 and 8 at the Nevada Garden Club Center, 800 Twin Lakes Drive, on the northwest corner of Lorenzi Park.

Expect cut flowers and tree branches and container-grown plants. Flower arrangers are set to compete in fall and holiday themes such as "No More Strutting for You Mr. Turkey," with a turkey as a featured object; "The Frost is on the Pumpkin," using a pumpkin or gourd; and "Here Comes the Hungry Clan." Also in the works are miniature designs following themes such as "Happy New Year Baby" and "Putting on the Top Hat."

Baltz said if the weather cooperates, it should be a great show with lots of roses and, she hopes, spectacular chrysanthemums.

"Chrysanthemums only bloom if it's cool," she said. "If it's a good season, and we keep with this cooling trend, you'll see the dinner-plate mums, and they are incredible to see. So that's what we're hoping for. If Mother Nature messes up on us, then we're not going to see them that big."

Anyone can compete, member or not. The public is invited to bring in flowers, vines, tree branches and houseplants, and club members will help with identification and forms. There are no entry fees.

Entries can be dropped off between 3 and 7 p.m. Nov. 6 or from 7 to 8:30 a.m. Nov. 7.

In addition to displays, club members are planning a plant sale with miniature scented daffodils and more and a membership drive.

Nevada Garden Clubs is made up of 12 niche garden organizations: The Rose Garden Club; the Las Vegas Valley Rose Society; the Las Vegas Flower Arrangers Guild; the Las Vegas Iris Society; the Carnation Garden Club; the Las Vegas Bonsai Society; the Ikenobo Ikebana Japanese flower arranging club; the Las Vegas Chrysanthemum Society; the Cactus and Succulent Society of Southern Nevada; the Growers Study Guild; the Las Vegas Flower Arrangers Guild; the Henderson-based Sunset Garden Club; and the Boulder City Garden Club.

According to the Nevada Garden Clubs newsletter, Linnea Miller Domz, who turned 102 in May, was a member of the Rose Garden Club, a group launched in Las Vegas in 1945 by Adeline Bartlett, when she discovered a National Gardener magazine on vacation. Domz was intrigued to learn there could be more to gardening than just the Rose Garden Club. She and her friend Hobby St. Dennis headed to a flower show school in Tucson, Ariz., and came back determined to become federated with the national organization. In 1963, clubs in Reno, Fallon, Ely, Caliente, Pioche and Las Vegas joined National Garden Clubs Inc., and Domz served as the Nevada Garden Clubs' first president.

Clubs continue to meet and add new members despite challenges.

"When the city renovated Lorenzi Park, they had us shut out for over two years, and we are trying to get the public back," said Las Vegas Iris Society president Aleta MacFarlane.

"Boy, did that affect us big time," Baltz said.

Even though her group won't have flowers in bloom at the fall show, MacFarlane said they plan to sell plants. Members stay active throughout the fall and winter. In fact, the dormant season is in some ways just as much fun. That's when it's safe to dig up and separate the rhizomes and share or swap plants.

During the Las Vegas Iris Society's October meeting, members Michael and Christine Meagher brought in a tangle of mystery iris plants taken from an overgrown California garden, ready to share.

Michael Meagher showed them how to separate and trim the plants to prepare them for planting, spring bloom, and eventually, identification.

The club is big on identification and catalogs the varieties in each member's garden.

When spring heats up, and the iris bloom, members get the payoff for the fall planting.

"April is our busy, busy month," said member Darlene Waite. "That's when we do our yard tours and our judging and our flower show."

Information on all the groups is available at nevadagardenclubs.org.

— Contact View contributing reporter Ginger Meurer at gmeurer@viewnews.com. Find her on Twitter: @gingermmm.