Home gardeners invited to enter Greensburg Garden Center flower show

Home gardeners are invited to enter their best blooms in Greensburg Garden Center’s biennial standard flower show.

“Growing Wild” will take place from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at the McKenna Senior Center, 971 Old Salem Road, Greensburg.

Submissions will be accepted from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday at the center.

“Anyone is welcome to submit a horticultural specimen, which is a flower from your garden,” said GGC co-president Carla Rusnica. “If you don’t know the name of it, we will have people there and books where they can look it up — though most of them will know it on sight. They will put it in the proper category for you.”

Categories, following the show theme include Art of Wild, Wild and Woolly and Blooming Wild, but there also are categories for a tea place setting and a breakfast tray featuring a floral arrangement.

“There can be a wild element like a wildflower — like Queen Anne’s Lace, which is available just about everywhere, or daisies or anything you see growing in the wild — but you can bring any flower you want to,” Rusnica said.

Though submissions are due on Friday, there is leeway for keeping the arrangements looking fresh until show time.

“For flowers that won’t be fresh on show day, such as a daylily, you can replace that specimen on Saturday morning before the judges come through,” Rusnica said. “Don’t bring in your best specimen on Friday. Save your prime bloom for the next day.”

The show will be judged by members of the Garden Club Federation of Pennsylvania, and ribbons will be awarded.

The thought of entering a flower show as an amateur gardener might seem daunting, but Rusnica said you never know how the judging will go.

“Six years ago, I accidentally won a blue ribbon when I entered the breakfast tray category,” she said. “You put in a plate and a bowl and cup, and I made a little arrangement. By the time the judges saw it, it had fallen apart a little bit.

“I was actually following them around – you’re not allowed to speak to them – and they said, ‘Look at this, It has such a nice flow.’ And I thought, “Hmm, that’s not where I put it, it’s fallen down a little bit.’ So I had fun doing it,” she said.

The judges also offer helpful comments on the entries, including what they like about them or how they could be improved, Rusnica added.

Admission to “Growing Wild” is free, although donations will be accepted to support garden center programs. The senior center will offer cookies and other light refreshments for sale.

For information, call 724-837-0245 or visit greensburggardencenter.net.