Atlantans who fondly recall escaping the winter blues by exploring the beauty and fragrance of an indoor flower show are in for a blooming treat next year.
In 2018, the Atlanta Botanical Garden Flower Show will debut in the halls of the Midtown attraction Friday, Feb. 23 – Sunday, Feb. 25.
“We are so excited to present this new event showcasing the finest displays of floral design, horticulture, landscape design, and photography imaginable,” said Mary Pat Matheson, the Garden’s President & CEO. “The Garden is the perfect setting for a flower show because our facilities and gardens will serve as a beautiful backdrop for these entries while providing the show with a permanent home.“
Flower shows are a seasonal draw in many large cities throughout the United States, and Atlanta enjoyed such an event for 25 years, staged at various venues around the city, including the Garden. The first Atlanta Flower Show opened in 1988 and ran through 1993 before evolving into the Southeastern Flower Show from 1994 through 2013. From 2008 – 2013, the event was presented by the Southeastern Horticultural Society, which held its last show at Cobb Galleria Centre.
The Garden was a beneficiary of the show as well as a longtime exhibitor, and many of the Garden’s earliest volunteers were active in the event, which for years was run by its own non-profit organization.
Since the Southeastern Flower Show ended, Garden staff often have been asked to help resurrect a flower show. “We decided it was time,“ Matheson said, “because it’s so important to continue to offer competitive shows where the art and science of horticulture and floriculture can be presented and celebrated.”
With the theme Ingenue: A Toast to Georgia’s Film Industry, the 2018 inaugural show will start out small, staged inside several of the Garden’s facilities, and include professionally-judged competitions in the divisions of Floral Design, Horticulture, Landscape Design, and Photography. The competition is open to the public in all categories except Landscape Design, and division classes will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration information will be available in the fall on atlantabg.org.
The honorary chair for the 2018 event is Pat Hartrampf, founding chairman of the Atlanta Flower Show, a past president and member of its board of directors. Co-chairs for the show are Mary Wayne Dixon, and Mary Katherine Greene.
“After next year, we hope the show will expand as it grows to become one of Atlanta’s most anticipated annual events,” Matheson said.
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