It’s National Honeybee Day! And the Naperville Community Gardeners hosted its 2013 Flower and Garden Show today at the Naperville Park District Barn Recreation Center. The 33rd annual exhibit featured four long rows of tables graced with colorful varieties of flowers, fruits, vegetables and potted plants, all grown by local gardeners in celebration of a rewarding hobby where many lessons are learned and shared.
Many gardeners entered multiple specimens that were decked out with blue, red and white ribbons in a variety classes much like they are presented in an exhibition hall at a good old-fashioned county fair.
The Best of Show / Best Vegetable went to Lana Gemady from Morton Grove who entered an assortment of 17 different herbs in a large pot. Gemady won Best of Show in a tie-breaker with Nick Papadolias who won Best Dahlia, according to the club’s scoring point system.
Flowers were arranged in classes of annuals and biennials, perennials and tender perennials, gladiolus and summer bulbs, roses, dahlias and potted plants.
Vegetables and fruits came in all shapes and sizes in classes that included bush types, root types, vines (except tomatoes), tomatoes, herbs as well as fruits, nuts and melons.
A miscellaneous class gave local gardeners an opportunity to be creative with a variety of options to enter artistic arrangements and art, highlighting two “NCG Members Only” hobbies and weeds!
A youth category welcomed high school students and younger to enter specimens in any class.
Considering all the luscious-looking fruits and vegetables at the show, judges don’t always judge a vegetable by its good appearance.
Naperville Community Gardeners had a sense of humor when they picked a large kohlrabi to take home a blue ribbon for being the “ugliest” entry.
Kohlrabi tastes similar to a broccoli stem or cabbage heart, but milder, sweeter and can be much juicier.
Master Gardener Ron Ory who entered many prize-winning vegetables seemed most ecstatic when he discovered his homegrown kohlrabi, a perennial vegetable, received a blue ribbon, recognized as the “ugliest” entry.
Gardener Carolyn Finzer, who appeared in a honeybee costume in recognition of National Honeybee Day, provided tours of the tables and winning entries.
“I was hoping to get out to Kline Creek Farm for its program today, but I don’t think there’s time after this show closes at 3,” said Finzer, noting concerns that honeybees that flee from the hives on the farm sometimes die upon their return from the insecticides they encounter away from the farm.
Nearly 75 percent of of the world’s flowering plants depend on insect and animal pollinators and about one-third of the world’s food supply would not exist without the help of bees, she added.
“The historic farm is part of the DuPage Forest Preserve,” Finzer said. ” The beekeeper teaches about honey and hives and how important the bees are to help fruits and vegetables grow.”
The Naperville Community Gardeners, founded in 1980 as the Naperville Men’s Garden Club, is a club for men and women who meet most months at 7PM on the first Monday at Knox Presbyterian Church. To keep up with all their activities, programs, meetings and the 2014 Flower and Garden Show, visit www.napervillecommunitygardeners.org.
