Federated Garden Clubs of Vermont
The Judges’ Council of the Federated Garden Clubs of VT will hold a Small Standard Flower Show, entitled Out of Hibernation: The Magic of Pooh. The show will be held during the Vermont Flower Show – March 3- 5, 2023, at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction, VT.
The show is held in conjunction with the Vermont Flower Show, which is sponsored every other year by the Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association/Green Works. In Out of Hibernation: The Magic of Pooh there will be five (5) Divisions: Design, Horticulture, Education, Botanical Arts, and Youth. Amateur gardeners are encouraged to register to 
enter the Horticulture Division. We expect to have over one hundred (100) exhibits. It will be a great place to show off your gardening skills and even earn a ribbon. National Garden Club Accredited Judges will judge the entire show. Please contact Kathy Perkins at 802.747.8251, Chairman of the Judges’ Council Flower Show or the VNLA office at 802.425.5117 for more information.
You do not need to be a National Garden Member to enter the Horticulture Division.
All amateur gardeners are welcome.
Entry day for Horticulture is March 1, 2023 from 1:00 p.m.- 7:00 p.m.
Entry cards will be available during entry times. There will be Garden Club members there to help you fill out your cards.
Tips For Entering Horticulture
- All exhibits must be fresh and grown by the exhibitor.
- Plant material must be in its natural state and may not be altered by application of oil or commercial “shine” products.
- Plant material should be clean with all debris, dirt and damage removed by exhibitor.
- Containers should be clean.
- Container-grown specimens should be centered in containers except for sympodial orchids and succulents with pups or self-multiples.
More information will be included in the Horticulture Rules. Following the Rules are all of the Classes that you may enter.
Division II: Horticulture Rules
- The NGC Horticulture Policies/Rules are printed in the Handbook for Flower Shows, 2017 Edition Chapter 6, p.27.
(This Handbook is free to view on the National Garden Club www.gardenclubs.org website.)
- All plant material must be fresh and grown by the exhibitor. Length of possession is:
a. Bulbs, 90 days
b. Arboreal, 6 months
c. Houseplants, 90 days
d. Dish gardens, 6 weeks
- The rules for a single species cut or container-grown specimen are listed in the Handbook for Flower Shows or its supplement Horticulture Exhibiting and Judging.
- In order to receive an NGC Top Exhibitor Award, the exhibitor must identify her/his entry by its binominal name or currently acceptable scientific designation.
- Entry cards are to be filled out in advance if possible, preferably in pencil or waterproof ink. Address labels may also be used. Refer to the Handbook for Flower Shows, 2017 Edition, Chapter 6 for a correctly filled out entry tag.
- Cut specimens should not have foliage below the water line (exception Gladiolus).
- If a plant is considered a flowering plant, it should be exhibited as a flowering specimen. Foliage plants may flower, but should be exhibited as foliage plant if they are grown for leaves.
- Specimens with a class designation in the schedule may not be entered in the ‘Any Other Worthy’ class.”
- The Horticulture Classification Committee Chairman and/or General Show Chairman are free to subdivide classes by color, form, size, cultivar, variety or other distinguishing characteristics.
- The Scale of Points for Horticulture is located in Chapter 14 of the Handbook for Flower Shows.
- All staging materials for cut specimens, vases and wedging material (bubble wrap), will be provided by the Committee.
- Exhibitors may make more than one entry per class or subclass if each is a different genus, species, variety, cultivar, type, size or color.
- All entries must be approved for conformance to the schedule and show worthiness by the Classification Chairman before placement by the Committee.
Division II: Horticulture – The Growing Game
Class 1 and all Sections eligible for the Award of Horticulture Excellence
Classes and Sections
Class 1. Displaying Our Style…
Succulent Dish Garden, a miniature landscape, combination planter containing three (3) or more different succulents. Exhibitor provides a shallow container not to exceed 18” in diameter or 18” in length and width.
Keycard is required. Pre-registration with Horticulture Entries Chairman Patty Lambert, (802) 933-6197 is required.
Section A. Let’s Branch Out – Eligible for Arboreal Award
Evergreen Branches, Foliage, Fruited or Coned. One cut specimen maximum length 30”, minimum length 12”. Each cut branch must include several nodes and an apical tip.
Class 2 Cypress
Class 3 Picea (Spruce)
Class 4 Pinus (Pine)
Class 5 Any other worthy specimen
Section B. Starkness of Late Winter – Eligible for Arboreal Award
Deciduous Branches. One cut specimen maximum length 30”, minimum length 12”. Each cut branch must include several nodes and an apical tip.
Class 6 Acer ( Maple)
Class 7 Betula ( Birch)
Class 8 Fagus (Beech)
Class 9 Any other Worthy Specimen
Section C. Green and Growing – Eligible for Grower’s Choice Award
Container grown plants, primarily for foliage Pot not to exceed 12” in diameter.
Class 10 Begonia
Class 11 Hedera (Ivy)
Class 12 Pteridophytes (Ferns)
Class 13 Any other Worthy Specimen
Section D. Let the Flowers Shine – Eligible for Grower’s Choice Award
Container grown flowering plants. Pot not to exceed 12”in diameter.
Class 14 Gesneriads (Geranium)
Class 15 Orchidaceae (Orchid)
Class 16 Saintpaulia (African Violet)
Class 17 Any other Worthy Specimen
Section E. Shrub It – Eligible for Green Mountain Award
Evergreen shrub branches, foliage, fruited or coned. One cut specimen, maximum length 30″, minimum 12″. Each cut branch must include several nodes and an apical tip.
Class 18 Boxwood
Class 19 Holly
Class 20 Rhododendron
Class 21 Any other Worthy Specimen
Section F. Prickly and Puffy – Eligible for Grower’s Choice Award
Cacti and Succulents. Pot not to exceed 12” in diameter.
Class 22 Columnar Cacti
Class 23 Echeveria
Class 24 Globular Cacti
Class 25 Any other Worthy Specimen
