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Garden Forum’s June show at Fellows Riverside center dedicated to ‘men in our lives’
By Sean Barron
YOUNGSTOWN
It’s probably not a stretch to assume that nearly everyone who has spent any time at Mill Creek MetroParks’ Fellows Riverside Gardens quickly finds something that is aesthetically pleasing, colorful, decorative, eye-catching and agreeable to the senses.
Another level of redolence and color was added to the 11-acre public botanical gardens, courtesy of the annual two-day June Flower Show in FRG’s D.D. and Velma Davis Education & Visitor Center, 123 McKinley Ave., on the West Side.
Hosting the show, which began Saturday and ended Sunday, was the Garden Forum of Youngstown.
The forum represents 33 area garden clubs and has about 500 members, noted Sheila Bowman, flower show chairwoman.
“This year’s theme was ‘The men in our lives’ to honor Father’s Day,” she said.
The five categories were “Outdoor men using wood,” “Iron men incorporating metal,” “Sportsman interpreting a sport,” “Dry material” and “Hobby,” which featured an 8-inch design with fresh material cut from a garden, Bowman noted.
Many people, including Joe and Margie Simeone of Poland, who stopped at the visitor center Sunday afternoon, slowly walked along tables filled with varying sized bottles containing large and small hosta leaves, including one about 12 inches in diameter. Others included a trio of chrysanthemum blooms, a star-shaped purple clematis with a single bloom, a cluster of spiked white delphiniums, three daisy blooms, wispy ornamental grasses, hybrid teas and a light-purple, strongly-scented grandiflora rose, which can grow up to 7 feet.
“During different seasons, it’s nice to ride through” to see the gardens, said Margie, who added she and her husband are regular FRG visitors.
Also part of the exhibit was a metal tower with flowers winding around and topped with three checkered black-and-white flags sure to please racing enthusiasts, a figure-8 wooden display complemented with three protruding hosta leaves, an S-shaped metal design punctuated with a variety of flowers and leaves, and an iron structure featuring several orange blooms at its base.
Altogether, the show had 20 designs and about 85 horticulture exhibits, Bowman noted.
In addition, some attendees took advantage of an outdoor plant sale, in which potted perennials, ferns and other merchandise were discounted 50 percent. The sale will continue until everything is sold, a park official said.