Flower show deadline nears

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SIDNEY — The Rainbow Gardeners of Shelby County have announced that July 23 is the deadline for adults and juniors under 18 to enter annuals, perennials, roses, hanging baskets, potted plants and floral arrangements in the 2016 Shelby County Fair.

The Shelby County Fair Flower Show will take place July 25 in the Community Foundation (Grange) Building. All of the floral arrangement categories this year fall under the theme, “Shelby County Treasures,” and the schedule, rules, and entry form can be found in the Fair Premium Book, copies of which are available at the fair sSecretary’s office at the entrance to the fairgrounds.

For instructions on how to fill out entry forms, tips on displaying fresh-cut specimens and examples and descriptions of all 13 artistic design categories, visit the Rainbow Gardeners’ webpage, http://www.ShelbyCountyFocus.com/RainbowGardeners. Scroll down to the July 2016 newsletter to read our members’ horticultural tips and lots of information about the Fair Flower Show.

Rainbow Gardeners members met in June at the Park of Roses in Columbus. This 13-acre garden was created in 1953 and has grown to include more than 12,000 roses of more than 400 varieties. The Columbus Recreation and Parks Department owns and maintains the park, and it is free to all visitors.

Within the Park of Roses lies a formal rose garden with a viewing tower, a large fountain and row upon row of hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras and shrub roses. The Heritage garden features old-fashioned roses that were used by hybridizers to create the modern roses we see today. Unlike hybrids, these old fashioned roses bloom repeatedly throughout the growing season. Some of them date back to the Roman Empire.

The Earth-Kind Rose Garden comprises varieties that require no pesticides, fertilizers, dead-heading or pruning. These roses are intermixed with flowering shrubs. An herb garden was added to the park in 1976 by members of the Columbus Horticultural Society. With more than 200 herbs, fragrance and blooms abound. In 1997, the Northview Buckeye Garden Club added a perennial garden with more than 100 different flowers, shrubs and grasses.

Roses in the formal rose garden will hit their second peak in September when the weather begins to cool down. For all gardeners, even those who don’t or can’t grow roses, it’s worth the trip, members said.

Staff report

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