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| Southeastern Flower Show | |
|---|---|
| Name | Southeastern Flower Show |
| Genre | Flower show |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Location | Southeastern United States |
Southeastern Flower Show The Southeastern Flower Show is an annual horticultural exhibition held in the Southeastern United States, showcasing ornamental plants, landscape design, and floriculture. The event attracts exhibitors, nurseries, landscape architects, and gardening societies from regions including the Southeast United States, the Atlantic coast, and the Gulf Coast. It is associated with regional botanical institutions, civic organizations, and trade groups that promote plant conservation, native-plant gardening, and public landscape design.
The show's origins trace to mid-20th-century garden club movements such as the Garden Club of America, the Federation of Garden Clubs, and state federations like the Georgia Federation of Garden Clubs and the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs. Early predecessors include municipal horticultural exhibitions in cities like Atlanta, Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida, and Mobile, Alabama. Influences and collaborations have involved botanical gardens including the Atlanta Botanical Garden, the Biltmore Estate gardens, the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, the Duke Gardens, and the United States Botanic Garden. Over decades the show incorporated trends from landscape architects linked to the American Society of Landscape Architects, plant breeders from universities such as University of Georgia, University of Florida, and North Carolina State University, and floriculture firms like Ball Horticultural Company. Historical exhibits have referenced events and figures including the World's Fair, the Garden Festival of America, and designers whose work appeared at institutions like the Smithsonian Institution and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Management typically involves collaboration among horticultural societies, chambers of commerce such as the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce or the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and botanical institutions like the Mississippi Botanical Garden and the North Carolina Botanical Garden. Advisory boards have included representatives from universities such as Clemson University, Auburn University, and the University of Tennessee, and trade associations like the American Horticultural Society and the Perennial Plant Association. Sponsors have ranged from nurseries associated with Monrovia Nursery Company to corporate partners similar to Home Depot and Lowe's Companies, Inc. for outreach and logistics. Event operations coordinate with municipal agencies of host cities such as Charleston City Council, Savannah City Council, or Jacksonville City Council and with venues linked to institutions like the Convention Center systems and historic estates such as Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.
Exhibits encompass display gardens, cut-flower exhibits, and plant-show categories mirroring standards set by entities like the American Horticultural Society and cultivar registries maintained by organizations akin to the Royal Horticultural Society. Competitions include categories for azaleas from breeders associated with N.C. State Azalea Trials, camellias linked to The Camellia Society, daylilies with connections to the American Hemerocallis Society, and orchid displays informed by the American Orchid Society. Horticultural vendors often include representatives from Monrovia, heirloom-seed companies aligned with Seed Savers Exchange, and native-plant advocates connected to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Professional design competitions have drawn participants from firms with portfolios in public projects for agencies like National Park Service and clients such as The Nature Conservancy, while floral design competitions invoke practices promoted by the Society of American Florists.
Educational programming is presented by university extension services, notably from University of Florida IFAS Extension, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, and North Carolina Cooperative Extension. Workshops cover topics championed by organizations like the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the Native Plant Society of Texas (regional affiliates), and conservation NGOs such as Audubon Society chapters. Demonstrations feature propagation techniques from experts associated with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (through exchange programs), pest management approaches reflecting research at the United States Department of Agriculture research centers, and sustainable landscape practices promoted by the American Public Gardens Association and the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
The show has rotated among venues including civic convention centers, botanical gardens, and historic estates: examples are the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, the Savannah Convention Center, the Tampa Convention Center, and garden sites like Bonaventure Cemetery and the Magnolia Plantation. Scheduling typically aligns with spring bloom calendars influenced by climatological patterns monitored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and planting advisories from land-grant universities such as Mississippi State University and Louisiana State University. The timeframe draws on tourism patterns coordinated with regional tourism bureaus like Visit Florida and Explore Georgia.
Awards have been presented in categories modeled after honors from the Royal Horticultural Society and the American Horticultural Society, with trophies, medals, and cash awards sponsored by horticultural businesses and foundations like the Smithsonian Institution affiliates and philanthropic entities similar to the Kresge Foundation. Notable winners have included landscape designers whose work parallels portfolios at firms featured in publications like Garden Design (magazine), nurseries that later supplied plants for public collections at institutions such as the Atlanta Botanical Garden and the Duke Gardens, and breeders whose cultivars have been trialed in programs at North Carolina State University and entered registries maintained by the International Cultivar Registration Authorities.
Attendance figures have reflected regional interest comparable to major flower shows hosted by the Philadelphia Flower Show and the Chelsea Flower Show in terms of cultural draw, with economic impact estimates considered by local economic development agencies like Southeast Tourism Society, convention bureaus such as Visit Savannah or Visit Tampa Bay, and chambers of commerce. Economic assessments incorporate hotel occupancy data from organizations like STR, Inc., retail sales tracked by state departments of commerce such as the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, and volunteer contributions coordinated through civic groups like Rotary International and local Kiwanis International clubs.
Category:Flower shows