THOMASVILLE- This year’s Standard Flower Show in Thomasville focused on Tea Time Classics, producing sweet success for the 104th annual show. It was held last weekend at the Thomasville Garden Center, where the Briarcliff Garden Club was awarded the Josie B. Neel Award with 140 points.

Christa Carter, general chairman of the Standard Flower Show, discussed the event.

“We have the Boston Tea Party as one of the areas. Then we have movies and film for other categories. We have High Tea at the Plaza. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is one of the themes for the table settings. We just came up with different things that had to do with tea,” Carter said. “We have four garden clubs that are members of the Thomasville Garden Club Inc. They are the ones that put on this show every year.

“The Standard part is because there are judges and there are standards used to judge each of the flowers and the show itself.”

The four garden clubs include Briarcliff, Killarney Queen, Lady Banks and Rambler Rose.

Attendees were privy to 156 general horticulture entries. The Briarcliff Garden Club entered 29, while the Killarney Queen Club entered 32 entries. Rambler Rose Garden Club and Lady Banks Garden Club entered 37 and 32 blooms respectively. Non-members contributed 26 entries.

The NGC Award of Horticultural Excellence is awarded in memory of Abbie W. Clements by the Rambler Rose Garden Club. This year, the award was presented to Leiann Orr in Killarney Queen Garden Club for her Iris gemanica.

The NGC Sweepstakes Award is given in honor of Milli Faircloth by the Killarney Queen Garden Club. It is awarded to a garden club member or non-member, who won the most blue ribbons in the Horticulture Division.

Juliane Hackey of Rambler Rose was presented with this award.

Finally, the Briarcliff Garden Club awarded the Margaret Arnold Perpetual Trophy, which is given to the Garden Club with the most entries in the Horticulture Division. The name of the club will be engraved on the trophy, which will be kept on display at the Garden Center. This year, Rambler Rose had the most entries, beating out Briarcliff, who has held onto the trophy the past two years.

The Garden Clubs also presented design awards in memory of one of their former members.

Given by the Killarney Queen Garden Club, the Elva Scott Inspirational Perpetual Trophy is awarded to the most expressive design created in an inspirational manner in Division II, other than a blue ribbon winner. The winner’s name will then be engraved on the trophy, which will be displayed at the Garden Center for the next year.

This year, Diane Davis of Briarcliff Rose was the recipient. Davis originally placed 2nd in the Class 6- Wilmington Tea Party Creative Design on a white pedestal category.

The Killarney Queen Garden Club awarded the Ella Rosenberg Perpetual Trophy, which is given to the most expressive design in an oriental manner, other than a blue ribbon. The winner’s name is then engraved on the trophy, which will be kept on display at the Garden Club throughout the year.

This year, Marcy Sizemore with the Lady Banks Garden Club was named the winner.

Sizemore originally placed 2nd in the Class 5- Tea Ceremony, Malkaya category.

The final award is the Milli Faircloth Perpetual Trophy, which is awarded by Mr. and Mrs. Tom Faircloth. It is given to the best second-place table design.

Jennifer Smith of the Rambler Rose Garden Club was the recipient of the Milli Faircloth Perpetual Trophy. Her name will now be engraved onto the trophy, and it will be on display at the Garden Center.

Barbara Lang, president of the Thomasville Garden Club, presented a brief history of the event, which focused on Mrs. W. M. Jesse Harris starting the Thomasville Garden Club in 1917 not long after she moved to Thomasville in 1913.

“She soon became involved in various organizations, focusing her attention on beautification, gardening and stimulating interest in growing roses, making Thomasville the City of Roses,” Lang said. “On March 3, 1917, with Mrs. Harris’ leadership, the home garden club, which became the Thomasville Garden Club, was organized.”

“Thomasville’s residential gardens have long been admired for having a perfect wealth of blooms. In 1921, at the suggestion of Mrs. Harris, plans for a public exhibition of local flowers, including roses, began to materialize with the efforts of the Garden Club.”

Mayor Todd Mobley complimented the Garden Clubs and those instrumental in hosting an “impressive event.”

“On behalf of the Thomasville City Council, I would like to thank you for inviting us to be a part of this impressive event. It’s an honor to be with you, celebrating the 104th annual Rose Show and Festival and the grand opening of the Standard Flower show,” Mobley said. “A lot of hard work has gone into a flower show like this. I want to personally thank the Thomasville Garden Club for all they do to make our festival great.”