American Peony Society Convention and Exhibition of June 7,8,9, 2002

Warren and I went to the American Peony Society 97th Annual Convention and Exhibition at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Madison, Wisconsin.  That was June 7,8,9 2002.  This is the big one...everyone who grows peonies in North America.  Other countries outside of North America were also represented, by members who flew over to the United States.

Warren couldn't get off until late in the day on Friday.  I told him I would collect some flowering peonies from my house and his to take to the show.  After all, they have a novice division, would anyone else be in that division?  I laid a large number of the cut peonies on each other in a Coleman cooler with frozen "Blue Ice".  I figured some might make it, and anyway I could just throw them away.  I had never showed at such an event and had no idea what to do.  The flowers sat overnight in the cooler in the car at the motel parking lot, as we drove to Madison late into the night on Friday.  Saturday morning we went over to the display area.  From the pictures, you can see that there was not much standing room, but we found a place in the corner by Roy Klehm's outfit.  There we were able to set up a table, recut the flowers, put them in provided glass jars and tag them appropriately; all under the time limit involved.  Don Hollingsworth graciously gave us the required regulation tags to use and the Klehms fed us lunch.  All our entries went on the novice table.  What a magnanimous bunch, to take time from their commercial offerings to help us!

While the flowers were being judged, I was attending the mid day lecture series with Warren .  Mr. Roy Klehm (the current President of the Society) came in, strode to the podium, interrupting the speaker; and said he had an announcement to make to the audience.  He asked: "Is Mike Jones here?"  I thought my wife had died or something similar.  Then he said: "Would you stand up, please."  I did. "I would like to present the Grand Champion winner, best in show!"  I thought I would faint, or at least pee my pants.  Then Mr. Klehm said: "Come with me please."  Out we went with the audience applause to the exhibition room.  There, my picture was taken with my Grand Champion flower, Bartzella; an intersectional hybrid.  In addition, my picture was taken with Mr. Roger Anderson, the hybridizer of Bartzella.

Look at the pictures below.  Did I win the Lotto or what?  As you can see, there was a fair amount of flowers there representing the whole of North America.  I am flattered and honored to have won such a once in a lifetime event.

The thumbnails are small, but the larger pictures that will come up when you click on them may be 1 meg in size.

The Virtual Directory of Much Of The Same.