UD employees exhibit flowering talents

Last year, Murray and Olsen’s Key West garden took first place in the garden category at the Philadelphia Flower Show.

5:22 p.m., March 3, 2005--Kate Murray and Cathy Olsen think spring all year long, preparing for the annual Philadelphia Flower Show, scheduled this year from Sunday to Sunday, March 6-13, in the Pennsylvania Convention Center, with the theme, “America the Beautiful.”

Murray, a research associate, and Olsen, laboratory coordinator, both work in UD’s soil testing laboratory. They have entered the flower show for several years as a winning team with assistance from volunteers, including UD’s Botanic Garden Friends.

Last year, they took first place in the garden category for their Key West garden, featuring a pink bungalow with fish-shaped Adirondack chairs, in a sandy setting, landscaped with colorful foliage.

This year, they decided to enter individually, and Murray is competing in the entryways category. “The entry is supposed to reflect one’s heritage so I have chosen an Irish entryway,” she said.

The background of the 12-by-14-foot plot is a cottage wall with a traditional Irish bright blue door, and two windows with shutters, with cut-out harp shapes. The Irish harp theme is carried out in the two-tiered garden gate as well. A painted faux stonewall and stone bench complete the setting.

The focus of the entryway garden is a Celtic cross made of different green plants with a standing stone in its center. Other stones with carved knots and spirals are used reflecting the Irish landscape, Murray said.

Olson has teamed up with Dot Milsom, senior secretary in plant and soil sciences, to enter the miniature-setting category with a "Made in America" theme. They have recreated a portion of architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous house, Falling Water.

The exhibit, a kind of shadow box measuring 40 inches tall, 36 inches wide and 22 inches deep, will feature part of the contemporary house with river water running under the main living area into a cascade. The entry will be landscaped with miniature trees, shrubs, mosses and plants, such as thyme, to represent the wooded setting.

For more information about the Philadelphia Flower Show, go to [www.theflowershow.com].

Article by Sue Moncure

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