Re: Advice needed
gardenchat@hort.net
  • Subject: Re: Advice needed
  • From: P* E* <g*@gmail.com>
  • Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2011 10:42:23 -0500
Agreed Barb!

On Sun, Jul 31, 2011 at 9:59 AM, <sundrops@earthlink.net> wrote:

> Hi Auralie -- thanks for the information about your classes.  The program
> sounds very interesting and the students certainly already have a lot of
> knowledge about the subject matter.  So I can see why you are perplexed that
> the question you have been asking has not been adequately answered by so
> many as it is something they really need to know.  I can only fall back on
> my own "tuning out" syndrome if the segment on protected plants is presented
> last, people may just not be paying attention any more.  You can always
> adopt your best school-marm manner when you get to this section and say, pay
> attention, this WILL be on the exam!
> Good luck -- sounds like a wonderful series of classes for those attending.
> --Barb, Grass Valley CA
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: <Aplfgcnys@aol.com>
> To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
> Sent: Saturday, July 30, 2011 6:40 PM
> Subject: Re: [CHAT] Advice needed
>
>
>
>  Barb, these schools are titled Horticulture School for Exhibitors and
>> Judges.  They are exclusive to the New York State Federation.  The
>> system came about because it was felt that the National Garden Club
>> (at that time called National Council of State Garden Clubs) Flower Show
>> School system for  accrediting National Flower Show Judges was more
>> focused on Design and judging of flower arrangements, and gave too little
>> attention to horticulture.  Our system is based on the four seasons, and
>> each school tries to give information on one major plant or type of plant
>> of the season, one container-grown plant, one basic horticultural topic
>> like taxonomy or plant anatomy, one segment on flower-show practice,
>> and a segment on Protected Plants.There is a written exam and
>> point-scoring exams for those taking the course for credit. On completion
>> of four courses and a few other details, one may become a NYS Horticulture
>> Judge, which is rated with a plant society judge.  Most of the students
>> who
>> take the course for credit are already National Council Accredited judges
>> who feel the need for more horticultural expertise.  Others are just those
>> who want to learn more about showing and growing.
>> A "competitive class" is any class in a flower show that is judged.
>>
>> Thanks for you input.  I'll have to think harder about the whole issue.
>> Auralie
>>
>>
>>
>> In a message dated 7/30/2011 7:15:17 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>> sundrops@earthlink.net writes:
>>
>> Hi Auralie -- this was interesting to me because at the risk of sounding
>> like a brat, I can imagine being in such a class, learning a lot of other
>> "more practical" details, methods, and information, and getting to a
>> question  like that and saying, "who cares, if I ever need to know this I
>> will look it up then."  I think Kathy may also be correct, strange as it
>> seems, in people not being clear what "distinguishing feature" means. (I'm
>> also not sure what a "competitive class" means, do the students?)  Who is
>> taking this class -- is it part of an academic series, serious lay people,
>> a
>> vocational class, for master gardeners, or what?  If your class is really
>> super-packed with many different topics and in depth on many topics,
>> people
>> will tune out on some portions.  I took several classes at a local junior
>> college, in horticulture, just for my own interest, not for credit.  I
>> remember in particular the Tree class tried to cover much too much.
>> including advanced arborist techniques, and there were several sections
>> where I just tuned out.  If your classes are not for credit I especially
>> think people are going to pick and choose what they retain even short
>> term.
>> If these are for academic credit, I might re-word the question something
>> like, "a friend wants to exhibit ----.  In line with the native plant
>> policy, what would you adivse her?"  At least you might elicit the answer
>> to
>> check with the society.  Hope this helps, I could just see myself in this
>> situation --
>> --Barb Tandy, Grass Valley CA
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: <Aplfgcnys@aol.com>
>> To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
>> Sent: Saturday, July 30, 2011 2:22 PM
>> Subject: [CHAT] Advice needed
>>
>>
>>  If there's still anyone out there, please give me some words of advice on
>>> a
>>> problem I have.
>>> In the Horticulture School series I have been running for years, I always
>>> include a segment on the New York State Protected Plant List. The state
>>> list is quite lengthy, but the Federated Garden Clubs of New York State
>>> (FGCNYS) have prepared a selected list of those plants that might just
>>> appear in flower shows - a one-page list that is easy to tuck into your
>>> Handbook.  It is considered that the rest of the state list are either
>>> wild
>>> flowers that wouldn't be suitable, or are so rare that they would never
>>> be seen.  The FGCNYS policy reads:
>>> Plants named on the New York State list, "Protected Native Plants,"
>>> cannot be exhibited in competitive classes, except in Special Exhibits
>>> Division as an Educational Exhibit.  Such plants must have been
>>> acquired in a lawful manner, and may be cut specimens and/or
>>> container-grown plants.
>>> Commercially developed hybrids or cultivars (NOT NATURAL VARIETIES)
>>> of plants on the NY list are permitted in competitive classes, but ONLY
>>> when the DISTINGUISHING FEATURE is evident.
>>>
>>> I helped write this policy more than 20 years ago, and have been trying
>>> to
>>> teach it in the Horticulture Schools ever since.  This year there have
>>> already
>>> been three schools, and three more are scheduled.  As State Chairman, I
>>> write
>>> the exams for the schools.  On each exam I include one question on the
>>> Protected Plant List.  Many times the question reads:
>>>
>>> .  May a branch of Cornus florida b Cherokee Chiefb  be exhibited in a
>>> flower show            in a class of flowering branches.  Explain.
>>> The answer, of course would be Yes, if the branch was in bloom, because
>>> the
>>> Distinguishing Feature, that is the red blooms, would be evident.  If it
>>> were not
>>> in bloom, it could not be exibited.
>>>
>>> My problem is that more and more often I will get maybe one correct
>>> answer
>>> from each ten students.  The answers I got this spring were so depressing
>>> that
>>> I have resolved to make a greater effort to get the point across.  I
>>> wonder
>>> if
>>> some of you knowledgable people can give me a clue as to where the
>>> problem
>>> lies.  To me, the concept is quite simple, but why do so many seem to
>>> miss
>>> it?
>>> These students are usually pretty alert to Horticultural matters - after
>>> all, it is a
>>> fairly specialized series.  I would really appreciate any thoughts on the
>>> matter.
>>> Auralie
>>>
>>
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-- 
Pam Evans
Kemp TX
zone 8A

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