Great Bend Garden Club met on Jan. 18 with 11 members present. A business meeting led by President Nancy Williams included excitement over a report that good progress is being made in the transition between the old and new memorial rose garden in the city cemetery. Discussion about the Garden Club’s participation in the creation of the new garden concluded with a decision to provide $500 from the Garden Club toward the purchase of new roses and a request that Garden Club members make the selection and purchase of the roses.
The morning’s program was given by member Alice Young who, with a bouquet of carnations in hand, shared interesting stories about this resilient bouquet flower. The carnation is a species of the dianthus family of flowers. The carnation had a long history of appearing in ancient Greek and Roman history and at important rituals of that time because the Greek word dianthus meant “divine flower” or “crown.” Another interesting historical note relating to the carnation was that because William McKinley, both as Governor of Ohio and as President of the United States, always wore a red carnation in his lapel, the state of Ohio named the carnation as its state flower. In China the carnation was known as a wedding flower. And today the carnation is the symbol for a First Wedding Anniversary. Medically the carnation has been used as a cure for an upset stomach or a fever. Over the years the colors of the carnation have had different meanings. As the shades running from white to pink to red have indicated the depth of the giver’s affection for the recipient. And in England’s prestigious universities the colors of a carnation have indicated the days of final examinations as on the first day a white carnation was placed in an inkwell of red ink and thus the carnation appeared pink on the second day and by the third day the carnation was red.
The carnation is a common bouquet flower in the United States. It was interesting to hear that most bouquet flowers purchased in the United States are actually grown in Mexico, Ecuador, and Columbia. They are carefully packed in moist, cool conditions and flown to the U.S. for sale. And those respective countries are working hard with some success to entice the growers of illegal drugs to switch to bouquet flowers. There are a few flower farms near us in the United States – KC Flower Farm in Kansas, a Colorado Flower Market, and Valley View in Nebraska – where you can go pick your own bouquets.
The next meeting of Great Bend Garden Club will be on Feb. 16 with Sharon East having the program and serving as hostess. The meeting will be at 10 a.m. at the Great Bend Senior Center meeting room. Visitors are welcome.
