San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
VISITORS LINE UP TO SMELL THE ROSES
Coronado Flower Show celebrates its centennial after two years on hiatus
For the first time in two years, San Diego flower fans got a whiff of home-grown roses and a glimpse of otherworldly pin cushion protea at the 100th Annual Coronado Flower Show Saturday.
“The show has been going on for 100 years,” said Chair Diana Drummey, an avid gardener and retired Coronado police lieutenant. “It came out of the (Spanish flu) pandemic as we are today.”
More than 2,500 blossom buffs attended the event at Spreckels Park on Orange Avenue, waiting in lines that wrapped around the block. The flower show opened Saturday and continues today.
The all-volunteer event highlights the blooms of local gardeners rather than professional florists, she said, and includes sections for roses, orchids, bonsai, potted cacti and succulents, and other flora.
The Coronado Concert Band performed on the bandstand as visitors explored the booths.
In the rose area, 251 displays won ribbons in 36 categories, said Rose Section Chair Rita Perwich. A queue of people lined up to see and smell the roses, which ranged from traditional to contemporary. Candy-striped yellow-and-red roses were displayed alongside a perfectly coiled lilac-colored floribunda. A velvety red blossom with dense, pointy petals was stood over a huge, white bloom.
There were separate categories for sprays of roses, single flowers, shrub roses and miniatures, and awards for best overall, best novice grower and even one for children. The flower show and its competitions are open to everyone, although there is a special category for Coronado-grown roses.
“I think it is really good to show off all the people who garden how the plants are so beautiful,” said Megan Norris, a 13-year-old volunteer who was scheduled to water the roses. “And we should show people how we can help the Earth and stop contaminating it.”
A separate area for kids featured displays of plant-based art. Hundreds of paper “picture plates” decorated with mosaics of dried beans showcased the artwork of students throughout Coronado. The “Zoo’s Whos” exhibit featured animals made from fruits and veggies, including a cauliflower bunny, cabbage elephant head and an owl made from a pineapple with a turnip head, kiwi eyes and carrot beak.
Kids could make tissue paper flowers at a booth staffed by local Girl Scouts, or create tiny wine cork succulent planters.
“It was tough to get all these donations, but we took it for the team,” Children’s Section Chair Alexia Peters said, gesturing at a pile of corks.
Next year’s co-chairs for the festival are life-long Coronado residents who said their roles illustrate the multi-generational history of the event. Sara Stillman, one of next year’s leaders, said she won an award for a miniature flower display in fifth grade, after her grandmother collected tiny vases for her to use in the event.
“My grandmother grew up competing with roses,” said her 2023 cochair Jessica Mushovic. “My mom gardens, too. I think with the pandemic there was a huge resurgence in gardening and horticulture.”
As the event turned 100, it honored guests reaching that same milestone with free admission. One of those was Peggy Price, who turns 100 in December. She shrugged off the significance of her shared birthday with the Coronado Flower Show as just “one of those accidents of nature.”
The event, she said, is bigger and more sophisticated than it was when she came to Coronado in 1964, but retains the local spirit.
“It was very much a community thing, a fun thing,” she said. “I think what it is very much is the beginning of spring.”