The Garden of Honolulu’s major exhibition returns in June

Members of The Garden Club of Honolulu have been preparing their plants and projects for the last two years for its major event, a three-day garden show at the Honolulu Museum of Art in June.

The widely popular exhibition, held June 23 to 25, will be the first held since 2018, and this year’s theme is “Oceans: Beyond the Reef.” Usually scheduled every three years since 1931, the 2021 show was canceled because of COVID-19.

Founded in 1930, the Honolulu club is one of 200 national affiliates of The Garden Club of America and adheres to strict national standards in promoting education, conservation, preservation, and artistic and horticultural excellence.

Besides hosting experts to educate its members and the public, the club has funded hardscape and landscape improvements in the community. A monthly Stepping Stones class has been held at the Lyon Arboretum on a variety of topics for some 50 years.

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With 94 active members and dozens of associates who lend their help, the club sponsors yearly community projects, whether working with Boys and Girls Clubs of America and other organizations or teaching prisoners at the Women’s Community Correctional Center once a month, an ongoing program for several years that has inspired other clubs nationally.

“If anybody is coming in with the idea that it’s just having lunch with the ladies, they’re sadly mistaken. They’ll be surprised how hard they have to work,” said exhibit chair Phyllis Lee of joining the private club. Her friends may joke about its image, but her membership of 33 years has involved a lot of dedication, learning new information and regular participation in meetings and projects.

About 100 mainland judges will critique various disciplines at the show. Categories include floral design, photography, horticulture, needle arts and botanical arts, and all must conform to this year’s ocean theme.

Most of the plants exhibited will be native. One competition involves “challenge plants” that are hard to grow or may not be familiar to a member, but one which they are willing to learn how to grow, she said.

More whimsical categories include growing miniature gardens in seashells, and another, growing vines around wire topiaries shaped like dolphins.

The club is particularly proud of its educational exhibits and the extensive research behind them; museums often request access to the research so it can be shared in perpetuity, Lee said. This year’s exhibit research focuses on improving ocean health and its ecosystems.

A film to be screened in the Doris Duke Theatre during the exhibit focuses on biocultural ocean management, featuring Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners and scientists.

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The Garden Club of Honolulu exhibition

>> When: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. June 23-24 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 25

>> Where: Honolulu Museum of Art, 900 S. Beretania St.

>> Cost: General admission ($20, $10 kama­aina) is charged; free for museum members.

>> Info: gchonolulu.org and honolulumuseum.org