The Flower Show’s historical roots are found in its amateur competition. Offering opportunities for individuals, garden clubs and plant societies to show off their best specimens and design skills, these divisions offer hundreds of prestigious awards and ribbons to the areas most talented gardeners.

Design Divisions I and II require talented amateur floral designers to adhere to specific rules to compete in competitions specially designed to interpret each year’s show’s theme. Division I is open only to members of the National Garden Clubs and is presented by the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, Inc. Division II, also know as Open Classes, is open to any individual or garden club interested in a challenge.

Amateur Horticulture Competition offers select opportunities for home gardeners to display their best plants and combinations of plants. For the more ambitious, there are structures such as window boxes, large bay windows and plants rooms in which to create small vignettes expressing a theme or highlighting one’s favorite variety.

Junior Horticulture Competition, open to youth aged 16 and under, is designed to foster a lifelong love of horticulture. Competitions include such entries as plants rooted in water, plants propagated from kitchen refuse, cactus and succulents and nature collages.

Garden Club Gardens allow garden clubs ready to take their exhibiting to the next level to compete in a forum designed for collaboration and team work.

Miniature Gardens are a feature unique to the New England Spring Flower Show. Created in a plywood box with a viewing window, in a scale in which one inch equals one foot, this challenge invites both the exhibitor and the viewer on a miniature journey. Often whimsical or historic in theme, these gardens are a highlight of the show for many loyal visitors.

Descriptions and application forms for 2009 New England Spring Flower Show Amateur Competitions will be available online by Labor Day.

Garden club members and other amateur horticulturists participate in a variety of ways, from displays of plantings they've raised from seed to elaborate floral designs, miniature gardens, and other special exhibits.

Participation in various competitions is open to the public, subject to deadlines and specifics outlined for each class. We encourage amateurs on all levels to participate. Exhibiting is a great way to meet, learn from, and teach others who share your interests.