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The Clematis Convention
On June 2nd, 3rd and 4th of 2006, the American Clematis Society celebrated its tenth anniversary with a Clematis Convention and Gardening Seminar in Irvine, California. The festivities commenced with a reception which included a vast array of delicious food that were prepared and donated by members of the society. Members shared their photo albums showcasing their gardens and clematis collections and were treated to a retrospective covering the society’s first decade. The event also included lectures by several outstanding horticulturists who covered a variety of different gardening topics that were both informative and entertaining. The speeches were not only about clematis but the lecturers addressed an array of subjects ranging from backyard fruit orchards to edible plants to perennials as well as growing clematis with roses.
Lunchtime provided the conventioneers with the opportunity to meet and mingle with other members of the society that they made not have met yet and non society attendees were introduced to the wonderful group of fellow gardening enthusiasts that our membership consists of.
A drawing for door prizes and a raffle were held that offered several outstanding prizes that included garden art, gardening tools, fertilizers and other gardening related paraphernalia and, of course, clematis. The society would like to thank all of its members and the businesses who donated items for the fundraising raffle.
The weekend culminated in a gardening tour that included the spectacular gardens of members Sherry and Willy Workman and Homer and Toni Wishek as well as the ACS’s president, Edith Malek. The weather and the plants cooperated, giving those who attended the tour a chance to see hundreds of varieties of spectacular plants in bloom.
Words can not describe the appreciation that is felt for those generous people, members and non members alike, who helped make our celebration a success. Naming names is always a risk because someone is more than likely to be left out, but those of you who did help know who you are and the gratitude felt by the society will never be forgotten.