Carol Johnson and Judy Sandmann walk up and down the aisles and inspect all the gladioli.
NEW ULM – Gladiolus blooms were in full bloom Sunday at the New Ulm Civic Center at the Brown County Fair.
The event is one of three state gladiolus shows held annually by the Minnesota Gladiolus Society. While other shows are held in a different location each year, New Ulm has hosted an annual gladiolus show since 2009.
This year, 330 individual gladiolus branches of different varieties were spread out on several tables. In addition to the individual branches, 77 flower arrangements were made.
There was one competition for the spikes and two for the arrangements. The Decorative competition is for the best arrangement design with no prescribed theme. The Interpretive competition asks participants to create an arrangement based on a theme, which this year was the Summer Olympics.
At the first show of the season each year, a special Carl Fischer Prize is awarded to the participant with the best design of the entire show.
A wide selection of gladiolus bouquets and arrangements were on display at the Brown County Free Fair on Sunday.
Show chairwoman Joy Clobes said the themes usually revolve around an event or activity, either local or global.
“A few years ago, for example, the Schells Brewery celebrated its 125th anniversary,” she said. They were supposed to have the state amateur baseball tournament. We chose beer, baseball and firefighters (as our theme). Sometimes I can’t think of anything national or local, so we play old hits or something like that.”
Lew Wallace, president of the Minnesota Gladiolus Society, said they also like to assign categories that leave a lot of room for interpretation.
“If you say”Gone with the wind“, that gives you all kinds of things for movement,” he said. “In Paris, France, there is a lot of diversity. We had four Eiffel Towers. The competitions included balance beam, wrestling, archery, horse riding and synchronized swimming.”
Wallace said they try to make their competitions inclusive. Extra gladioli were available for those whose gladioli harvest was lower than expected. The arrangements did not require that participants use only gladioli, but they had to be the main component.
On this table, the interpretive gladiolus entries were presented, which are based on the motto of the Summer Olympics.
This show is a warm-up for the MGS as their next presentation is the first weekend at the Minnesota State Fair, and it helps participants shake off the rust and go through the steps needed to prepare their flowers.
“Our exhibitors will be there on Friday from 4 to 4.35 p.m.” said Wallace. “Most of us work through the night staging and designing our arrangements. They are all set up on site as it is quite difficult to load some of them into a car or trailer and transport them over bumpy roads.”
Although they have been coming here for about 15 years, Clobes says people’s reactions are mostly one of awe and surprise.
“People still come to us and say, ‘I didn’t know this existed here.'” she said. “That’s the reaction we get most often. It still touches me today because we’ve been here for a while.”
What many people don’t know about gladioli, according to Wallace, is that they are only on display there. They are then disassembled because the flowers don’t last long once assembled.
“It is ephemeral art,” he said. “Someone asked me yesterday, ‘Do you take them to the State Fair?’ I said, ‘Well, after a few days (they die). Then you won’t have the Jell-O salad on the table a week later.’ We enjoy them for the moment and then tear them apart.”
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