It was a great time in Baltimore
for FlowerMart 2013
Lovely weather, happy crowds, great entertainment. Here are some of the first photos:
Savannah Decker won the Best of Baltimore category in the Grand Hat Contest despite losing her basketball and Meg Moran won the Most Imaginative category, managing to keep her hat together enough to win. The Wildflower Costume Contest winners were quite colorful and the Pet Parade featured ultra-cute dogs. The bands were playing and Children's Camp had several hands-on activities.
Stay tuned for more photos and contest winner names.
If you want a review of what was, read on...
The food was absolutely scrumptious, with crab cakes, pit beef, hot dogs, hamburgers, smoothies, Boordy wines, vegetarian and chicken wraps, fried rice, shawarma (a new Middle Eastern dish), chocolate-covered strawberries and more sold in the food court. In the Gourmet Food section at the monument, vendors were selling gourmet coffees, teas, hot chocolate, a wide variety of fresh baked pastries, freshly baked strudels, gourmet chocolates, freshly baked cakes and cup cakes, great soups, dips, frozen Java pops, chutney and more. Of course, FlowerMart’s signature lemon peppermint sticks were sold in their usual location next to the Peabody Institute.
Many vendors took advantage of the opportunity to sell their wares or inform the public at FlowerMart 2013. A great variety of flowers, plants, herbs, garden products and unique arts and crafts were available for purchase for gifts or for yourself.
GARDEN VENDORS
Radebaugh’s lined up in its usual location just north of the Monument. It brought impatiens walleriana (the standard type) even though the downy mildew fungus has reared its ugly head in and around Baltimore. Here is what Kaitlin Radebaugh says about this situation: “If people had impatiens last year that were ok, there is no reason they should not try them again. If they had a problem with downy mildew they should not try them again as we did not have a cold enough winter to kill off the disease.“ Radebaugh’s also brought substitutes for impatiens: New Guinea impatiens, begonias (all types), coleus, alyssum, dusty miller, caladiums, ivy (hedera helix), vinca minor (periwinkle), ipomoea, iresine, alternanthera, lobelia and torenia.
Locust Point Greenhouse brought substitutes for impatiens walleriana: New Guinea impatiens, caladiums, and coleus in pots.
Landreth Seed Co. a FlowerMart vendor of many years, has been featured on PBS and, brought about 30 different varieties of heirloom tomato plants, approximately 20 different heirloom hot and sweet pepper plants, and a variety of heirloom eggplants from around the world. In addition, they sold more than 350 different heirloom seed varieties, vintage-designed garden tools from Britain, horseradish and asparagus roots plus more than 30 unique herb varieties.
Carnivorous Plant Nursery sold its marvelous carnivorous plants, Emerge had bedding plants, perennials, vegetable plants and hanging baskets. Spring Thyme Nursery sold 3” herbs: basil, rosemary, lavender, oregano, thyme, parsley, sage and many others; “Proven Winner” 4” annuals and 12” baskets. Lorelei’s offered garden stakes, tin flowers, and kinetic moving garden ornaments. The non-profit Alliance, Inc. not only sold spider plants, wandering jews, purple banes, moses-in-the-cradle to benefit people with disabilities, but also had a horticulturist on hand to advise buyers.
New this year was Greg’s Antiques & Garden, which featured garden metal and art pieces for landscaping such as planters, baskets, topiaries, trellises, fairies and arbors.
Other new vendors are EZ Hang Chairs (outdoor hanging chairs and hammocks), Mayan Dreams Imports (planters), Old Tradition Spice (edible bird houses), The Coles (decorative garden accessories) and Hang-A-Pot The Hidden Hanger (hidden pot hangers for fences or walls and lipped pots).
ARTS AND CRAFTS VENDORS
There were so many arts and crafts vendors, you could be overwhelmed with the selection. Many long-time jewelry and women’s accessories vendors returned, such as Silver and Gold Jewelers, Claudia Chappel, Plum Blossom Kimono and the non-profit Purses for Plase, which also sold teddy bears. Definition Boutique and RU HIP? were just two of the vendors appearing for their first year at FlowerMart. Here is a partial list of what was in this category: watches, purses, shirts, hats, scarves, sandwich bags, clip-on cellphone pouches. Come and see what kind of decorations last year’s Booth Decorating winner, Tigerlillyshop/Yummy & Company, put up this year.
Pottery was sold by A Little Pottery, Demca Demo, Rebuilding Through Art and Two Sisters Pottery
Items for children in INKATREASURESHOP.com, My Magic Bubble Shirts, Frog Music Garden, MIRASA DESIGNB, Off the Wall Art, Woman’s Industrial Exchange and Red Persimmon Imports.
Vendors featured art and/or photography include Larry Stevens, Martha Dougherty - Watercolors, oooh La La Mosaic, Norden Arts, ChrisBrenSchmidt Photography, Mark Cottman Gallery, Three Stone Steps, Amazing Photo Letters, Patty Hankins Fine Art Floral Photography, jlc Exposures, and Dave Anders.
Rounding out the arts and crafts vendors are JJA Sea of Glass (handblown / handcutglass and paperweights), Patsy’s Cards (returning after an absence of several years) and the non-profit Refugee Youth Project (coasters, magnets, lanterns, decorated pots).
Nourishing both your soul and your skin: Buhdze Natural Nourishment, You and Me Soaps, Little Mountain Soap Company, Shea Brothers Skincare, Scented Crystals by Kaya and Terra Verde.
Some lovely linens for a housewarming or your summer barbecues: Janice’s Table, La Cigale, Open Eyes Press and Tenzin Tamang carry gorgeous products.
YET MORE VENDORS!
Wellness vendors included Country Pride Food Service, who had in-home food service brochures and pamphlets and Chase Brexton Health Service, who taught proper nutrition and give gardening demonstrations. Glenmore Specialty Pharmacy took blood pressure and had information on nutraceuticals. Baltimore Back and Pain Center made a return visit. From Janet Y. Seeds, Public Information Officer: “The Maryland Board of Pharmacy has had a presence at the Flower Mart for over 10 years because pharmacy patients and their care are important. Lemon sticks were offered by the Maryland Board of Pharmacy booth located near the big statue.”
The Peabody Institute’s vendor space arranged for a tour of their lovely facility. Three archdiocese schools sold flowers from their well-decorated booths circling the Monument: Institute of Notre Dame, St. Elizabeth School and St. Ignatius Loyola. Baltimore City Public Schools featured healthy food tasting, a flower arranging demo and an environmental science demo.
Several commercial vendors joined FlowerMart this year and had information and special offers for their visitors. The Baltimore Sun, New York Times and XFINITY/COMCAST represented the media. In addition, government vendors had information on their services, including the Baltimore City Police Department, who had information on recruitment.
Last year’s Grand Prize Booth Decorating Contest winner, The Modell Performing Art Center at the Lyric/Lyric Opera Baltimore, offered promotions, raffle tickets and opera bears. Centerstage returned with information on their 51st season.
The Walters Art Museum offered free, family-friendly art activities both Friday and Saturday for children and their families to make and take. They created “Garden Crowns” at their FlowerMart booth, then on Saturday, the museum offered free Drop-in Art Activities from 10am-3pm as they created “Stained Glass Windows.”
Parks and People created an interesting addition to this year’s Mart: a flower carpet a la the one seen in Bruges in Belgium. It was located on the south side of the Monument and the flowers of the carpet were sold Saturday afternoon.
FLOWERMART SHOPPE
The FlowerMart Shoppe made a return appearance this year.
An extravanganza of ENTERTAINMENT
Entertainment Chairman Gene Vincentt and Co-chair Jo Suman arranged quite a lineup for the two stages this year, a mix of returning favorites and great new acts. The Mrs. Clarisse Mechanic Stage staedy open through 7PM this year for the first time. A new feature this year was decorating of the William Donald Schaefer Stage by the Becker Group, relocated in Mt. Vernon from Canton.
CHILDREN’S CAMP WILL HAVE MANY ACTIVITIES
The Children’s Camp took place in the West Park on Saturday, May 4, from noon - 5PM. Children had the opportunity to take origami lessons, listen to Urban Pirates StoryTime, create a Mother’s Day teapot card or gift, watch a puppet show performed by the Lyric Opera Baltimore and watch a karate demonstration. Two face-painters and a stilt-walker also made their contributions to the merriment.
Do we have contests!!
FlowerMart produces several contests, most for FlowerMart’s visitors. Two FlowerMart contests have been offered to middle-school students in the Baltimore metropolitan area. Their creations were evaluated before the Mart and the prizes were awarded during the opening ceremony at noon on Friday, May 3. Taryn Williams of the Walters Art Museum chairs the Hilda Mae Snoops Art Contest, which is sponsored by 1st Mariner Bank. Purcell Communications sponsored the brand new Literary Essay Contest.
The public was invited to participate in any or all of our four contests that award great prizes and lovely ribbons. On Friday, Judy Templeton hosted the traditional Grand Hat Contest with four categories for adults, three for children and two Grand Prizes. Prizes are courtesy of the Wyndham Peabody Court Hotel and the contest was emceed by local celebrity Steve Fertig.
On Saturday, the very popular Pet Parade and Contest took place, chaired by new FlowerMart committee member Marguerite Bellamy and emceed by Mt. Vernon resident Philip Baty.
Saturday afternoon welcomed the second-year Wildflower Costume Contest, chaired and emceed by Judy Templeton.
Late Saturday afternoon, chairman (and owner of StudioDNA) John Dawson, hosted the Dance Contest with three categories up for terpsichorean competition. WJZ anchor Gigi Barnett and local entertainer Russ Margo emceed.
FLOWERMART 2014 ADVANCE CONTRACT
Make sure to reserve a space in FlowerMart 2014 at 2013 rates.
Click the link above to download the contract, fill it out and send it with your payment by August 30, 2013 to Karen Lease, PO Box 533, Finksburg, MD 21048.
Click on the logo to get a free Adobe PDF reader
