The Garden Guild

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The Garden Guild

I thought I’d left the flower shop behind, but as soon as everyone here found out that Cathy had once owned a floral business, members of The Garden Guild raised an enormous din, clamoring for her to join.

I’ve now gotten used to coming home to find thirty women diligently arranging flowers under Cathy’s watchful eye, or being informed at breakfast that, “Oh, by the way a carload of women will be here in five minutes so you can take us all to the Guadalajara flower market”, or hearing from a stranger on the street “ Thanks to you and Cathy for agreeing to provide the centerpieces for all the tables at the big event tomorrow!”

Cathy immediately became the group’s program director for this year to the non-stop accolades of everyone involved, and has been asked by several long term members to please consider taking over as president in 2019. So far she has declined but it’s not for lack of arm-twisting.

The Garden Guild puts on a floral show each November to raise money for several charities and each member is required to participate by producing an arrangement as part of the evening’s presentation. So for weeks before the event as group expectations and individual anxieties begin to rise, a long line of women extends out our front door hoping for some help and guidance. Some want help picking out flowers at the Guadalajara market, “How do I tell if this is fresh?” “They don’t have the flowers that I wanted to use. NOW what do I do!” Others have seen a photo in a magazine but have no idea how to go about the mechanics to construct the arrangement. “How did they do that?” “How do I get this flower to stand up straight?” And still others ,“I’m going to be out of town, if I give you money to buy the flowers can you do the arrangement for me?”

This is a truly wonderful group of very accomplished women, who are extremely supportive of each other and have done much for the community, and Cathy is eager to provide whatever guidance she is able, but it is a colossal undertaking. Everyone who is anyone in this town attends this annual social event held in the home and gardens of a large private residence and expectations are high.

The show is not juried, there are no awards or prizes given, only the appreciation, accolades, hugs, kisses, and occasional OMG! of the crowd. Cathy’s arrangement was the clear winner. It was center stage at the event, it was the talk of the evening, and it was the headline photo for the event in the Guadalajara newspaper the next day. One of the group posted the photo on Facebook and the effusion of praise continues to pour in not only from Mexico, but the U.S. Canada, and well beyond.

I think I may need to rent a bus to get everyone who wants to go to the flower market with Cathy next year!