Flower show with a twist at the Huntington
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The Pasadena Garden Club’s flower show at the Huntington this weekend is just too unusual not to mention here: All entries in the show are required to interpret scientific ideas from the rare materials featured in the Huntington’s Dibner Hall for the History of Science.
How can flowers possibly be used to interpret scientific methods? In the flower arrangement category, a miniature arrangement on a glass cylinder, shown above, and a hanging floral design, right, using seed pods and twigs, are assembled to illustrate Halley’s Comet. Other categories include the Telescope, Aurora Borealis (a floral hat design) and the Big Bang. Horticulture categories interpret themes of birth, healing, anatomy, surgery and therapy through living plant specimens grown by each exhibitor. There are also categories for photography, botanical jewelry, needlework and educational exhibits about plant conservation.
In addition, science educator Sandra Henderson will discuss Project BudBurst, a national field campaign to collect data about plant activity from “citizen scientists” across the country, at 11 a.m. Saturday.