By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
A breathtaking array of dahlias were set up within the Community Meeting Room at the Westwood Public Library (WPL) this past Saturday, September 30th. Run by the New England Dahlia Society (NEDS), members welcomed all those who wanted to learn more about these stunning flowers.
No matter what age you were, there was a little something for everyone at this event. President of the NEDS, Gabriele Zybarth, could be seen making beautiful floral arrangements with different dahlias that were brought on site. Julie Poley was seen helping those at the build-your-own bouquet table. This table allowed those to create their very own unique bouquet from the over fifty buckets worth of dahlias. Both the arrangements and the build-your-own bouquets were completely free of charge and, by the end of the event, the NEDS were completely out of flowers!
For the kiddos, Celeste Gauthier was running the very popular kids table. This educational corner allowed little ones to design their own dahlia using colored pencils. Also at this table were some interesting facts all about this type of flower. “We wanted a space where kids could express themselves while also giving them a teachable moment about these flowers,” Gauthier mentioned.
Member of the NEDS, Julie Poley, had brought dahlias that she personally grew herself to be displayed and given away at the event. When chatting about this amazing occasion, she went on to mention, “What you’re seeing lined up here is an example of how it would be set up for a show. Last weekend, we had a big show out at Tower Hill Botanical Garden and it went extremely well. There are over 50,000 registered varieties of dahlias. From tiny little daisy type ones to the big ones you see at the end. Some of the big ones at the end are some of my own that I grow at home. I plant all of my flowers to give away, I don’t compete, I just love handing someone a bouquet and a smile. The world’s a mess, the least I can do is make people smile with my flowers.”
Also in attendance was Donna Lane who is known as the Duchess of Dahlias. She is an expert on all things dahlias and a judge for many flower shows. The NEDS were extremely proud to welcome her and have her type of expertise in the building!
When it came to partnering with the WPL, Poley further discussed, “We try to incorporate the professional end of things because we want the community to come together and there is no better place to do that than at a community center which is what the library is. With that, we have had a wonderful mix of people come through here.”
This Discovering Dahlias event was surely a fantastic hit with local residents and more. To find more events like these happening at the WPL, please visit their website at www.westwoodlibrary.org.
