The Boca Grande Garden Club opens its season by welcoming Jane Godshalk, an award-winning floral designer at one of the finest botanical gardens in the United States.
Godshalk a Longwood Gardens faculty member, will speak at 1 p.m. Nov. 7 at the Boca Grande Community Center Auditorium on “Artful Holiday Arrangements.” Tropical plants and flowers of Gasparilla Island will be used as her inspiration for taking flower arranging to an art form.
Godshalk transform flower arrangement into something breathtaking, said Nora Lea Reefe, president of the Boca Grande Garden Club.
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Jane Godshalk
A certified floral designer in the United States and the Netherlands, Godshalk studied with Canadian designer, Hitomi Gilliam, the club’s February speaker. She serves as an artistic judge for the Garden Club of America and writes a column called “Eco Friendly Floral Design” for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Green Scene Magazine.
At the March “2012 Festival of Flowers” she won a special award for her design in a tropical heliconia-based competition.
She’s also won awards such as the Garden Club of America’s national medal for “consistently innovative floral design,” the American Horticulture Society’s Great American Gardener Award” and several awards at the famed Chelsea Flower Show in England.
A native of Youngstown, Ohio, Godshalk earned a master’s degree in organizational behavior before finding her passion after her golf partner invited her to join a garden club in the Philadelphia area. She immediately started taking every floral design course she could find, and started a small flower business in her garage.
After giving a workshop for her club, she discovered teaching. Her calendar was soon filled with speaking workshops, which ultimately attracted the attention of Longwood where4 she teaches floral design.
‘With a happy marriage and family, good health, and a hobby that turned into a life-changing career, Jane’s enthusiasm is inspiring and infectious,” Reefe said. “The Boca Grande Garden Club is thrilled to bring Jane Godshalk to our community where every day our environment allows us to celebrate horticulture, flowers and art, three things that Jane brings together in every program.”
Fact Box
To Go
Who: Jane Godshalk, a Longwood Gardens faculty member
What: Boca Grande Garden Club season opener
When: 1 p.m. Nov. 7
Where: Boca Grande Community Center Auditorium
How much: Free to members, $25 to non-member if space is available
You should know: Membership in the club is open to 300 members on a first-come, first-served basis for $50. If no places are open, you may join a wait list. Call Nora Lea Reefe at (941) 661-4089.
Membership in the club is open to 300 members on a first-come, first-served basis for $50. If no places are open, you may join a wait list. Call Nora Lea Reefe at (941) 661-4089.
Her presentation is free to Garden Club members and open to the public on a space-available basis for $25. Reservations may be made by calling Kay Ferland at (941) 924-7328 or sending a check payable to the Boca Grande Garden Club, marked “Nov Mtg” in the memo line, to Doe Flannery at P.O. Box 1246, Boca Grande. Include name tag IDs. Admission by check or cash available at the door.
Membership in the club is open to 300 members on a first-come, first-served basis for $50. If no places are open, you may join a wait list. Call Nora Lea Reefe at (941) 661-4089.
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