Digging up dirt behind the scenes

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer

The garden show at the Honolulu Academy of Arts this weekend is an oasis of splendor and tranquility. But you should have been there earlier in the week, during the set-up period. It wasn't chaos, but not far from it.

•	The Pacific Horizons garden show runs from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today and 1 to 5 p.m. tomorrow at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Admission is free.

"We need 500 more identification cards!"

"Where do I get them?"

"Try Kinko's!"

The stress of planning and producing this venture is so great on the 100 members of the Garden Club of Honolulu that they only do it once every three years.

Show co-chairwoman Phyllis Lee cringed when two workmen dragged a piece of shelving dangerously close to someone's perfect rose bloom. "I still have nightmares about the time years ago I dropped someone's entry as we were setting up," she said. "I still apologize whenever I see her." Several other members told me variations on the same story, though they didn't want their names used.

At the load-in table, a couple of sharp-eyed club members were serving on the Passing Committee, making sure every entry met the exacting standards of the show. Once the entries were passed, owners were no longer allowed to so much as touch their plants before the judging.

Oh yeah, the judges. More than 30 of them were flown in from all over the country, plus an additional 15 or so apprentice judges, known as clerks. They needed to be housed in hotels, fed, entertained, briefed on local specialties, bused to and from the show. They were all the responsibility of hospitality chairman Wendy Craven, who looked surprisingly calm.

"The judges don't get involved until tomorrow," she said.

Meanwhile, several botanists were on hand to help identify rare plants. You'd think Garden Club members would know the names of everything they grow, but you'd be wrong. Several people needed to consult the experts and flip frantically through their textbooks.

They say there are some things you shouldn't see being made: sausage, newspapers, legislation. Maybe they should add garden shows to that list. But you definitely should see the show. It's an oasis of splendor and tranquility, now that all the near-chaos and hard work is done.

Mike Leidemann's columns appear Thursdays and Saturdays in the Advertiser. To reach him, call 525-5460 or e-mail mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com