May Day floral arrangements earn Lewes in Bloom accolades
Lewes in Bloom announced the winners of the second annual Lewes May Day celebration, which took place on a beautiful May 1.
Lewes businesses and residents were asked to hang May baskets and floral displays within the Lewes city limits to celebrate the arrival of spring and compete for ribbon prizes. Lewes in Bloom also invited the Broadkill Jammers to play in the gazebo at Mary Vessels Park.
The Most Original Award was presented to residents Alexis Schneider and Andrew Parsell, who turned the lantern pole in their front yard into a colorful, beribboned Maypole. Alexis constructed the Maypole, and Andrew, who loves working with flowers, designed the May basket on their door, choosing roses, Gerbera daisies and lilies. They said they enjoy living in a town with a reputation for beautiful flowers and their out-of-town visitors are amazed at the beauty.
In the business category, first place went to Active Adults Realty, which featured a floral basket with ranunculus on the steps, a decorated vine on the doorknob, and orchids in teacups around the courtyard. Realtor and display designer Donna Beck said gardeners are artists who love to create masterpieces in the dirt instead of on canvas. As a huge fan of Lewes in Bloom, she plans to join the group that keeps Lewes so charming.
The business second-place winner was the Cape Artists’ Gallery, whose entry featured a lovely bouquet of fresh spring flowers in front of a colorful artist's palette with the flower stems extending onto paintbrushes. Member artist Kathy Casey said more than 20 local artists enjoy meeting and painting together, then selling works in their downtown Lewes gallery.
Two honorable mention awards in the business category went to Coldwell Banker Premier Realty and Lewes Public Library.
The rose-bedecked arrangements on the Realtors’ doors were in matching small and large baskets, illustrating how they can find clients a property of any size.
Teen Services Librarian Emily Ellinger created a basket of purple roses, eucalyptus, daisies and baby's breath to hang on the library door. She also hosted a teen program teaching the history of May Day and how to make traditional May Day baskets. The teens made their baskets from recycled book pages and flowers.
The first-place resident award went to Gene Chudzik, who put together a simple basket with sunflowers, mums and carnations, adding blue and yellow ribbons signifying his support for Ukraine. Gene said the blue-ribbon prize will be a nice surprise for his wife when she returns after a stay in a nursing home.
Pam Rankin won a second-place resident award. One of her favorite pastimes is floral design and gardening, and the three-part floral display on her porch highlighted orange tulips in a traditional basket on her door, an unusual use of three differing flowers flowing onto a low, bright-colored table, and a watering can still life featuring vines flowing from the spout.
Patty and Chris Carulli used flowers and greens from their own yard to earn a resident honorable mention with both basket and doorknob displays that featured maple leaves, tulips and wisteria accented by bands of blue and yellow ribbon showing support for Ukraine.
Beebe Frazer also earned a resident honorable mention for two displays on her porch – a hanging cone-shaped basket overflowing with Calibrachoa flowers, and deep-purple blooms in a unique, flat-backed glass vase attached to the porch wall.
