February 19, 2009

(Newport, RI)   A beautiful Butterfly House, and a new competitive Photography Division are among the highlights of the 14^th annual Newport Flower Show, June 26-28, 2009, at Rosecliff.   Presented by The Preservation Society of Newport County and Bartlett Tree Experts, Glorious Green: The Natural Path will offer visitors many opportunities to enjoy and learn about the beauty of our natural world, as well as lessons on preserving and protecting nature's treasures.

Special guests at the show will include David Howard, the former head gardener to HRH Prince Charles at Highgrove, and internationally-acclaimed floral designer Hitomi Gilliam.

The Newport Flower Show will open to the public on Friday, June 26.  Arriving guests will be encouraged to stroll through the Butterfly House filled with native Rhode Island butterflies on the front lawn.  The Butterfly House will be open throughout the weekend, until the end of the Show on Sunday, June 28, when the butterflies will be released following the Awards Ceremony. 

The Opening Night Party on Friday night, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., will launch Newport's summer season with a cocktail buffet, live music, and entertaining surprises. 

The Show will continue through the weekend with themed floral exhibits, horticultural entries, and garden designs staged throughout the elegant reception rooms of Rosecliff, its oceanfront terrace and lawn.  Also new this year will be a Photography Division, open to both amateur and professional photographers, who are encouraged to enter their nature photos for the competition.

A Gardeners' Marketplace offering specialty plants, flower stalls and garden accessories will be open for shopping on the front lawn of Rosecliff, complementing the Oceanside Boutiques on the back lawn, giving visitors an exciting shopping experience.

The Newport Flower Show will be open to the public from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, June 26, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, June 27 & 28.  Regular show admission tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the gate.  A special "Bring a Friend" ticket is available for Sunday, June 29 only, providing 2 admissions for $24.  Tickets for children between the ages of 13 and 17 are $6, and all children 12 and under are admitted free.

Admission to the Opening Night Cocktail Party and Buffet is $125 for Preservation Society members, and $150 for non-members.

Hitomi Gilliam, an internationally-acclaimed floral designer and author, will present a luncheon lecture and an exclusive flower arranging workshop on Friday afternoon, June 26.   Gilliam has guest-designed throughout North America, England, Japan, Mexico, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and has lectured on the art of flowers and floral design at art galleries, gardens and museums throughout the United States.  She was a 1998 recipient of the American Institute of Floral Designers Design Influence Award, given to individuals who have made a significant impact and influence with their signature design style, and the 2006 recipient of the American Horticultural Society's Frances Jones Poetker Award, for significant contributions to the appreciation of creative floral designs.  Admission to Gilliam's luncheon and lecture on Saturday is $75 per person, or $40 per person for the lecture only.  An exclusive workshop on floral design techniques will be limited to 20 registrants.  The cost of the workshop is $125 per person, with a registration deadline of June 12.

David Howard will present a luncheon lecture on organic gardening on Saturday, June 27.  Howard served HRH The Prince of Wales for more than a decade as head gardener  at Highgrove House, the prince's private residence.  He is a graduate of the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, and worked as a student gardener at Windsor Castle.  His knowledge and passion for trees and shrubs developed when he worked for Hilliers Nursery, at the time the largest nursery in the United Kingdom.   The cost of the luncheon lecture is $75 per person, or $40 per person for the lecture only.

Free lectures and demonstrations by noted plant experts, flower designers and gardeners will also be presented throughout the weekend.

For more information and to purchase tickets for the Newport Flower Show, visit www.NewportFlowerShow.org, or call (401) 847-1000. 

With Newport's largest private ballroom, Rosecliff was constructed in 1902 as a party pavilion for one of the leading society hostesses of the Gilded Age.  This snow-white terra-cotta mansion, modeled after the Grand Trianon at Versailles, was created for Theresa Fair Oelrichs, heir to the Comstock silver lode in Nevada.  It hosted many of the most fabulous entertainments of the period, including a fairy-tale dinner and a party featuring magician Harry Houdini.

All proceeds from the Newport Flower Show benefit the ongoing landscape restoration efforts of The Preservation Society of Newport County, a private non-profit educational organization accredited by the American Association of Museums and dedicated to preserving and interpreting the area's historic architecture, landscapes and decorative arts.  Its 11 historic properties—seven of them National Historic Landmarks—span more than 250 years of American architectural and social development.