Jamaica to be Featured at Flower Show in Washington

Jamaica will be featured this weekend at Flower Mart 2006, the premier outdoor festival for garden and floral enthusiasts from the mid-Atlantic United States region, which will be held from May 5 to 6 in Washington, D.C.
The event, which will be staged on the grounds of the historic Washington National Cathedral, will be held under the theme: ‘Flowers Around the World’ and will comprise exhibitions from several countries, particularly in Western Europe. Jamaica, the only country from the Caribbean which will be participating, will stage exhibits featuring arrangements, which will utilize native plants and display materials.
Well-known local floral designer, Marigold Harding, will head the Jamaican exhibit team, with support from the Embassy of Jamaica in Washington.
Mrs. Harding, wife of noted attorney-at-law, Dr. Oswald Harding, is a veteran of the international flower show circuit and has participated in, and represented Jamaica at major events, such as the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show in the United Kingdom, where she has been an exhibitor for the last six years. She has also represented the country at the noted Canada Blooms Festival, as well as other exhibitions in Belgium.
She is also the first Jamaican ever to be named as an international judge in floral arts competitions.Mrs. Harding informed JIS News that the country’s exhibits would be featured under the theme: ‘Out of many one people’.
Jamaica’s participation at the Washington event was made possible by significant sponsorship from Air Jamaica Ltd. and Pan Jamaican investment Trust Ltd., with respect to transportation as well as logistics and other necessary arrangements.
The 2006 Flower Mart, which is expected to attract thousands of patrons, is a fixture on the Washington spring calendar and is a key component of an array of events staged in the District of Columbia, designed to attract a diverse tourist population to the American capital.