Ruth Crocker of Cambridge is President of the World Association of Flower Arrangers (WAFA). The dramatic bamboo installation behind her leads into the WAFA show at the Seaport World Trade Center; it was designed by Gail Emmons, Scott Job and Michael Emmons.

by Mary Holbrow   

“This is a wonderful opportunity for people from all over the world to mingle and share their interest in flower arrangement and design,” Ruth Crocker says. As President of the World Association of Flower Arrangers (WAFA), she heads the action at the organization’s international show this week in the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston. This Glorious Earth is the theme of the show, which opened June 15 and runs through Sunday, June 19. For details see www.wafausa.org.

“It’s so exciting to be part of it,” Crocker said. “Our organization was founded thirty years ago, and the U.S. has been a member for ten years. This is the first time we have been the host country.”

Saturday morning’s featured presentation was titled “America’s Firsts." For this event, floral demonstrations illustrating American inventions were given by U.S. designers Lee La Pointe, Julia Clevett, Jane Godshalk, and Massachusetts floral designers Natasha Tobin, Julie Lapham and Tony Todesco.

Photo, left: Tony Todesco of Stow, Massachusetts created a floral interpretation of the Panama Canal during the Saturday program titled “America’s Firsts.” Todesco is a popular lecturer and a National Garden Club Flower Show  Master Judge; his designs have been shown at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the New England Spring Flower Show.

The WAFA show features some 630 floral displays, which include interpretive presentations by 31 member countries as well as entries in 30 competitive categories. In the competitive entries, designers use floral arrangements to interpret concepts such as Beasts, Synergy, Fireworks, Storms, Electricity, Painting, Music, Fire, and Caterpillars. A special section of the competition includes works by designers aged 6 through 17.

Sunday’s events will include viewing of the exhibition from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., plus an ecumenical service, “A Glorious Celebration,” from 10 to 11 a.m. in the Harborview Ballroom. A program titled “Five Grand Masters: European Fusion in Flowers” will take place in the afternoon at the Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theater. The program features Gregor Lersch of Germany and Alison Bradley of Scotland, with Brigitte Auzely, France; Carles Jubany Fontanillas, Spain; and Niels van Hemert, France.

Slides include six shots from the 'Fireworks' exhibits, followed by scenes from various other categories.

Award-winning international designers who presented programs earlier in the week were Eileen Wenn, Australia; Mit Ingelaere, Belgium; Marisa Bergagnini, Canada; Carol Bone, Ireland; and Farhana Azim, Pakistan. Programs also included a discussion of the gardens at the White House by William Seale, author of The President’s House, and a performance combining Paul Winter’s live music with stories of wilderness adventure. A talk by John Loring focused on imagery in works from Tiffany & Co.  Thomas N. Armstrong III, Director Emeritus of the Whitney Museum of American Art, gave a talk titled "A Singular Vision: Architecture, Art, Landscape."

WAFA President Ruth Crocker is a Cambridge resident and a Senior Associate of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A long-time member of the Garden Club of America, she received the Kathryn Thomas Cary Medal of achievement in Flower Arrangement and Flower Arrangement Teaching in 2007. She is a flower arranging judge, lecturer, demonstrator, exhibitor, and workshop leader and has presented programs throughout the United States.