T he first iteration of the Newport Flower Show was held in 1914 , organized by Edith Wetmore and the Newport Garden Association at Chateau-sur-Mer as a friendly competition for local estate gardeners .
This year ’ s show will lean heavily into its Gilded Age past with the theme “ The Grand Tour ,” a nod to the European pilgrimages taken by the well-to-do in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries , on June 23-25 .
The event is actually taking its own Grand Tour of sorts down Bellevue Avenue to Marble House , the famed home of William K . and Alva Vanderbilt , since its usual setting — Rosecliff — is undergoing renovations . That move allowed organizers to tap into the allure of the Vanderbilt family and all of its Gilded Age grandeur and excesses .
“ We ’ re seeing incredible interest , fueled not only by normal interest into Gilded Age history , but with Julian Fellowes ’ ‘ Gilded Age ’ series it ’ s been absolutely heightened ,” says Pat Fernandez , chairwoman of the Newport Flower Show . “ We wanted to provide our floral answer to that .”
Holding the show at Marble House perfectly complements the theme , says Jim Donahue , the show ’ s horticulture chair and curator of historic landscapes and horticulture at the Preservation Society of Newport County , since Alva Vanderbilt was such a proponent of the Grand Tour , traveling throughout Europe
PHOTOGRAPHY : ( PREVIOUS PAGE ) COURTESY OF DISCOVER NEWPORT . ( THIS PAGE , TOP ) COURTESY OF DISCOVER NEWPORT ; ( BOTTOM ) COURTESY OF THE PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF NEWPORT COUNTY . ( OPPOSITE PAGE ) COURTESY OF THE PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF NEWPORT COUNTY / JOHN CORBETT AND DAVE HANSEN .
114 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JUNE 2023