Natural blossoms and greenery, skilled arrangement talents and a gorgeous setting all meshed for the delightful Festival of Flowers put on last week by the Lakeside Garden Guild.
The event, held on Friday, January 30, drew a large crowd of guests eager to view the 27 eye-catching displays contributed by guild members. The venue was the spectacular Ajijic home of Wayne Steelman and Mario Jiménez, offering multiple spaces and abundant natural light for viewing the floral arrangements.
The program and staging were put together by floral design chair Gayle McGraw and Guild President Jan Alswager. Other members took on the many other organizational and logistical tasks.
An extra attraction was the live painting exhibition presented by Efren González.
Guests enjoyed watching the artist fill a blank canvas with a colorful village scene that was auctioned off among the guests. Paintings by Sheila Britton and Javier Ramos were also up for grabs in the silent auction format.
Guests were also treated to elegant appetizers created by local Chef Andrew Robertson, along with a bar service of assorted wines and cocktails.
Lakeside Garden Guild has been a club made up of local garden and flower aficionados since 1968. Their annual flower show allows members to imagine, practice and master floral arrangement designs. This year’s showcase displays and dozens more natural plantings were available for sale.
Proceeds from the Festival of Flowers will be destined for a Guild-sponsored community project to be defined later this year. Previous shows have benefited beautification projects in Ajijic, lakeside educational institutions and charitable causes such as Operation Feed, Lakeside FoodBank and Cruz Roja Chapala.