Details Announced for 7th Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival

Submitted by Douglas County Communications

The Douglas County Tourism and History Commission proudly announces that the 7th annual Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival will be held Friday - Sunday, June 6th - 8th, 2014, at locations throughout Douglas County.  The Festival will be centered at the Douglas County Courthouse, 8700 Hospital Drive.  The Festival is the largest annual tourism event in the County.

The Festival will feature:

• Flower Market, featuring plants and flowers (Courthouse grounds, free admission)
• Artists’ Market, featuring original art, pottery, sculpture, jewelry, original home décor, garden structures and antiques (Courthouse grounds, free admission)
• Farmers’ Market, featuring fresh items from the garden and cupboard (Courthouse grounds, free admission)
• Tours of Private Gardens, featuring Nationally recognized private gardens (ticketed feature)
• Complimentary Gardens and Displays (free admission)
• Miniature Gardens in Wheelbarrows and Vintage Garden Furniture Exhibit (Museum of History and Art)
• Vegetable Garden and Scarecrow Exhibit (Health Department)
• Nature Trail (Courthouse grounds)
• Butterfly Garden and Display Gardens by Landscape Architects and Designers (Cultural Arts Center)
• Children’s Garden (Douglas County Library)
• Summer Sampler Wine Tasting on Friday night (ticketed feature)
• Standard Flower Show, featuring the “Ruby Slippers” hydrangea theme flower and 500 horticultural entries in flowers, trees, shrubs, and related categories (Courthouse Atrium, free admission)
• Southern Living’s “The Grumpy Gardener, Steve Bender” presentation (ticketed feature, Citizen’s Hall, Courthouse).

Each year the Commission chooses a theme hydrangea around which the Standard Flower Show and Festival are planned.  The 2014 theme hydrangea is “Ruby Slippers” (Hydrangea quercifolia), shown above.  In early summer, “Ruby Slippers” is covered with clusters of flowers on stems that are held upright above the foliage.  Flowers open white, but quickly turn pale pink and then deepen to rose.

“Ruby Slippers” brings to mind the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz”, and the Standard Flower Show will develop this theme throughout the exhibits.  “The Wizard of Oz” will celebrate its 75th year in 2014, and the initial screening of the film was June 5th, 1939 - 75 years minus one day from the Festival.  “The Wizard of Oz” will be shown in Citizen’s Hall of the Douglas County Courthouse on both days of the Festival.

The annual Festival, always held the first full weekend in June at the height of the hydrangea growing season, has grown in size, quality and attendance each year.  In 2013, visitors came from 50 Georgia cities, 13 States and 3 foreign countries.  The Festival is run by volunteers and the flower show by Douglas County’s four garden clubs.  The whole Douglas County community gets involved in decorating for the Festival with hydrangea arrangements gracing mailboxes, front doors, homes and businesses.

The Festival is named for Atlanta native Penny McHenry, Founder of the American Hydrangea Society, who received her first hydrangea as a memorial gift at the loss of Mrs. McHenry’s daughter.  Mrs. McHenry had close ties to Douglas County and her family has given permission for the use of her name for the festival.  Both the “Penny Mac” and “Mini Penny” hydrangea varieties are named in her honor.

Vendor applications will be accepted for the festival markets through May 1st; vendor applications are on the event web site.  Tickets to all events are now available from the event web site, www.PennyMcHenryHydrangeaFestival.com.

For more Festival information, call the Douglas County Department of Communications and Community Relations at 770.920.7593