Metropolitan Lawn and Garden Show
One of the San Francisco Bay Area's most sought-after landscape designers, Ahmed Hassan, Born Ahmad Hassan, has spent over 20 years mastering the business of landscaping and home improvement. His forte is residential design, where he leans heavily on his experience and knowledge of plant identification and soils, as well as irrigation and maintenance.
Ahmed Hassan has a unique quality - he has the privilege of sharing his Life's Work with thousands of TV viewers. On screen, Ahmed shares his valuable expertise as host on the DIY Network series: Yard Crashers (now in its 5th season) and Turf War in its 2nd season. Off screen, Ahmed runs Ahmad Hassan Landscaping Services, a complete landscape design and installation company offering seasonal maintenance, improvements and garden consultation services.
The one thing Ahmed loves as much as landscaping, if not more, is roller-skating. "Spiritually speaking, landscaping allows me to create and connect with the earth while roller skating frees me and allows me to fly (or rather roll). Most folks enjoy dancing, I just prefer to do it on wheels."
Ahmed, which means Praiseworthy One, was born into a family of independent thinking entrepreneurs who laid out a clear path for how to reach his destiny: choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.
As a young boy, Ahmed lived in rural areas of California, working alongside his father and other role models who used their hands to earn their living. He entered the world of gardening at the age of 15, primarily focusing on landscaping maintenance. In 1992, Ahmed started his first gardening and maintenance business, Hassan Gardening.
Ahmed is a licensed landscape contractor and considers himself a "career student". In 2012, expect to see more of Ahmed in the classroom: teaching classes at local colleges and learning centers, Guest Speaker at home and garden shows throughout the country and facilitating community garden projects with students of all ages. He firmly believes in giving as a way of receiving, and willingly offers his consultation services to other gardeners and landscapers.
His clients are everyday people who enjoy warm and inviting spaces. Ahmed feels the key to his success is that gardening is his first love, and he's remained true to his first love throughout the years. Ahmed currently lives in Northern California with his wife and three children.
For Ahmed's speaking schedule click here.
The Water Garden Society of Greater Kansas City and House of Rocks have teamed up to
build a 6,000sqft water garden feature, showcasing many aspects of water gardening. The various displays will include everything from water gardens at night to cascading waterfalls and even a Living Water Table. The displays will emphasize the use of natural rocks, ranging from colored pebbles to several ton boulders, along with creative design ideas.
Experts will be on hand to answer your questions and help you conceive the right water garden design for your outdoor living space.
The array of ribbons and trophies adorning orchids and exhibits can be
baffling to first-time visitors to orchid shows. Some exhibits are covered with ribbons, while others have only a few. An unimpressive orchid may have a blue ribbon, while the beautiful orchid next to it has none. All those ribbons are the result of a system that groups similar orchids and other entries, so judges compare "apples to apples" when they judge the orchid show.
This orchid show uses the Mid-America Orchid Congress Entry Schedule to register all items entered for show judging. The entry schedule has 120 entry classes. Judges may award 1st (blue), 2nd (red) and 3rd (white) place ribbons in each class. Of the 120 classes, there are 105 classes for orchids. The classes are divided into groups by the type or orchid, for example, Cattleya, Paphiopedilum or Phalaenopsis. Each of these groups is divided into classes for species (types of orchids that occur naturally in the wild) or hybrids (types of orchids created by people). The species and hybrid groups may be further divided into more classes based on the color or other common characteristics of the flowers. In the end, all white Cattleya hybrids compete against each other and not against pink Phalaenopsis hybrids.
In addition to ribbons, judges also may award "Best of Class" trophies. These trophies go to the best of the blue ribbon winners in a group of closely related classes. For example, a Best of Class trophy is awarded for Classes 29-41, which include all Paphiopedilums.
Several special trophies also will be awarded in this orchid show. Each special trophy has its own specific criteria for determining the winner.
Finally, a few orchids in this show may receive prestigious awards presented by the American Orchid Society. These awards recognize flower quality, excellence of culture, advancements in hybridizing, botanical interest and other recognition-worthy aspects. They are awarded in accordance with rules of the American Orchid Society.
For the Orchid Show schedule click here.
