Brother and sister team up for show gardens at Sonoma County Fair
For 15 years Dayna Justus collected bunches of trophies and plaques in every category possible competing in the Amateur Garden competition at the Sonoma County Fair. But after she won Best of Show in 2016 the Santa Rosa home schooling, 4-H mom got a very special offer.
Greg Duncan, the creative director of the fair’s showpiece Hall of Flowers, invited her to come inside.
For a garden competitor at the fair, creating a garden in the Hall of Flowers is a little like an actor leaping from community theater to Broadway. The work, the financial investment, the expectations and the exposure are amped up many times over.
Justus couldn’t believe her good fortune.
“It was,” she said, “my dream come true.”
“I felt so honored and so privileged.”
As a girl growing up in Santa Rosa she would enter animals in the fair every year.
“I was kind of a misfit. I was quieter, kind of shy. When I was done with my pig stuff I would come up here to the hall and go ‘wow.’ I’d sit inside and think, ‘Someday I would love to do this.’”
It took until she was 40 to realize her childhood fantasy and she wasn’t disappointed. Making it easier is the fact that the fair has always been a family affair with three generations of her family pitching in. And this year, when a longtime competitor had to drop out, her brother Shawn Husar stepped in late in the game to take over a garden on the opposite side of the hall.
The siblings however, have little rivalry. The whole Husar/Justus clan came together to collaborate on both gardens this year. Shawn, 37, provides the muscle and the construction know-how and older sister Dayna adds the plant expertise.
Hall of Flower gardens are judged on a Danish point system that permits multiple first place winners provided exhibitors meet a list of requirements. For the Hall of Flowers that includes ensuring that 40 percent of the garden be floral and no more than 20 percent in hardscaping.
Outside in the amateur garden area Justus’ son Alex, 13, now in his fourth year, and Husar’s daughter Jasmine, 11, are in training, having put together gardens in the Junior category.
Visitors to the fair will be transported to the coast by Justus’ 1,200 square-foot masterpiece of ingenuity, which includes a dock and a series of tidepools where water is rigged to whoosh in and out, spilling out of abalone shells. That earned her a Best Water Feature Trophy. She also took a First Place overall and an award for Best Use of Hydrangeas.
Daniel R. Gibbs, a professional landscaper who created a tour de force with his Coastal Charisma garden next to Justus, took Best of Show. The theme of this year’s show is “Seasons of Sonoma,” with each of 10 gardens representing a different part of the county’s diverse natural beauty.
Across the Hall, Husar’s Oak Meadows portrays another slice of Sonoma County’s beauty. A diesel mechanic who loves to make things, Husar built a Hobbit-sized cabin out of old fencing that, during garden construction, was equipped with a mini fridge filled with cold beer for refreshment.
But behind the scenes, putting together an 800- to 1,200- square-foot living garden that has to not only survive, but look good indoors for more than two weeks, is a major feat.
In times past the Hall of Flowers was a marketing showcase for professional florists and landscape contractors and designers. But now many of the exhibitors, like Justus and Husar, have other jobs and get their professional license just to compete in the Hall of Flowers and other shows. They don’t have a staff to move things and help with installation. With Justus and Husar, that means their mom Arley Nelson, their respective spouses, her two sons and his two daughters.
It’s a huge commitment that not just any avid green thumber could pull off.
Husar arranged to take three weeks off of work. Both he and his sister figure they invested about $2,000 out of pocket - $1,000 apiece in flowers alone, which they purchased as seconds from Bay City Flower. All of the trees were donated on loan from Urban Tree Farm in Santa Rosa, which allowed competitors to come “shop” for what they needed.
But Husar figures that he will make back his investment, including his time off work, in prize money. His garden took a First Place award, which means a payback of around $48 a square foot. And when the fair is over, exhibitors can sell their flowers at a big plant sale the morning after the last day to recoup some costs. This year fairgoers can grab up plant deals at the fair from 8-10 p.m. Aug. 12.
Some exhibitors also sell their props. But the regulars often hold onto them like a good investment, knowing that anything can be re-purposed.
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