“Fascinating Rhythms, The Music of Flowers” is the theme of the Garden Club of Santa Barbara’s upcoming flower show, which will feature members’ horticulture specimens, floral design arrangements, photography, and a conservation exhibit on the honeybee.

Garden Club of America designated judges from throughout the United States will select winners among the entries.

The show will be held at the Music Academy of the West, 1070 Fairway Road in Santa Barbara. Doors will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, May 22 and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, May 23. Admission and parking are free.

The Montecito estate formerly known as Miraflores, which means “Look at the flowers,” is the setting for the show. Just as the Music Academy musicians are inspired by the lovely gardens of Miraflores, Garden Club members will seek to reflect the joy of music.

Each entry category has a song to inspire the designs, including Gershwin’s “I’ve Got Rhythm” for a modern mass or “Me and My Shadow” for a design using two containers. Photography’s inspiration comes from the songs “Waltz of the Flowers” and “On the Street Where You Live.”

The honeybee exhibit will highlight the importance of the bees and other pollinators that are essential for two-thirds of the food crops humans eat every day. Over the past 15 years, beekeepers worldwide have reported a drastic decline of their hives. In 2006, this unprecedented loss of bees was named “colony collapse disorder” (COD). This exhibit, created in collaboration with the Santa Barbara Beekeepers Association, will showcase how to create a bee-friendly garden and will include displays of plants and a see-through hive with live bees.

The Garden Club of Santa Barbara Flower Show is especially poignant this year, as it will honor the memory of Natalie Rand McFadden, a beloved member, an award-winning floral designer, Garden Club of America judge and community volunteer.

The Garden Club is proud to be a partner organization of the Santa Barbara Public Gardens Partnership, which celebrates and promotes the gardens of Santa Barbara throughout the month of May.

— Robin Martin is a publicist coordinator for the Garden Club of Santa Barbara.