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The beloved hi-desert institution, the Twentynine Palms Historical Society’s Weed Show, returns this weekend (November 4 and 5) to the Old Schoolhouse Museum.
The judged competition is part art show and part garden show, with a unique desert twist. A typical entry sees a desert plant, like creosote, cholla, chia, or even juniper twigs, integrated with handmade artwork or assemblages of found objects from the sandy desert floor.
Here’s Robert Haydon with a look at entries from last year’s event:
“The Twentynine Palms Weed Show has been showcasing the Mojave Desert’s unique plantlife – alongside man-made objects weathered and worn by the basin’s sand, sun and rain. If the concept isn’t clear yet – think of a traditional floral table display and run it through some high-desert filters – and you’ve got yourself an entry for the world-famous weed show that’s taking place this Saturday and Sunday at the Old Schoolhouse Museum in 29 Palms.
The space will be both filled both inside and out with folk-art displays that use dried desert vegetation to create whimsical sculptures in one of 13 unique categories. For example – one category called “Purple Mountain Majesty” requires the creator to highlight a piece of sun-purpled desert glass, surrounded by weeds which the dictionary defines as “ a plant that grows wild and is not valued for use or beauty.”
The President of the Twentynine Palms Historical Society, Dana Bowden, was a recent guest on the Z107.7 Up Close Show, where she spoke with Gary Daigneault about the history of the Weed Show
“The weed show is 83 years old this year. It was the Woman’s Club, back in the day, we had a luncheon. Mildred Bryant came from Pasadena to talk about art. The women of Twentynine Palms were blown away because they realized at the last minute that they had no flowers for their luncheon table.
“Mildred said, “it’s okay. Look outside, you have plenty of plant material that’s beautiful.” I don’t know what time of year this was, which would mean they were wild flowers or dried wildflowers. So she went out into the yard and picked a bunch of stuff out of the desert and put it into a vase, and the weed show was born.
Weed Show Gallery: Past winners and entries
“And it’s been repeated every year, and gotten bigger and bigger.”
Reporting from the 2022 weed show, Robert Haydon described one of the winners, and found that the event is only growing with each passing year.
“With the winners announced across the 13 different categories. Some familiar names from past weed shows are peppered into the results…
Michelle Barbar won the People’s Choice award with her delectable but dry desert pizza – designed from discarded detritus such as gems, rocks, findings – and of course – weeds.
The event was extra popular this year – with over 300 entries into the 82nd annual event – that’s over 100 more than last year.”
Expect this year’s weed show, with the theme of , “The Hollywood Connection”, to draw crowds.
If you’d like to see the weeds for yourself, the show will be open for viewing on Saturday (Nov. 3) Noon to 4:00 p.m. and Sunday (Nov. 4) 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
