There was a time when the Spade and Trowel Garden Club put on a flower show every year. But the shows grew to be too big for the small, local club to deal with on a yearly basis.

“We haven’t had a flower show in (more than) a decade, because it’s a lot of work to put together,” says club president Susan Greenwood, 50, of Hollidaysburg. “We thought it was time to put it together now.”

So after their long absence, the members of the Spade and Trowel — which has members from Altoona, Duncansville, Hollidaysburg and surrounding areas — will hold a show called “Numbers” from 12:30 to 5 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Knights of Columbus building, 324 Bedford St., Hollidaysburg. The show is free and open to the public.

For those familiar with the Philadelphia Flower Show that takes place each spring, the Spade and Trowel event will be a smaller version.

“We called it ‘Numbers’ because we had not had a show in a decade,” Greenwood says. “So when we made our schedule, we continued that (numbers) theme.”

The entry classes for the show play off the show’s theme of “Numbers.” Each class has a number in its theme with a brief description of what the entry should entail. All other details are up to the designer’s interpretation of the theme.

The themes are: Class one, “Table for Two”; Class two, “We Three”; Class three, “Pretty Four”; Class four, “Five by Five”; Class five, “This Side is Six”; and Class six, “Seven is Opposite.”

The nationally accredited show (through the National Garden Club Federation) will feature horticulture, floral designs and three educational displays by members of the clubs.

“A variety of horticulture that the club members have grown will be judged,” Greenwood, a Realtor for Century 21 and Strayer Associates in Altoona, says. “Along with floral designs (and) designs utilizing backgrounds, there will also be 8-inch designs (and) miniature designs, no longer than 5 inches.”

The horticulture area covers individual plants, ranging from petunias to hostas (shade-loving plants that flower in the fall) to herbs to trees.

Greenwood says the show will be judged by three District 6 judges — from Somerset, Bedford and Indiana — even though the club has two master judges of its own.

They are Sarah Stuver, 79, of Duncansville, and Rita Kantoski, 84, of Hollidaysburg, and both have been involved with the group (which began in 1958) for more than 30 years.

Stuver and Kantoski became master judges after more than 10 years of training, according to Kantoski. That training consisted of judging shows, entering shows and exhibiting their own work and attending seminars and conventions to keep up with their training.

Stuver, who is Greenwood’s mother, attended the National Garden Clubs Inc. convention in Orlando, Fla., earlier this year. Continuing training helps Stuver and Kantoski teach other members of the club and community. Stuver will be teaching at the flower show.

“I will be doing an educational (display) on small and miniature designs,” Stuver says. “You use the same principles, it’s just on a smaller scale. The miniatures can’t exceed 5 inches in any dimension, and the small can’t exceed 8 inches in any direction.”

The judges for the show will award first, second and third places, as well as honorable mentions. According to Stuver, the judges will “look for the principles and elements of design, like rhythm, dominance, scale, proportion (and) color.”

The show is not just a showcase for the members of Spade and Trowel, but an opportunity for the public to learn more about gardening through the educational displays and exhibited works.

“What is happening at these flower shows is we are sharing our knowledge with the public,” Kantoski says. “If someone is interested in planting something in their yard, they can just copy down the familiar name and the botanical name, and they can find it that way.”

Though all 31 members of the club are eligible to compete, Stuver and Kantoski will not be entered in the show.

“We decided not to enter because some of the girls (members of the club) have never been in a flower show before and it wouldn’t be fair,” Stuver says.

For more information on the show, call 695-7538.

If you go:

What: “Numbers” Spade and Trowel Garden Club show
When: 12:30 to 5 p.m. Sept. 9
Where: Knights of Columbus building, 324 Bedford St., Hollidaysburg
Cost: Free