Everything's Coming up Roses Nations in Bloom.

Recently in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, Nations in Bloom, an international competition promoting excellence in environmental management and the beautification of the world's communities, posed the question, How does your garden grow? Three second-place finishers from the United States -- Des Moines, Iowa; Rockville, Md.; and Mecklenburg County, N.C. -- answered, Quite well, thank you. Their stories follow ...

Des Moines, Iowa

By Matthew S. Rosen

One bright, sunny day last spring my boss, Don Tripp, director of the department of parks and recreation for the city of Des Moines, walked into my office and handed me a letter from Eric W. O'Brien, chairman of the National Recreation and Park Association, encouraging American cities to participate in the Nations in Bloom competition. Somewhat jokingly, Don asked, "Why don't you enter this?"

A couple of days later, after reading over both the letter and the descriptive brochure, I said to Don, "You know that the final presentations for this competition are in the city of Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates." He laughed, and the conversation ended temporarily.

Before compiling the initial submission, a document that could exceed 4,000 words and discusses how your city is addressing five specific issues -- landscape enhancement, heritage management, environmental sensitivity, community involvement, and futuristic planning -- I spent a considerable amount of time thinking about Des Moines. Because all of the criteria are of equal value, I had to broaden my horizons and look at Des Moines from perspectives that exceeded the boundaries of my job. All of the information necessary for me to prepare the initial submission was not at my fingertips. We would have a significant amount of research, facts, and various support data to accumulate if Des Moines was to advance beyond the preliminary round of competition.

In addition to the text, up to 20 dated, captioned pictures could also be included. Fortunately Dennis Hanson, a horticultural technician working for me, is a photographer. If developing the outline for the written portion presented a challenge, setting up and shooting acceptable photographs was even more difficult. Dennis and I spent hours poring over which shots would best support each of the individual judging criteria and discussing the best camera angles and light conditions.

With two days to spare, we shipped the requisite four copies of our submission to Montreal for the preliminary round of judging. On October 12, I received a fax from Alan Smith, the director of Nations in Bloom, informing us that "the municipality of Des Moines had been selected to participate in the finals." Quickly, Don Tripp and I resumed our conversation about funding the travel expenses to Al Ain.

Up to 30 minutes long, the final presentation could consist of a maximum of 20 slides and a 10-minute video. A committee of volunteers, comprising Ben Hildebrand, vice president of communications, and Tina Hoffman, marketing projects director, both from the Greater Des Moines Chamber of Commerce Federation; Dave Busiek, news director of KCCI-TV; Gail Stilwill, community relations director for Meredith Corp.; Bill Fultz, former CEO of one of the largest advertising agencies in Des Moines; and Bill Green, a representative of the Friends of the Botanical Center Board, was formed in October to firm up the content for the final presentation.

Uncertain but Confident

On February 9, armed with 20 slides and a video, Fultz, Hanson, and I left for Al Ain, not sure what to expect, but confident in our abilities and hoping for a first-place finish.

While I would like to say that we finished first, we did not. Actually, we finished second to Westminster, England. Although my competitive side would certainly have preferred a first-place finish, revealing the winners was a distant second to what I consider the most important aspect of the finals: the opportunity to witness the other presentations and learn what cities around the world are doing to enhance their urban landscapes. The interaction that took place among the various delegates, and the opportunity to see the remarkable job of landscape enhancement that is being done in Al Ain and other parts of the United Arab Emirates, were the true rewards that each participant took from Nations in Bloom.

Finally, a word about the expense involved with entering the Nations in Bloom competition. In addition to the $450 entry fee, funds must also be budgeted for photography, production of the video, and travel. Between photography and video production, the city of Des Moines spent close to $6,000. (My media and advertising friends tell me that short of obtaining a sponsor or getting pro bono work from an agency, we got a bargain.) And although Nations in Bloom subsidizes the travel expenditures, the out-of-pocket cost of sending a two-person delegation from Des Moines to Al Ain was approximately $3,700.

Is it worth it? Definitely. Besides learning more about your city, interacting with the other participants, and seeing how modern urban landscape problems are, in the very broadest sense, handled by different municipalities around the world, preparation for the competition provides a unique opportunity for obtaining an increased level of community awareness, and fosters a climate for political cooperation. Nations in Bloom offers participants a chance to perform on a world stage. The benefits that a community gains from such an opportunity far outweigh the cost of participating. The Greater Des Moines Chamber of Commerce Federation will, for example, use the video that we produced for Nations in Bloom as a sales tool to help attract corporations seeking to relocate.

Would we do it again? Armed with the knowledge and experience gained from the recent competition, Des Moines hopes to be back in the finals of next year's Nations in Bloom.

Matthew S. Rosen is the horticulture manager for the city of Des Moines.

Rockville, Maryland 

By Burt Hall, CLP 

Over the past decade, an important mission of the National Recreation and Park Association has been to promote the many benefits that parks and recreation brings to the quality of life of individuals and communities. Nations in Bloom, an international competition, celebrates the achievements of individual communities' parks and recreation departments in five categories: environmentally sensitive practices, enhancement of the landscape, heritage management, community involvement, and planning for the future. NRPA Chairman Eric W. O'Brien was instrumental in creating this competition, serving as a judge since its inception. Often referred to as the "Green Oscars," Nations in Bloom is the only competition of its kind endorsed by the United Nations Environmental Program.

Rockville, Md., is a city of 48,000, located northwest of Washington, D.C. A four-time All-America City and a 1994 winner of the Sports Foundation's National Gold Medal Award, Rockville's residents have a decades-long tradition of strong support for parks and recreation services. The first time we saw the Nations in Bloom announcement, we knew this competition was for Rockville.

In our application and final-round presentation, we highlighted the fact that more than 20 percent of our city has been set aside for public parks, as well as our extensive landscaping along roadsides, in parks, and at city facilities. We stressed Rockville's strong record of achievement in environmental protection and enhancement; our legacy of citizen participation in community affairs, which dates back to the "Hungerford Resolves"; our 10-year strategic plan; "Imagine Rockville," our successful visionary process; and our citizen-led efforts to manage and enhance our many heritage resources.

Also highlighted were our downtown redevelopment, the cornerstone of which is Rockville's newest park and classic fountain/sculpture; our recent Chesapeake Bay Gold Partner Award; our newly established environmental guidelines, forest tree protection ordinance, and master street tree plan; our watershed studies, stream rehabilitation, and storm water management projects; and our celebrations of hometown pride.

Rewarding as it was, participation in the recent Nations in Bloom competition had its challenges. As with any major competition, there was a lengthy initial application, which required a lot of research and many drafts. The check request to cover the application fee caused a stir in our finance department. That transaction turned out to be simple, however, compared to what we had to endure when we requested our plane tickets from the travel agency in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.

Winnowing out 20 slides to tell our story at the finals and producing a 10-minute video took time and care. There is always the tug of pressing, day-to-day work when your time is absorbed by a special project.

Far from Confident

Although this was the second year that Rockville applied to Nations in Bloom, and while we felt we had a good story to tell, we were far from confident. It helped a great deal to see a couple of presentations from cities that had participated in last year's finals. Christchurch, New Zealand, had published its presentation on its Web site, which was particularly helpful.

I will always remember the moment when Rob Orndorff, our wonderful horticulturist who played a huge role in our success in Nations in Bloom, stopped me in the hallway to tell me we had been named finalists. The next thing he said was, "We're going to Al Ain, United Arab Emirates!"

My reaction was a combination of elation and panic. When I shared the good news with our mayor and council, they were thrilled that our city was a finalist, but they did not exactly leap to volunteer to make the trip for the final presentation. Our mayor, Rose G. Krasnow, almost decided to go. But in the end, she left it up to us.

Participating in the Nations in Bloom finals was one of the most enriching and rewarding professional experiences of my careen The other 24 cities from around the world were represented by their park and recreation department's director or another staffer, along with quite a few mayors, provosts, and citizen volunteers.

Presentations occupied two full days. Learning how other cities are addressing the challenges they confront in each of the five judging categories was fascinating and valuable. Despite the vast differences among these cities, we learned that many of the problems we face, and the strategies we employ to address them, are quite similar. During our six days in Al Ain, we toured, networked, feasted, and learned about our host country. At the desert banquet, we smoked Turkish tobacco from hookahs, rode camels, and even tasted some camel meat.

The United Arab Emirates is an amazing country. Al Ain, a city of 230,000, has been turned into a desert garden. The original oasis, around which the city was built, remains a park. Mike Smith, the director of Al Ain's garden department, was our unofficial tour guide. (Incidentally, his department has 7,000 employees.)

Throughout the city, the roadsides and center medians are lush with landscaping. Dozens of traffic rotaries are beautifully landscaped, often quite formally, featuring artwork. Parks and large sections of the surrounding desert also feature neat grids of greenery.

The nearby cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi look like Albuquerque, N.M., or Phoenix as you approach from the landscaped desert highways. Of course, all of this plant material must be irrigated, and there must be two million miles of black plastic irrigation pipe.

Al Ain is a tourist destination; many Europeans and Asians travel to the UAE for a warm-weather holiday during the winter months. While Rob and I speak only English, we had few problems with language. Road signs are printed in both Arabic and English. And although Arab women, by tradition, kept their heads covered -- and many were completely veiled -- women from other countries and cultures dressed in the Western style.

It was a tremendous honor for Rockville to be named a finalist in the Nations in Bloom competition, let alone capture second place. We would have been satisfied just to be recognized among the other cities in our category: Melbourne, Australia; Inverness, Scotland; Cobourg, Ontario; Bury Saint Edmunds, England; Newry Town, Northern Ireland; Ptuj, Slovenia (the winner); and Beverly Hills, Calif.

This award has a much higher international profile than it does in the United States. For example, we were told television stations in Britain and Ireland broke away from regular programming to announce the winners just minutes after the results were announced in Al Ain. As a part of this year's finals, organizers added an extensive professional media center, which did a stellar job of communicating with the local media from each participating finalist's city. And while we did not receive much attention from the media in Washington, D.C., our local press provided excellent coverage.

Nations in Bloom recognizes cities for achievement in areas that are at the core of the National Recreation and Park Association's mission -- to improve the quality of life for the communities we serve. From its title, Nations in Bloom would appear to be primarily a "flowers and landscaping" award, but that's far from the truth. Each of the cities that finished first or second demonstrated strong and balanced achievement in all five judging categories, particularly in the preservation and enhancement of the environment.

Similar, though not identical, competitions are run each year in the British Isles (Britain in Bloom) and Canada (Communities In Bloom). Why not America In Bloom? A U.S. national competition would raise awareness of the wonderful contributions that parks and recreation makes to the quality of life in our communities.

Burt Hall, CLP is director of the Rockville Department of Recreation and Parks.

Mecklenburg County, N.C.

By Mark Gillespie 

Imagine vast, undulating waves of sand rising and falling as far as the eye can see. To the west, severe, craggy mountains reach to meet the sky. The peaks are as sharp as scimitars, with a reddish-white color of old snow. These ancient mountains have not been worn by water; they have endured eons of strong wind and blowing sand.

At your feet is a soft, silky sand almost as fine as talcum powder. The sand has a reddish tint, and the grains are smooth and round, causing it to give way under your feet as you walk. The sky stretches forever, blending with the earth to form a vast expanse of openness. The wind is gentle now. Gentle and dry. It is pleasantly warm and refreshing at the same time. But don't be deceived by this siren. By looking at the fine sands and the worn mountains, you realize that this wind can rise up at its leisure, scouring all in its path. Welcome to the Sahara Desert. Welcome to Nations in Bloom.

The city of Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, played host to this year's Nations in Bloom competition. Forget all of your preconceptions about this part of the world. While it is indeed very different from our Western world, it is home to a very gracious and friendly people who are struggling with the desert, attempting to push it back at every opportunity with lush date palm trees, gardens, and other plants adapted to the harsh conditions.

I also met people who loved the desert for its quiet and solitude. One man

who regularly camped in the desert told me that three hours' sleep in the desert was more refreshing that 10 hours' sleep in the city. He invited me on an overnight trip but, because of our busy schedule with Nations in Bloom, I had to decline. I regret this lost opportunity.

The Nations in Bloom competition was an amazing experience. Competitors, grouped by size of municipality, offered the judges an intimate look at their community. Each entrant was judged on how his or her community had adopted the five Nations in Bloom principles: enhancement of the landscape, heritage management, environmentally sensitive practices, community involvement, and planning for the future.

Fortunately, these same principles are deeply ingrained in Mecklenburg County and its park and recreation department's everyday programming and overall mission. When we first learned of the competition and really began comparing our programs with these principles, we were excited to realize that not only could we be very competitive, we had a very good chance of winning. This stirred our competitive juices, and for the next few weeks all of our discretionary time was dedicated to our entry.

The Initial Entry

The initial entry is a written submission that indicates how the municipality is addressing the issues encompassed in the Nations in Bloom principles. This initial entry is reviewed by an international panel of judges, which selects finalists for the international presentation. Mecklenburg County was chosen for the finals, and that's how I found myself in the United Arab Emirates. It was now up to me and my partner, horticultural team leader Don Morgan, to assemble a presentation worthy of this event, and present it at the finals. Needless to say, we were awestruck with both the responsibility and opportunity of representing our community.

Preparation for the trip and presentation was both frenzied and exciting. There were the inevitable bureaucratic mechanisms to manage. There were visas to arrange through the United Arab Emirates, passports to obtain from the U.S. Department of State, travel vouchers to complete, reservations to be made, and a thousand other details. My office assistant, Don Kidd, was invaluable. Were it not for his heroic efforts, I would have never made it out of the airport. His competent handling of those many critical details allowed Morgan and me to concentrate on our presentation.

Save for almost getting off at the wrong airport at 1 a.m., the flight to the United Arab Emirates went very well. (That must be why they encourage two presenters.) Upon arrival, we had a quick ride from the airport to the hotel before settling in. We had a day to shore up our presentation, and we were confident we would perform well.

There was, however, one last hurdle to clear: jet lag. Your brain is screaming, "Sleep!" while everyone else is getting up and bustling about. It can get confusing, but we muddled through and managed to prepare.

The actual preparation went very well. I admit to a nervous start, but once we hit our stride, we were well-rehearsed and fluid. The judges questioned us regarding the details of the programs we had outlined. By that time, I was enjoying the opportunity to explain the important role our park and recreation department plays in preserving the beauty and natural environment of Mecklenburg County. I was proud to realize how critical our park and recreation department is in promoting important conservation values, and I valued the fact that I was part of this effort.

An Exciting Experience

Everyone was caught up in the excitement at the final awards ceremony. We faced very professional competition from Hamamatsu, Japan, and Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Morgan and I both knew that, regardless of the outcome, we would return home with the most intellectually broadening and exciting experience of our lives. That said, we still wanted to win.

As it turned out, first place went to Hamamatsu; their presentation was excellent, and they were certainly deserving of the distinction. I am pleased to report that Mecklenburg County placed second in the competition. Perhaps that is just as well. It supplies us with a reason to try again in what was the most exciting competition of our lives.

RELATED ARTICLE: United Arab Emirates at a Glance

Established on Dec. 2, 1971, the United Arab Emirates is bordered to the north by the Arabian Gulf, to the west by Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and to the east by the Gulf of Oman.

With a total population of approximately 2.7 million, the country comprises seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, the capital; Dubai; Sharjah; Ajman; Umm al-Qaiwain; Ras al-Khaimah; and Fujairah.

Though pockets of rich natural gas can be found throughout the hot, dry landscape of the federation, the economy is dominated by oil.

Formerly known as Trucial Oman, the total area of the country is some 32,000 square miles.

Mark Gillespie is the division manager of park services for Mecklenburg County.