Hurst Green Gardening Club: Hurst Green Triumphant!

Sylvia (Godstone) surrenders the Teddy
to Jane (Hurst Green)

I am pleased to report that Hurst Green won the Spring Challenge Competition 2014 against Godstone, and the Challenge Teddy has been returned to us following a brief stay with Godstone. Triumphant, resurgent, call us what you will, but this was a wonderful result for us, particularly for what is a relatively small club against the larger one at Godstone.

As well as being pleased and proud that we won this Challenge, the Club should be even more pleased about the success of the show itself. Despite concerns that there would be few entries in the daffodil classes, the attendance was remarkable, as were the number of exhibits, and there was no class left without a number of entries. The arrangements of mixed spring flowers were glorious and without doubt put winter to bed for another year. Anyone who attended must have been impressed by the quality of the show that we managed to produce, from the staging, to the exhibits, right through to the food. As I have already mentioned, attendance by members was very good, the atmosphere was grand, and I believe that this was an excellent show for a small local club such as our own. Congratulations to all are very much in order!

The Show just before judging commenced, focusing on Classes 1-8 (Narcissi).

Huge thanks must also go to all the Godstone competitors who made the trip, put in the effort (and flowers) to show in each class, and who contributed towards the overall warmth and success of the event. Thanks also to all of our members - and there were a good many - who attended and exhibited on the night. The Club would also like to extend a big thank-you to our judges, Brian Knight of Knights at Nags Hall, and Paul Grimmer of Plants 'N Gardens on the A22 by the Newchapel roundabout, who spent a great deal of time deliberating over the entries.

Brian and Paul judging Class 13 - a wine glass containing primroses.

For those of you into counting and the nitty-gritty, the final score was Hurst Green with 62 points against Godstone with 51. Hurst Green achieved 9 x first places, 12 x seconds and 11 x third places; Godstone's placements were 10 x firsts, 7 x seconds and 7 x thirds. However, placement in the top three positions is not the be-all-and-end-all, and it is very pleasing to see any and all entries, and more importantly to share a comfortable evening with our friends from Godstone!

We look forward to next year - but with no resting on our laurels!