Summer Evening Flower Show Report 2014

Apologies from the management on the rather late posting of the show report, caused by the preparation of the Garden Party (the subject of another post soon), and a trip to Amsterdam to see the  Canal Gardens that open once a year as part of a fund raising weekend.  Normal service will hopefully be resumed from now on!

Attendance and entries were healthy on the night.

The Summer Show for 2014 was held on 11th June at St Agatha's Hall.  It was presented jointly with The Grow With Us Club from Oxted.  The show was successful with a healthy attendance from both Oxted and Hurst Green, and a good number of entries, as you can see from the photograph to the right. Pimms was provided by the Club during the judging (and thanks go to David Firmin for acting as the Drinksmeister).  Thanks also go to our Judge, Sylvia Pocock from Godstone, for doing the honours and for taking the time after the show to explain why particular exhibits had scored well, and for giving us her "judicial" thoughts on the displays - without these comments we cannot learn and improve in following years.  For those unfamiliar with Sylvia (who is often the judge for us), she is the lady in white at the front, seen here "in action" marking the exhibits.  The main thanks, however, go to all those who entered exhibits without which there would be no show in the first place!

Congratulations to Linda Boakes (Oxted) who won Best In Show with her container of vegetables in Class 15, to Jeremy Ball (HG) who won overall 1st Prize on points, and to Roy Eaton (both HG and Oxted) who won 2nd prize.

We do have one request from the Show Secretary to pass on, which is a gentle plea for entry forms to be returned in good time for any show so that entry cards may be prepared in advance.  There was a misprint in the schedule, which will be corrected for next year, which should have asked for the entries to be made by the evening before the show, and not on the day of the show itself!  Although we are happy to take entries at the show in Hurst Green - we wouldn't want anyone who wants to enter an exhibit not to be able to do so - it does make the preparation of the cards easier if most exhibits are entered beforehand, and we do not know if Oxted will be quite so happy to allow late entries at the September Show!

As a picture is worth a thousand words, we will stop writing now and show you selected pictures from the show.  We do apologise however for having no photo of the Best in Show (although the eagle eyed may be able to spot it near to the end of the table in the second photograph) ... this omission will not, we hope, happen again!

*** Stop Press ***  After submitting this article, we noticed that LODHS has published a picture of the Best in Show (with the vegetable / fruit classes) on their own blog, lodhsgardens.blogspot.com.  We have therefore "borrowed" a copy of this photo - hopefully they will not mind! - to complete the article as it should have been documented before.  It has been inserted into the correct space at the end of the article.  Thanks to LODHS for the photo.

Classes 1 to 9.  Roses and cut garden flowers were popular this year

Classes 10 to 16.  Potted foliage and flowering plants
make good exhibits whatever the weather!

Class 1 - Mixed decorative arrangement of flower and foliage (2 ft maximum)

Class 2 - Some of the miniature exhibits (4 inches maximum)

Class 2 - Congratulations to Pat for her winning miniature
presented in a sea shell

Class 3 - A vase of cut flowers from your garden

Class 6 - 1 vase 2 specimen roses

Class 6 - 1 vase 2 specimen roses in close-up.

Class 9 - Sweet Peas.  While (apparently, according to Sylvia) not the
best exhibition blooms, we think it is a good achievement to have
any blooms at all available this early in the year!

Classes 10 and 11 - Potted foliage plants, up to 7" pot and over 7" pot.

Classes 12 and 13 - Potted flowering plants, up to 7" pot and over 7" pot.

Classes 15 and 16, Vegetables and Fruit.  The Best In Show is on the left.