Summer Evening Show 2015

One of the two full tables at the show -
thank you to all of the exhibitors

Our summer evening flower show (with Pimms, most importantly!) was held on Wednesday 10th June at St Agathas.  There were a good number of entries, and quite a few members commented that this was one of the best attended and entered Summer flower shows for some time!  A big thank you therefore to all those who came along, and especially to all of those who exhibited - a significant proportion of the club put in something, including some of the newer members, which is encouraging for all the Committee and those who organise the event.  We also had a number of entries from "The Grow With Us Club" from Oxted (also known as LODHS), as we have issued an invitation to them to join us and exhibit at the shows for some time - so thank you to those from Oxted who also made the trip to Hurst Green.  I hope you filled up on the freebie Pimms! While on the subject, our thanks to Malcolm from LODHS who supplied a number of the photos below (there is also an article on their blog, which may be read by clicking here on this link).  This rescued Yours Truly after mucking up the settings on the Hurst Green camera, a refrain which is becoming increasingly common of late ... 

For the first time in a while, the Committee decided to re-introduce a couple of the cups that the Club owns, but not too many as otherwise the presentation can get a little out of hand!  Distribution of the cups was, on the night, nicely spread out with no one person cleaning them all up.  On the subject of cleaning, could all winners please ensure that they are returned next year in a lovely shiny condition!

Award	Description	Awarded to
Nineham Challenge Cup -	Most points in show and overall show winner	Jeremy Ball
Vouchers from Knights	Best Exhibit in Show	Rosemary Buchan, for Class 3, a vase of cut flowers from your garden
Lady Burnett Bowl	Best decorative arrangement of flowers and foliage, Class 1	Vicky Regan
Bennett Cup	Best exhibit in miniature floral art, Class2	Jane Firmin
Brux Rose Bowl	Most points in Rose Classes 4-7	Brenda Cole
Show Certificates	Second place in show based on points	Ken Jobling and Anne Rady (shared)
Best Scented Rose	Selected by audience vote	Margaret Edwards with “Ena Harkness”

Silverware!  Though next time, perhaps leave out the
Waitrose bag, or at least ask for advertising sponsorship

In fact, there were no less than four potential winners of the Brux Bowl based solely on points, but our thanks to Sylvia Pocock, the Judge, both for the actual judging and also for breaking the stalemate by selecting the best entry from the four potentials in order to make the award!  All of the award winners also received a certificate from the Club, but we are sure that all would agree that it is not the winning that counts, but the taking part (Yeah, right, now gimme my cup!- Ed). In all seriousness, the shows are an opportunity to admire the blooms, fruit and vegetables that interest us, and we cannot over-emphasise the gratitude of the organisers to all those who exhibited, no matter whether they won, were placed, or not.  Without you, there would be no show.

And lastly, thanks to the Committee for organising the event, all those who turned up early to help set up, and especially to Jilly, our Show Secretary, who worked so hard to ensure that the evening was a success.  Now, on with the important bit, the pictures ...

Class 1 - Mixed Decorative Arrangement of
Flowers and Foliage.  Vicky's winning entry.

Class 3 - A vase of flowers from your garden
(Photo thanks to LODHS)

Class 2 - Miniature arrangements, again a popular class

Jane Firmin's winning entry on the
miniature's class

Roses - the epitome of the Summer show...
(Photo thanks to LODHS)

A palette of 7 miniature roses
(Photo thanks to LODHS)

A flowering plant, less than 7 inches.
The winning entry (white spray) is Saxifraga "Tumbling Waters".

Pansy heads floating in a favourite dish
(Photo thanks to LODHS)

By Way of An Apology - "None For Ages And Then Three Come Along At Once"

Dear-Oh-Dear!  Ashes and sack-cloths are in order for the erstwhile publishers of this blog!  Regular members and readers may have noticed that nothing has happened for a while (A WHOLE MONTH! - Ed), and then three somewhat tardy articles have been put up in the space of a couple of days.  Like Number 13 buses (if there ever was one in this area, as it has been the 410 for yonks), you get none for ages and then they all turn up together!

What can we say?  Busy, busy, busy, the summer show to get ready (another blog article on this soon), overdue weeding in the garden, raised beds to construct and plant, children doing A levels, you name it (idleness, perhaps? - Ed)... but our apologies for the delay, and we hope to now be back to posting regularly again.

PS.  If you do have something of interest for the blog, perhaps photos of a decent local garden to visit or even good ones of your own plot, articles on a vaguely garden related topic, please do send them to us, so that we can include them here!

Another Club Outing - Pashley Manor Tulips

Intrepid members in front of the tulips at Pashley Manor

Hot on the heels of the Thriplow trip, Carol also arranged a trip through Skinners to the Pashley Manor Tulip Festival, held in late April and early May.  This Festival is also held annually, with many visitors returning year after year.  The organisers estimate that about 25,000 tulips were on display with about 100 varieties in evidence.  More details of this event may be found at pashleymanorgardens.com.  For your information, Pashley Manor gardens are open from April to the end of September and host other events such as a Sculpture trail later in the year.

Attendance was lighter than the Thriplow trip, partly because the event was more local and therefore many members had already been.  However, again comments were made about how much easier it was to park when going by coach, and we hope to organise a few more of these coach trips in the future!

Club Outings - Thriplow Daffodils

The Daffodil Festival at Thriplow

This year, the committee decided to try out adding some club outings using Skinner's coach company, which is local to us in Oxted.  Although we arrange outings using our own transport, there are some members who have expressed interest in using a coach, especially for longer distances.  Since coaches are expensive, we felt that using Skinner's pre-organised services might be a good idea, allowing members to book through our club so that a small group could be arranged and members would know some of the other people on the outing.

Our first outing was to Thriplow, in South Cambridgeshire, very close to Duxford.  Thriplow has an annual Daffodil Festival, which has grown in attendance and scale over the years; in 2015, this was the 47th festival.  It was held on the 21st and 22nd of March, and next year will be on the 16th and 17th of April.  More details may be found at thriplowdaffodils.org.uk.  Despite the cool damp winter, with late Daffodils, there were still plenty to be seen as evidenced by the photo at the start of the article.  The Festival is supported by the whole community, allowing the village to be closed to most traffic for the weekend, making the walk around pleasant and safe.

Making a coffin apparently requires a BBC test card suit.
Who knew?

There were also a number of other attractions taking place at the Festival, from singing in the Church, to plant stalls, a food festival, and a craft market.  Features of the latter included a local craftsman specialising in handmade wicker coffins, demonstrated while wearing a suit made from BBC test card fabric ...

There were also a couple of local gardens open, one of which contained the rather large topiary in the picture below...

For a first outing, a reasonable number of members went on the trip (so much easier to park when a driver has to do it for you!), and enjoyed themselves on what was a rather cold but interesting day.  Our thanks must go to Carol Marshall, who organised the trips and liased with Skinners on our behalf.

The Village of Thriplow - a map of the event

Large topiary - probably a Dachshund?

May Meeting 2015 - Dahlias

The May meeting.  Brian is talking, and Ted is seated at the front.
Apologies for having no proper picture of the speaker, owing to a
camera (actually camera user? - Ed) failure.

The talk at our May meeting was given by Ted Riches, who many will remember as a long-term member of the Club from a number of years back.  At a well-attended meeting, Ted talked about Dahlias, which are a special interest for him as he has been exhibiting them nationally for many years.  He gave us a number of tips, many of which were a surprise to us, for example suggesting the use of sulphur (available from most garden centres) as a dust for newly lifted and dried tubers, to prevent rotting and decay in storage.  I also discovered that Ted uses the tubers stored from one year to the next only as a source of new cuttings which will be grown on for showing in the same year, and that the old tubers themselves are not then used as he cannot control how many flower stems are produced, and thus the quality.  I had always assumed that you were expected to plant the same tuber each year and to watch it get bigger and bigger in order to get the best blooms - apparently not the case for serious Exhibitors.

Ted also described a system for growing Dahlia cuttings (of which he takes many), based on hydroponic techniques.  This is the "Rootit" system, and is described online at www.propagateplants.com.  It may also be purchased online as well - just search for "Rootit".