Midland AGS Show at Knowle, Solihull

[Rob]

Hi All

I went to the Midland AGS show at Knowle, Solihull today.

Robin White of Blackthorn Nursery won one of the classes with a daphne, but when I took its photo the name isn’t visible so I was wondering why they don’t include the plant’s name on the card?

Also the sales area was up some stairs, which I’m too old to manage, so I missed out on buying any gems for the garden.

Some photos below:
Daphne
Anemonella thalictroides
Fritillaria liliacea
Iris reichenbachii
Iris suaveolens
Paeonia cambessedesii
Pleione britannia doreen
Pleione formosana
Primula wharfdale buttercup


Regards,
Rob

[David Nicholson]

Lovely pictures Rob, thanks for posting.

[Maggi Young]

Rob, the reason that the plant name cannot be put on the card is that most exhibitors do not know until the morning of the show which plants will be in which classes.... for instance, I might have two Daphnes and I don't know until the last minute which is the best, so I may have had a plan to put one in this class and one in another, say with two other plants to make a three pan entry....I want to decide which plant goes best with the others on the day, state of flowering  etc. to make a balanced entry. That might be the case with other plants, too, so how would I know which name to put on the card? There is no way the show secretary could know which plants were going to appear in any one class in advance, so the name could not be printed on the card along with the exhibitor's name etc when the card is prepared. That would leave individual exhibitors to write the plant names on the cards before judging... there is seldom time to do that and I know from my own experience, that, while I might, taking time at home, make an effort to make the label legible, the chances of anyone being able to read a name I scrawled in haste on a show card are pretty slim! And what about the six pan classes, there would be no room on the card for all those names.
The rules are that a plant should bear a label with its name, on a label placed in the pot horizontally so as to be able to be easily read. Personally, I interpret this to mean that either the label should  sit neatly at the front of the plant, for easiest access for the viewer to see, or, if one feels that that would spoil the look of the plant, then the label needs to be at the back of the plant, but raised up sufficiently to allow it to be read.  A note to exhibitors failing to adhere to this seems reasonable. Incorrect naming, by the way, is no disqualification... if a plant has no name or if the exhibitor queries the name he has on  the plant, the judges should try to give their opinion as to the correct name. This is quite often done.

Hope this helps you with your question and any others who might ponder the case if incorrectly named plants on the show benches.

[Casalima]

I'm so glad to see photographs, Rob. I had hoped to go, but the clutch pedal on my car went yesterday in the late afternoon, which scuppered all my plans 

Chloë
temporarily in Kew

[Rob]

Hi Maggi

Thanks for the explanation. I hadn’t thought about six pan classes. I expect the label on the daphne was at the back of the pot, I should have taken a notepad to scribble down names.

Here are some orchids:

Calanthe bicolour
Calanthe sieboldii
Cymbidium goeringii
Cypripedium formosanum
Pleione sp
Pleione tongariro jackdaw

Regards,
Rob

[Maggi Young]

Chloë, what bad luck, you must be rather annoyed!

I am very partial to Calanthes, they are super plants and I love to see these happy healthy show specimens. If I were going to mount a lightning raid to steal one of these plants, it would be for the Cymbidium goeringii.... I just LOVE this plant and I have never seen them offered... mind you, I am notthe expereinced trawler of plant lists that some of my chums are, so for all I know there are lots of nurseries out there offering it... I tend to wait till I see the actual plant... I am not a big mail order buyer of plants.  Thanks for the pix, Rob, so enjoying my virtual visit south!

[ranunculus]

Many thanks for the fine images Rob.

A very pleasant show at Solihull and so pleasing to see forum members doing so well on the benches.

You know who you are and many congratulations!!

Apologies for any repetition Rob....I will just troll through my batch of images until my poor index finger gives up the fight.

[ranunculus]

Batch two...after a few sips of tea.....

[ranunculus]

....Not enough sugar....post a few more....

[ranunculus]

...And perhaps a tot of the amber nectar....

[ranunculus]

....Might as well finish the bottle....

[ranunculus]

....We mushhhhttt havv a botttle left from Chrissimassss.....Whoopppeeeee....

[ranunculus]

...And finally, before I fall on the floor....

A wonderful Farrer Medal for Brian and Jo Walker with this magnificent Daphne petraea...

Congratulations to all the exhibitors (and yes Diane ....your prize winners were superb).

[ranunculus]

Come on you AGS folk....let's have some more images from Solihull Show....please!

[ian mcenery]

Here are a few more

Arisaema Thunbergii Urashima
The Farrer Daphne Petrae Grandiflora
Rhododendron Dendrocharis a prize winner for Dianne Clement
Another prize winner and what I thought was the most stunning plant at the show Cassiope Lycopodiodes Gracilis Thousands of flowers not a dud in sight and more to come. Also a close up

Finally Rhodo Primuliflorum Doker La