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Author Topic: ABERDEEN SHOW SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2007  (Read 17398 times)

Maggi Young

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ABERDEEN SHOW SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2007
« on: May 15, 2007, 09:38:18 PM »
The Aberdeen Show is this coming Saturday, 19th May, so, as usual, the female version of the local show secretaries is panicking, quietly. As the week progresses, I move on to panicking less quietly, before reaching a crescendo of anxiety on show day. I don't know why I do this job, I am obviously mentally unstable and the thought that all may not go according to my well-laid plans is more than I can bear. Ian, the calm, masculine half of the team, is meantime snoozing gently in front of the TV with a warm Lily Dog cuddled beside him. Any more relaxed and he'd be comatose....What does he not understand? Did he not himself remark, on seeing photos from the Glasgow show, (TWO WEEKS AGO!!!) that all the plants were those we would normally expect to see in Aberdeen ?  Is he unfazed by the fact that WE have NO show plants ourselves? (I know, I know: show secs without plants, we should be drummed out of the Brownies!)
I don't know which fear is the worst: that the public will not come to the show, or that they WILL come to the show, but there will not be any plants for them to look at ! At least I hope there will be plenty plants for them to buy! 
We are very much looking forward to welcoming  forumist, Fermi de Sousa to the show as guest Judge.... we've told him it's a great day, not to be missed......he's on a European trip, from his home in Australia, following the Czech Conference.... I'm going to look a real twit if there are no flowering plants on the benches! Thanks be for foliage classes, that's all I can say!   
In an attempt to lower my blood pressure, I try to think of previous years outcomes to my incipient hysteria.......well, now I come to think of it, I get into this state every year and every year the show benches fill up with beautiful plants and the hall is a positve riot of colour... so... it'll probably be allright on the day, then? Yes, I'm sure it will be.... why not come along to see how it goes? You'll be very welcome, I promise you that... the show is in the Ruthrieston West Church Halls, Broomhill Road, Aberdeen, this Saturday, 19th May, from 11.30 to 4 pm.  If you wanted to make a mad woman VERY happy, you could come along during staging times and bring a plant  to enter the show... now that would make you even MORE welcome!! :-*     See you there!
Margaret Young in Aberdeen, North East Scotland Zone 7 -ish!

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SueG

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Re: ABERDEEN SHOW SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2007
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2007, 01:43:52 PM »
Hi Maggie
Remember the words printed on the front of the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy (in large, friendly letters) - "Don't Panic"
I hope (and am sure) it will be a great day - just sorry i can't be there as I'm bringing a party of 48 (49 if you include me) keen gardeners to Perth for the weekend so will be fretting over them, making sure I don't leave anyone behind, that they've all got their own plants etc etc.
So if anyone knows of a decent place to get a drink in Perth, please let me know as I reckon my nerves will be completely shot by Friday evening when we arrive!!
have a great day and I hope it is a triumph and look forward to seeing the pictures

Sue
Sue Gill, Northumberland, UK

Anthony Darby

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Re: ABERDEEN SHOW SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2007
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2007, 02:35:58 PM »
'Don't Panic' reminds me of those other two words especially designed to send even the calmest person ballistic: 'Calm Down'. :o
Anthony Darby, Auckland, New Zealand.
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Carol Shaw

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Re: ABERDEEN SHOW SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2007
« Reply #3 on: May 16, 2007, 04:58:10 PM »
Well David & I will be there for what it is worth  ??? I've just been looking at possible plants for the show benches and feel even less happthan I did before my tour of the greenhouses/cold frames... sorry to depress you even further Maggi! So far I've come up with 6 plants only 2 of which are actually in flower (though one is a lovel rose pink colour). David has just come home and we will do anotehr tour of everything but right now I am not convienced there is anything else worthy of putting on a show bench.  :-[
Carol
near Forres,Scotland [the banana belt]

Maggi Young

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Re: ABERDEEN SHOW SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2007
« Reply #4 on: May 16, 2007, 10:08:20 PM »

Well, I've had fewer show entries made on previous 'wednesday-before-the show nights' so there may be a good show in the offing, after all!  There is still time for lots moreentries to be notified, so I'm 'calming down' fairly well.... for the moment ! Watch this space!
Margaret Young in Aberdeen, North East Scotland Zone 7 -ish!

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Anthony Darby

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Re: ABERDEEN SHOW SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2007
« Reply #5 on: May 18, 2007, 06:55:08 PM »
Maggi, I said I'd pop one or two plants over to Jean to take up, but I think you went a little too far in sending a "Shore Porters' Society" lorry down to Dunblane. ::) It must be the oldest removal company in the world?
Anthony Darby, Auckland, New Zealand.
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Maggi Young

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Re: ABERDEEN SHOW SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2007
« Reply #6 on: May 18, 2007, 08:46:59 PM »
Shore Porters are the oldest, their advertising says so.  A friend of ours is a director... he's a lot older than he looks! Who else would we send ? Pity you couldn't bring the plants yourself, Anthony, but thanks  for supporting the show! 

Fermi is here and has been put to work setting up the show....fine strong fellow, useful to have around!
« Last Edit: April 28, 2008, 01:33:50 PM by Maggi Young »
Margaret Young in Aberdeen, North East Scotland Zone 7 -ish!

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Carol Shaw

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Re: ABERDEEN SHOW SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2007
« Reply #7 on: May 20, 2007, 09:07:49 AM »
Just to let you all know the Aberdeen show was absolutely great - well done Maggi and Ian. When David has made sure all the plants are happy after their 180 mile round trip he will be putting up some pix for you all.
Carol
near Forres,Scotland [the banana belt]

Maggi Young

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Re: ABERDEEN SHOW SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2007
« Reply #8 on: May 20, 2007, 02:46:20 PM »
Thanks, Carol, it was a most enjoyable day and thanks for your help. Pix will follow eventually, but lots of work to do here to tidy up show paraphenalia before it goes back into storage for next year, we've been out at the BBC today and Ian is off on the red-eye to Chelsea tomorrow, so not much chance of pix from here for a while!  Sue was right, I needn't have panicked... although the number of exhibitors and plants was down on last year, the hall still looked really good and there were some super plants on display and up to the Joint Rock Plant Award Committee, so Carole B., her leg freshly out of plaster, had a long day's recording to do... and all up a tricky flight of stairs....Brian Wilson got a month's worth of daily exercise, running the plants up and down to the committee ! Large numbers of local members pitched in to help in every possible way and it looked like everyone was going home happy. There were lots of people leaving carrying large bags of plants, so the shopping ethic was well to the fore, which is essential to the financial health of the show and the local Group. From the point of view of the Group Plant stall, it was great to see such a large range of plants for sale...that was a colourful display in itself.

Forrest medal plant , grown by  Cyril, the Glenrothes Greenfinger, was a plant Dr Lafong has had success with before at  the Aberdeen show, Silene hookeri  bolanderi Pan must have been fourteen inches across (35cms?) and full of flowers, such white and deeply cut petals, giving a very light fluffy look to the plant. Lovely!
Margaret Young in Aberdeen, North East Scotland Zone 7 -ish!

Editor: International Rock Gardener e-magazine

David Shaw

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Re: ABERDEEN SHOW SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2007
« Reply #9 on: May 20, 2007, 08:16:50 PM »
Whilst I did take one or two photos they were of plants of specific interest to me rather than for the Forum.
I understand that there was discussion about the validity of the names of the Primula polyneura on the benches, ours and those exhibited by David Rankin as a class of three to show variation. Ours were from SRGC seed and I am trying to verify the source for further discussion with David.
As an Ariseama lover I was delighted with the A. griffithii shown by Ann Chambers. It was a venerabl specimen and much admired.
Still as an arisaema and other aroids lover I found mt newest 'must have' plant in Roma Fiddes's Pinella cordata. Aren't those leaves wonderful. I first saw pinella at Gardening Scotland last year and so hope to find cordata this year. Do any forumists have any P. cordata bulbs to sell me :D
It was a great show, as usual, even if the benches were less well filled than usual. Actually there was a benefit in this as the plants were spaced that little bit further appart and you could appreciate them better.
Thanks to Ian and Maggie (and all their helpers) it was a super day out in sunny Aberdeen.
David Shaw, Forres, Moray, Scotland

Anthony Darby

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Re: ABERDEEN SHOW SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2007
« Reply #10 on: May 20, 2007, 11:01:21 PM »
Wish I'd been able to go, especially as I seem to have collected another trophy - a beautiful Caithness Glass rose bowl as big as a wine glass should be. ;D
Anthony Darby, Auckland, New Zealand.
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Ian Minty

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Re: ABERDEEN SHOW SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2007
« Reply #11 on: May 21, 2007, 08:51:23 AM »
Has anybody got any more pics so that I can get my fix.
I spent all day on saturday suffering from sea sickness out on the north sea at the claymore fields.
I would much rather have been at the Aberdeen Show than out here.

fermi de Sousa

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Re: ABERDEEN SHOW SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2007
« Reply #12 on: May 21, 2007, 11:17:51 AM »
Well, I had a great time visiting Aberdeen and seeing how a SRGC Show is put together(and dismantled after the event!) and what goes on in the judging; the decision on the Forrest Medal was a hard won battle between Cyril Lafong and....Cyril Lafong! Well he did have a bit more competition in the early rounds of the decision making. As guest judge I was allowed to make a special award for MY favourite exhibit and it went to David and Stella Rankin's Celmisia in full flower. Sorry, I can't post any pics till I get back to my computer at work and can download and resize them all!
Maggi and Ian did a brilliant job of running the Show and looking after judges and officials and friends. I was particularly pleased to meet people who I'd known for years through the pages of the Journals and the Forum: the Youngs (of course!), the Shaws, Ian of the Christie kind, Cyril Lafong, the Wilsons, the Taylors and the Hunts. It was a double pleasure to meet up with Jean W. after first meeting at the last NZAGS study weekend. [Shamesless plug: Remember, folks, the next NZAGS WEEKEND is at the end of January next year! And anyone thinking of travelling all that way should consider a quick nip into Australia on the way back (hopefully Victoria won't be on fire again next February!).]
I can say that Aberdeen lived up to its reputation of hospitality and friendliness and outstanding plants.
cheers
fermi (in Kingston-on-Thames)
P.S. It was good to see that Lily was recovering well after her eye surgery; you couldn't want a lovelier puppy-dog!
« Last Edit: May 21, 2007, 12:07:43 PM by fermides »
Mr Fermi de Sousa, Redesdale,
Victoria, Australia

Maggi Young

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Re: ABERDEEN SHOW SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2007
« Reply #13 on: May 21, 2007, 04:28:08 PM »
Fermi, we really enjoyed having you visit us. Haste ye Back, as we say in Scotland, and  how appropriate the motto of Aberdeen is, "Bon Accord ---happy to meet, sorry to part, happy to meet again"

Since you mention the adorable Lily, I'll begin some pix with her at the show.
Thanks to everyone asking after her sore eye... it is getting much better and though she still has limited sight in it, it no longer looks so gruesome that grown men and women were recoiling from it in horror... you can see that she has regained her former good looks and is full of enthusiasm for the show and meeting her public...


of course, a show day can be very tiring and even the keenest party-goer can run out of steam in the evening and  need a little snooze during supper .....


The handily placed foot belongs to Ian Bainbridge!
« Last Edit: June 01, 2018, 04:54:00 PM by Maggi Young »
Margaret Young in Aberdeen, North East Scotland Zone 7 -ish!

Editor: International Rock Gardener e-magazine

Maggi Young

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Re: ABERDEEN SHOW SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2007
« Reply #14 on: May 21, 2007, 05:48:07 PM »
The pause came as I watched the end of today's stage of the Giro d'Italia, Napolitano won the sprint from McEwan and Petacchi.

Here are a few more, not in any particular order....

Stella and David Rankin's six pan  : they won the Walker of Portlethen Trophy for most points in Section I.


David Rankin places a Paris on the bench


Paris 1


Paris 2


Jim Sutherland  hopes to sell to Glassford Sprunt and David Rankin




By jove, he's been successful, there's the change given over!
« Last Edit: May 12, 2018, 09:31:31 PM by Maggi Young »
Margaret Young in Aberdeen, North East Scotland Zone 7 -ish!

Editor: International Rock Gardener e-magazine

 


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