Flower Show Tips

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1alh1 Sidney, OH(Zone 6a) Jan 29, 2016

I'm going to be leading a seminar on how to exhibit flowers and foliage at a flower show, mainly at our county fair. The judges at the fair flower show will be professional or state judges. The audience at the seminar will most likely be made up of novice or intermediate gardeners. I do not want to discourage them by rattling off a myriad of details. What are some important points I could key on and then answer questions afterwards? Thanks for any help you can provide.

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growin Beautiful, BC(Zone 8b) Jan 31, 2016

I'm not sure if anything I'm going to add is of any use, but, here goes. I was at a local exhibit/fair/show a few months ago where judging was taking place. I was rather surprised how hard judging was being done on locals. Defects are what was looked at and judged hard. One point that really stuck out was that every participant needs to know their plants and requirements. One slight off-colour leaf and you get dinged. Know the pests. Slight misshapen bloom and thrips just made you lose. As much as a model tripping on an Italian fashion show can devastate a model's career, so can the critical remarks of a judge on a gardeners prized Dahlia.

I used to do this as a job as a quality control technician for our local flower auction. Every morning at 4am I was greeting growers as they unloaded wagons of their product. I was not liked as any scribble of my pen and the grower would lose price-points on their product as it rolled infront of the clocks. The grading guidelines were clearly spelled out for growers but my reviews included everything from counting bracts on poinsettias for pot sizes, measuring height and width to ensuring the calliper of rose penducles were not in excess (import).

For a flower show and exhibition, it really comes down to ensuring the blooms are without defect, are an exemplary example of a cultivar and are properly displayed. Not cut too early or late, without marks or sheens on the leaves, are "true to name" and not mutant and, of course, are cleanly displayed in arrangement. And, for goodness sakes, make sure there are no pests on the blooms. That's a fast way of having an arrangement quickly ushered outside. Hope this helps.

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1alh1 Sidney, OH(Zone 6a) Jun 27, 2016

Sorry it has taken me so long to thank you for your suggestions. The seminar went well, and because of time limitations, I was able to stay focused on the most important and helpful points. Thanks again.

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