It rained- it poured.  It thundered and flashed.  How is it that gardeners still keep going? Despite everything we did put on a show on 9th September, albeit a little smaller than some years.  However, 26 members still manged to produce 167 exhibits.

The flower classes, featuring roses and dahlias, contained quality if not quantity.  There were some lovely stems of floribunda roses for which Ann Achow and Lindy Bates were awarded certificates of merit and shared the David Barmes Salver.  Raymond Crawfurd also did well with his hybrid tea blooms scoring the most points in the rose classes.  The dahlia classes showed some of the wide range of varieties now available.  This year the society included a class for single blooms alongside the cactus and pompom dahlias.  The Rennie Cup was awarded to Jan Page for her beautiful cactus dahlia while the Brissenden Cup for most points went to Lindy Bates together with the Colquhoun Cup for most points overall in the Flower Classes.

On the vegetable benches there was duel between Dorothy Crawfurd and Martin Weeks, who were the only members able to produce numerous entries.  Martin reigned supreme in the potato classes winning the Potato Challenge Cup.  He is also encouraging his grandsons, Eliot and Isaac, to grow potatoes and all three entered the heaviest yield from a single tuber.  However, they were pipped by Lindy Bates who won the Margery Mills Memorial Cup.  Martin's onions and tomatoes were also quality exhibits and he won the Judge Cup for his Championship Collection and the Val Drywood Memorial Cup for his tomatoes.  Dorothy Crawfurd, however, won the Goodwin Cup for most points in the vegetable classes and the Banksian Medal for most points in Flower, Fruit and Vegetable classes in this how whilst Lindy Bates took home the Hugh Willsher Salver for most points throughout the year.  On the fruit benches Martin once again triumphed and took home the Dalton Bowl.

Turning to Cookery, the bench contained many tempting looking preserves, especially the bottles of fruit liqueur.  Jan Page took both the Parry Challenge Cup for most points and the Fisher Cup for best exhibit:  a delicious looking raspberry roulade.

The Floral Art classes focussed on more traditional ways of flower arranging with one class requiring wire netting to support the stems and another being a classical design.  There was a miniature exhibit using dried material.  To reflect the time of year there was also a class to illustrate Harvest.  Bruna Christoff achieved a clean sweep in all four classes with her perfectly placed flowers and foliage.  She was rewarded with the Williams Cup and the Foreman Salver.  Meantime, Jane Wells produced a beautiful bowl of purple homegrown dahlias to win the Boughton Cup.  Taking into account the scores from previous shows, Jan Page won the Catty Trophy for most points throughout the year.

The society's photographers somehow managed to find entries for Autumn Glory and Garden Produce despite the difficulties with the weather.  There was ne very innovative photo:  Gerald Sperling's close-up of a hay bale.  Lindy Bates won the Autumn Photography Cup rather more prosaically with a close-up of a tomato plant.

The children's classes had two wonderful pictures made with leaves and there was also a splendid pumpkin.  Both exhibitors won a first place.  Well done, boys!  And well done too to a nearly new exhibitor, Hilary Wilkins, who put in nine entries and won several firsts.  Everyone takes great pleasure in seeing new names on the benches and even more pleasure when there are new names attached to first places or even trophies.

Thanks as ever must go to the committee, members and partners for working so hard to put the show together, running the day and clearing up at the end.  There is much that goes on behind the scenes:  advertising, booking judges, preparing the show cards and logging the entries, collecting raffles prizes and baking all those cakes that are enjoyed by members and visitors who come to support the show.

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