THE DELPHINIUM SOCIETY'S MAIN SHOW in 2011

This Show was staged in the Hillside Events Centre at the Royal Horticultural Society's Garden at Wisley, Surrey on 21st /22nd June 2011

CONTENTS

SECTION A: unrestricted classes;
SECTION B: seedling classes;
SECTION C: blue flowers;
SECTION D: white flowers;
SECTION E: floret classes;
SECTIONS F/G: restricted classes;

Click on the appropriate section IN THIS LIST to see pictures of some prize-winning entries.

INTRODUCTION

Difficulties in booking the Hall at Wisley for a weekend in late June, meant that the Society Show was held mid - week in mid June. This was not thought to be an ideal timing but it proved to be fortunate in a Year when an exceptionally dry Spring and some very hot weather meant that delphiniums flowered exceptionally early. When we visited the Delphinium Trial at Wisley on 16th June a high proportion of the plants had already flowered and heavy rain was causing bloom damage so a large entry in the Show seemed rather unlikely. In fact the number of entries was better than we expected and the Show provided a colourful display in the Hall. However, the display boards with information on cultivation, types of delphiniums around the world and pictures of blooms that visitors usually find interesting were not present although the Foral Arrangements added interest.

THE SHOW

This account is based on a visit to the Show during the second day when at Wisley the rain poured down much of the day. It was hard to understand this when the Motorway and roads not far from the Show seemed completely dry when we left for home. However, the rain certainly reduced the number of visitors willing to brave the walk up the Hill from the Gaarden entance.

SECTION A

Class 1: Four spikes. One entry only from Bob Banks of four large blooms of 'Sandpiper', which were rewarded with a SECOND PRIZE as the size of the blooms was not matched by their quality. Many of their white petals were decorating the bench rather than the stems on the second day

Class 2: Two spikes, light. Again Bob Banks was the only entrant, staging a pair of rather untidy blooms that the Judges decided deserved no more than a SECOND PRIZE.

Class 3.

Class 4.

Class 3: Two spikes, dark. Here Bob Banks had a competitor, Graham Austin, who staged two not very well matched but fresh blooms of Bruce that were given a FIRST PRIZE. Two blooms of a deep purple seedling staged by Bob Banks gained a THIRD PRIZE.

Class 4: One spike, light. Three entries but all rather small blooms. A neat and fresh bloom of 'Gillian Dallas' from Graham Austin was clearly the best and won FIRST PRIZE. Steve Dorey was awarded SECOND PRIZE for a bloom of 'Our Deb', a pale pink with a dark eye and Bob Banks won THIRD PRIZE with a bloom of 'Tiger Eye'.

Class 5. 'Bruce'

Class 6. 'LuciaSahin', BEST IN SHOW

Class 5: One spike, dark. Three entries and here the FIRST PRIZE went to a bloom of 'Bruce' of real show quality from Graham Austin. The SECOND PRIZE went to a little bloom of 'After Midnight ' from Steve Dorey and Bob Banks won the THIRD PRIZE with a bloom of a seedling from 'Chelsea Star'. Class 6: Two spikes, pink. Three entries. Here again the real show quality of Graham Austin's blooms of 'Lucia Sahin' ensured the FIRST PRIZE for his entry but the competition here was better as Bob Banks gained SECOND PRIZE for his two blooms of 'Beryl Burton'. THIRD PRIZE went to Terry Woolley for a pair of seedling blooms although these had developed significant mildew by the second day. The measure of Graham Austin's superiority in bloom quality was emphasised by the selection of one of his blooms in this class as the Best Bloom in the Show, a well-deserved Award.
Class 7.	Class 8.
Class 7: One spike, pink. Three entries, with the bloom of 'Lucia Sahin' from Graham Austin winning the FIRST PRIZE. Terry Woolley's neat bloom of the pale pink 'Summerfield Diana' won SECOND PRIZE and the longest spike in the class, a seedling staged by Bob Banks, won the THIRD PRIZE. Class 8: One spike, cream. FIRST PRIZE went to Shirley Bassett for a good bloom of 'Cream Cracker', a real 'Old-Timer' that Shirley has grown in a pot for many years.

Class 9: Three spikes. Total height must not exceed 1.07m (3.5 ft). Four entries. FIRST PRIZE went to DavidBassett for his set consisting of a bloom of 'Galileo' with two contrasting blooms of un-named seedlings, one white and the other a deep purple. SECOND PRIZE was won by Shirley Bassett for a bloom 'Galileo' with well matched seedling spikes of a blue and pale violet seedlings. Bob Banks was awarded THIRD PRIZE for his vase of blooms of 'Tiger Eye' and Steve Dorey's entry of blooms of pale pink 'Our Deb' was given a HIGHLY COMMENDED card
Class 10.
Class 10: One spike & six florets. A FIRST PRIZE was won by Graham Austin for the only entry in this class, a compact bloom of deep violet/blue 'After Midnight', which can also produce impressive florets.

Return to Contents List

SECTION B: BLOOMS OF UN-NAMED CULTIVARS (SEEDLINGS)

Class 11.

Class 12.

Class 11: Three spikes, distinct. FIRST PRIZE was awarded to David Bassett for his vase of three seedling blooms in different shades of blue, two of them with white eyes. SECOND PRIZE went to Mark Lyman for blooms of two very similar light blues with white eye and a bloom of matching size of a deep pink with a white eye.

Class 12: Two spikes, distinct. The only entry here, from David Basset, was awarded a SECOND PRIZE probably because his purple flower had developed mildew on the lower florets.

Class 13.

Class 14.

Class 13: One Spike, Seedling excluding white. FIRST PRIZE was awarded to David Bassett's blue with a light brown eye and SECOND PRIZE went to a pale violet seedling also with a light A much darker flower in deep purplish blue with a dark eye gained the THIRD PRIZE for Howard Norton.

Class 14: One spike white. Another FIRST PRIZE was won by David Bassett with a bloom of a nice white with a black eye. SECOND PRIZE was awarded to the other entry from Howard Norton, which was a larger bloom of a pure white but with some irregular packing of the florets at the top of the spike.

Class 15.

Class 15: One spike, pink. There were five entries in this class. FIRST PRIZE went to David Bassett for a pale pink with a dark eye. Terry Woolley was awarded SECOND PRIZE for a similar bloom with flowers in a light shade of pink. The THIRD PRIZE card went to Howard Norton for a deeper pink with dark eye. On the second day this was dropping florets at the base, a tendency that may have been apparent when the blooms were judged..

Class 16. FIRST PRIZE

Class 16 SECOND (L) & THIRD PRIZE (R)

Class 16: Six florets, distinct. The final class restriced to flowers of florets had three entries that each showed a good selection of different flower colours. The FIRST PRIZE was won by David Bassett using florets of bright light colours. SECOND PRIZE went to Mark Lyman and THIRD PRIZE to Howard Norton.

Return to Contents List

SECTION C

Class 17: Two spikes, blue. Two entries in this class, with the best being blooms of 'Pandora' from Steve Dorey that were awarded a SECOND PRIZE. Rather gappy blooms of 'Blue Nile' from Howard Norton were given a THIRD PRIZE.

Class 18: One spike, light blue. Graham Austin won the FIRST PRIZE with a neat bloom of 'Walton Benjamin'. The SECOND PRIZE went to Terry Woolley for a bloom of 'Carol Fishenden'. THIRD PRIZE went to Terry Blissett for a bloom of a seedling with large florets. It was interesting to see the entry from Howard Norton of a bloom of 'Leonora', an old cultivar much admired for the quality of the florets.

Class 18.

Class 19: One spike, dark blue. FIRST PRIZE went to Graham Austin for a bloom of 'After Midnight'. SECOND PRIZE went to another bloom of this cultivar from Howard Norton, and Cinderella's luck ran out for Steve Dorey when his bloom of this cultivar gained just the THIRD PRIZE.

SECTION D

Class 21

Class 20: Two spikes white, any cultivar or cultivars. No entries

Class 21: One spike white with white eye. Two entries only, with FIRST PRIZE going to David Bassett for a nicely tapered but rather small bloom of a seedling. SECOND PRIZE went to an attractive seedling from Howard Norton that was probably raised from hand-pollinated seed obtained from the Society.

Class 22: One spike white with coloured eye. The only entry here was a rather columnar bloom from David Bassett that the Judges rated worthy of a FIRST PRIZE.

Return to Contents List

SECTION E - For sets of individual florets.

Class 23.

Class 24.

Class 23: Six florets, all same cultivar. The FIRST PRIZE went to Shirley Bassett for a superb set of florets of her clear light pink seedling 00/4/9 that looked promising in the DelphiniumTrial in 2011. SECOND PRIZE went to another excellent dish staged by Terry Woolley using the interesting violet florets of his cultivar 'Purple Haze that have pronounced deep violet picottee edge.

Class24: Six Florets, distinct cultivars. The winner of the FIRST PRIZE was again Shirley Bassett, with an attractive set of florets from her retained seedlings grown in pots. SECOND PRIZE was awarded to Mark Lyman for his set of florets in a range of colours.

Class 25.

Class 26.

Class25: Six Florets, two or three different cultivars. Shirley Bassett used three cultivars in strongly contrasting colours to win the FIRST PRIZE, while Terry Woolley used florets of 'Purple Haze' and a light pink with dark eye to take SECOND PRIZE.

Class26: Six Florets, seedlings, two or more different cultivars. One entry only from Shirley Bassett that was awarded FIRST PRIZE for florets of a white cultivar and florets in pink shades with white or black eyes.

Return to Contents List

SECTION F - Restricted to Exhibitors who have not previously won a first prize in any of the open classes 1-27.

Class 28.

Class 29.

There was no competition for Howard Norton, the only entrant in these classes, who staged blooms or florets in all the 5 Classes as follows:

Class 28: Two spikes. FIRST PRIZE for a pair of blooms of 'Tiddles' .

Class 29: One spike light. FIRST PRIZE for a bloom of 'Min'.

Class 30: One spike dark. SECOND PRIZE for a rather small bloom of 'After Midnight'.

Class 31.

Class 32.

Class 31: Six florets, all same cultivar. FIRST PRIZE for an excellent set of florets of the pale pink 'Titania'.

Class 32: Six florets, two or more cultivars. This entry gained Howard another FIRST PRIZE.

JUBILEE CLASS For Blooms of Restricted Size

Six spikes, any cultivar(s) to be exhibited in two vases, three spikes to a vase in a space not exceeding 137cm (4.5ft) in length and 73cm (3.5ft) in height measured from the top of the staging table.

There were three entries. FIRST PRIZE went to Bob Banks for short spikes of cultivars that normally produce large exhibition size blooms. Each vase had blooms of 'Chelsea Star' and 'Sandpiper', one with a short 'Tiger Eye' and the other with a deep gentian blue flower. SECOND PRIZE went to David Bassett's two vases with a selection of six different but well matched blooms, including one of the violet flowers with light brown eyes of 'Summerfield Viking'. Mark Lyman gained THIRD PRIZE with one good vase of three well matched dusky pink blooms let down by the second vase of two immature blues and a light pink.

Jubilee Class; Second Prize

Jubilee Class; Third Prize,

We would like to end this report by thanking Keith Boxall, the Show Secretary, ably assisted by John Evason for organising the entries, setting out the benches and sorting out the problems that arose.

As usual, Floral Arrangements using delphiniums were a major attraction of this Show and we are especially grateful to Anne Blissett, and Carolyn Clarke for their efforts.

We thank the Staff of the Royal Horticultural Society's Garden, especially Lesley Whayman and Andrew McSeveney, who contribute greatly to making our Show successful.

Return to Contents List

Delphinium Shows List

Return to Home Page