Twice a year, we hold a seasonal show for CABAHS members, in the tradition of the ‘village show’ with classes and guest judges. Classes include ‘Ornamental pot plant’, ‘Display of fruit and vegetables’ and ‘Floral arrangement in a teacup’. The Autumn show also includes the annual potato competition.
Congratulations to all our entrants, spectators and winners at our 46th annual Spring Show! Despite lots of comments like ” I have nothing left, the snails have had everything” it’s clear CABAHS members rise to a challenge as we had 80 entries in total. Monday evening was a great opportunity to show off our collective gardening skills, as well as have another little trip down memory lane about Shows of the past.
The Pipit competition – a definite challenge this year!
Kathy covered the origin of the Spring Shows at last year’s meeting, with the first one held in 1978, and as a result of that research we resurrected two new classes – a Primulas & Auriculas class and a Baking class. They were well received, with 5 and 8 entries respectively.
Mention has to be made of Mandy’s wonderful shortbread shapes – the wheelbarrow filled with chocolate earth was apparently Brownie’s contribution!
I was very pleased to receive the award for the heaviest potato yield this year at the Autumn Show, but this was only part of my potato story for 2023. We have a small garden and so the space for growing vegetables isn’t great, but I’ve grown potatoes in containers for a number of years. My older grandchild, George, has often been involved and now he and his father grow potatoes in their own garden.
When we went to buy our seed potatoes this year, George quickly filled his bag with the remaining Charlottes that were available so I was left with Casablanca, a variety I’d never heard of before. In fact, I bought more than my garden could accommodate, and it was around this time that CABAHS were distributing the potatoes for the annual competition. This was the inspiration for me to use my extras in a similar way…..
I shared the spares with 11 family members, including the two grandchildren, and gave them pretty much the same information as CABAHS issues. This was met by great enthusiasm all round and with a general competitive buzz and with regular progress reports throughout the year.
Fast forward to July 31, our results day. Instructions were similar to CABAHS except there were three categories – the heaviest total yield, the heaviest single potato, and the total number of potatoes, with junior sections for each.
The 2023 Autumn Show was held on Monday 18 September in the Old Library of Charlton House. We counted 74 attendees and there were nearly 100 wonderful entries across all the classes.
CABAHS Autumn Show 2023
Judges Vija, Jason and Terry shared the task between them and explained the reasons for their choices of ‘Best in Class’ winners and ‘Highly Commended’ entries, as well as their final choice for Best in Show.
Some entries for Class 1: Vase of flowers (3 stems of 1 cultivar)An entry for Class 2: Bowl of mixed flowersWinner of Class 6: Ornamental pot plant – detailHighly commended in Class 8: Display of vegetable (mixed)Class 12: Apple Cake entriesPotato competition entries waiting to be weighedAn entry for Class 14: the wildcard (should have been for Class 15: potato competition, but it was never planted!)
Classes and winners:
Vase of flowers, 3 stems of 1 cultivar: Mandy O
Bowl of mixed flowers (emphasis on quality of flowers, not arrangement): Jean R
Vase of shrubs or foliage, 3 or more stems, mixed varieties: Terry G
Display of ornamental seed heads: Terry G
Five Fuchsia blooms, single variety or mixed (flower heads only): Ruth Y
Ornamental pot plant (incl. cacti & succulents): Anna L
Display of fruit, any mixed: Kathy A
Display of vegetables, mixed: Annie H
Tomatoes (dish of 5): Ann F
Display of herbs: Ruth Y
Preserves – jam, jelly or marmalade, chutney or relish: Fran A
Baking – Apple cake: Carole F
Floral Arrangement – display in a tea cup, all flowers to be home grown (emphasis on floral arrangement): Viv P
Wildcard: Joe F
Competition – yield from one potato supplied in April: Pat T (1392g!)
Best in Class 1: 3 stems of one cultivarBest in Class 2: Bowl of mixed flowersBest in Class 3: Vase of shrubs or foliageBest in Class 5: Fuchsia bloomsBest in Class 6: Ornamental pot plantBest in Class 7: Display of mixed fruitBest in Class 8: Display of mixed vegetablesBest in Class 9: TomatoesBest in Class 10: Display of herbsBest in Class 12: Baking – apple cakersBest in Class 13: Floral display in a teacupixed flowersBest in Class 14: The Wilcard
Trophies and awards:
Crystal Fuchsia bowl for Class 5 Five Fuchsia blooms: Ruth Y Silver Spade for Class 8 Display of Vegetables: Annie H CABAHS biro for Class 14 Wildcard: Joe F and of course Packet of crisps for Class 15 Potato competition: Pat T
Annie H – winning vegetable displayJoe F – winning wildcard entryPat T – winner of the potato competitionPat K – Best in Show!
And finally:
The Best in Show award went to Pat K’s beautiful display of herbs.
Best in Show, Autumn 2023! Pat K’s unusual display of (mainly) flowering herbs
Winners awarded and prizes given, it was time for everyone to sample the cakes!
Well, as we now know from a trawl through the CABAHS archive, our first Spring Show took place in April 1978, when the entries were recorded as “good considering the wintry conditions”. 45 years later, in 2023, our display has once again risen above the challenging weather and looked frankly fabulous!
Best in Show Flowering ShrubsVase of Spring Flowers
Thank you to everyone who carried their exhibits into St Thomas’ Church hall, we had more entries than in the past few years, 73 in total, and everyone seemed to have a great evening. Our judge Mrs Norma Leslie said she had a hard time choosing the winners, listed below. Best in Show was awarded to Sharon’s “Perfect Pot of Pipits”, well deserved, and it was good to see so many entries in this class. The Wild Card class generated a lot of conversations around the range of entries, so that will be a fixture from now on. The short talk about past shows sparked some good ideas for future classes, such as one for Primroses and Auriculas and perhaps we can revive a “Domestic” class to add a baking angle to the evening (followed by some munching probably).
Our Autumn Show was held on Monday September 26th in the Old Library of Charlton House, having been delayed a week for the Queen’s funeral. We counted 56 attendees and there were nearly 100 entries across all the classes, a marvellous effort!
Our guest judge, Joe Woodcock, had agreed to undertake this onerous task again this year. He made it clear how impressed he was with all the entries, providing an encouraging commentary on the horticultural skills demonstrated, and explained why he selected the winning entry in each class.
The classes and winners were as follows: 1. Vase of flowers, 3 stems – Nicholas B 2. Bowl of mixed flowers – Georgina P 3. Vase of shrubs or foliage, 3 stems – Liz K 4. Display of ornamental seed heads – Viv P 5. Five Fuchsia blooms – Viv P 6. Ornamental pot plant – Pat K 7. Display of fruit, mixed – Lynda F 8. Display of vegetables, mixed – Annie H 9. Tomatoes (dish of 5) – Karen S 10. A display of herbs – Maggie T 11. Preserves – Maggie T 12. Baking – Coconut cake – Kathy A 13. Floral arrangement in a teacup – Debbie W 14. Largest Sunflower – Ruth Y 15. Highest yield, Potato – Ann F
Joe presented trophies to Annie H for Class 8, to Viv P for Class 5 and to Georgina P for Best in Show for her bowl of mixed flowers in Class 2.
Our Autumn Show will be on Monday, 26 September 2022 in the Old Library at 7.30pm. Please note the change of date, due to The Queen’s funeral. Even with the recent drought problems, there are hopefully some classes that you can enter!
2021 Winner
Most plants seem to have adapted to the hot, dry conditions, although much has ripened earlier than expected. If all else fails, go for the dried seed heads class or bake a cake!
Classes are similar to previous years, but we have been made aware of some confusion between the Floral Arrangement (Class 13) and the Bowl of Flowers (Class 2). In the past, bought flowers were allowed for the Floral Arrangement, but this year we have decided that ALL flowers should be home grown. The emphasis for Class 13 is on the arrangement style of the flowers in the teacup. For Class 2, the Bowl of mixed Flowers, these should also be home grown but judging will be based on the content, the quality and type of flowers, no matter how they are arranged. Hope that helps!
Thanks to Chris and Anna for this year’s Coconut Cake recipe – as many entries as possible in this category please ( but do remember that Members are allowed to eat it after judging, so there is usually none left to take home!)
CLASSES:
1. Vase of flowers, 3 stems of 1 cultivar
2. Bowl of mixed flowers (emphasis on quality of flowers, not arrangement).
3. Vase of shrubs or foliage, 3 or more stems, mixed varieties
4. Display of ornamental seed heads
5. Five Fuchsia blooms, single variety or mixed (flower heads only)
6. Ornamental pot plant (incl. cacti & succulents)
7. Display of fruit, any mixed.
8. Display of vegetables, mixed
9. Tomatoes (dish of 5)
10. Display of herbs
11. Preserves: jam, jelly or marmalade, chutney or relish
We held our first actual Spring Show on Monday 11th April in Charlton House Long Gallery, after two years of Online Shows. Everyone seemed pleased to be back but there was clearly a shortage of suitable material in some classes, with no entries in the Hellebore Class and only one in the Flowering Shrub Class. This seems to have been caused by recent weather conditions and their effect on flowering.
Vija and Pat judged the entries and because Vija’s was the only entry in Class 3, that class wasn’t judged! Vija announced the winners as: Class 1 Daffodils/Narcissi – 3 stems: Maria B Class 2 Tulips – 3 stems: Margaret M Class 3 Flowering shrubs – 3 stems: (insufficient entries) Class 4 Camellias, Rhododendrons, Azaleas or Magnolia – 1 stem of any: Maggie T Class 5 Small vase of mixed Spring Flowers: Anna L Class 6 Any pot-grown plant (indoor or outdoor): Kathy A Class 7 A pot of Spring bulbs: Nicolas B Class 8 Hellebores – 3 stems: (no entries) Class 9 Tea cup floral display: Kay P
The Best in Show was selected by John King, a guest from Eltham & Avery Hill Gardens Society. He chose Sian T’s entry for the Tea Cup Floral display which she called “Teacup Fantasy”.
Vija reminded everyone of upcoming Events and Outings and encouraged everyone to check out our updated Website, Subscribe to receive an email whenever any new post is added and email CABAHS any feedback the website. Subscribing costs you nothing, keeps you up-to-date and you can Unsubscribe when you wish.
Our next Meeting is early (due to Easter) on April 11th and will be our Spring Show. Come and join in the fun.
Spring Show 2019
Classes are as follows: Class 1 Daffodils/Narcissi – 3 stems Class 2 Tulips – 3 stems Class 3 Flowering shrubs – 3 stems Class 4 Camellias, Rhododendrons, Azaleas or Magnolia – 1 stem of any Class 5 Small vase of mixed Spring Flowers Class 6 Any pot-grown plant (indoor or outdoor) Class 7 A pot of Spring bulbs Class 8 Hellebores – 3 stems Class 9 Tea cup floral display
This was held on Monday 20 September in the Long Gallery of Charlton House. As one of many new members of the Society since meetings were forced to stop by COVID-19, it was my first indoor meeting!
It was a very impressive event with a total of 66 entries and I didn’t envy our guest judge, Joe Woodcock, his task. But Joe made it clear how impressed he was with all the entries, providing an encouraging commentary on the horticultural skills demonstrated, and explained why he selected the winning entry in each class.
The classes and winners were as follows:
1. Vase with single stem of any flowering plant – Viv P
2. Bowl of mixed flowers – Margaret T
3. Five Fuchsia blooms – Ruth Y
4. Ornamental pot plant – Pat K
5. A display of fruit and vegetables – Mandy & Brownie
6. A display of herbs – Ruth Y
7. Floral arrangement in a teacup – Anna L
8a. Potato Competition – Pam D
8b. Sunflower head competition – Annie H
Joe selected as Best in Show Margaret T’s wonderful display of varieties of dahlia in Class 2. Class 7 the Floral Arrangement was selected by popular vote (using buttons) and the Potato Competition was weighed by the trusty scales of Hugh P.
Joe was kind enough to answer a few gardening questions at the end of proceedings, and tea, coffee and biscuits were provided to round off the evening.
We counted 56 attendees. Everyone seemed to enjoy the event and be grateful to be able to meet up in person again. Long may that continue!
Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society 