competition – Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society

Spring Show 2023

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!

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).

February 2023 Meeting

Our February meeting on Monday 20th, comprised our AGM, with the usual election of officers and presentation of the Annual Report, followed by a talk by Ruth Cornett on the work she has done on her Eltham Palace Gatehouse garden and her passion for roses.

Show Table Winners 2022
The Show Table cup is presented to the member who has garnered the most points on the monthly Show Table, over the past year. We have not been able to present the cup for the previous two years due to Covid, so we are delighted to be able to revive this tradition that has been running since 1955! This year, we had Joint Winners, namely Annie and Terry. Second place went to Pat K and Third to Anastasia. Well done all.

President presenting the Show Table Cup to joint winners Terry and Annie

Sian won Best on the Table for February 2023 for her display of Mimosa

For the coming year, we have introduced an additional award, “Best on the Table” given to the best display each month. This time it was Sian’s turn, with her wonderful aromatic display of Mimosa.

A report on the talk will follow shortly.

Autumn Flower, Fruit and Vegetable Display 2022

Our Autumn Show was held on Monday September 26^th 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.

Show Table May 2022

The Show table at our meeting on Monday 16th had a wide range of entries and looked wonderful. Points were awarded by our speaker for the evening, organic gardener and writer Val Bourne.

Spring Show 2022 Report

We held our first actual Spring Show on Monday 11^th 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.

Entries for Classes 1 & 2 Daffodils and Tulips

Class 4 Camellias, Rhododendrons, Azaleas or Magnolia

Class 5 Small vase of mixed Spring Flowers

Vija's entry to Flowering shrubs Class 3

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.

Spring Show 2022

Our next Meeting is early (due to Easter) on April 11th and will be our Spring Show. Come and join in the fun.

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

We need to talk about the shed

Shed: noun. a small building or lean-to of light construction, used for storage, shelter, etc.

In times past, every garden path had a little wooden shed at the end of it, for keeping the boring bits to do with gardening – the lawn mower, spades, other tools and a few noxious chemicals for blitzing any insect daring to land on the beds.

So, in 2022, is your shed still just used for storing tools? Is it still small and wooden? If so, you are in the minority. I have just had a fascinating browse on the Cuprinol SOTY (Shed Of The Year) website – which has been running for 16 years, I can’t imagine how I missed it! You have until April 19^th to enter your shed by the way, but I recommend you check out previous winners to see what you are up against before you bother. My favourite is definitely the Roman Temple shed complete with colonnades and portico. It was entered in the ‘Unexpected’ category. You think?

Tag: competition