When the doors were opened to allow the public to enter the show, it was very interesting to see that the majority made an immediate bee-line for the classes with miniature flowers. It is appropriate therefore that the large photograph with this short report should show Brian Duncan and Anne Wright the two foremost hybridisers of miniature daffodils in the UK. This show has a significant number of classes for miniatures bred and raised by the exhibitor of which more later. Anne was disappointed that once again Brian was more successful with his entries than she was. However it should be remembered that it was only her third year of exhibiting in this way and Anne’s breeding programme has been directed towards AGS shows; pot culture with flowers of short stature and crosses almost entirely from species or first generation hybrids. It will be a few more years before the crosses made to catch the eye of the RHS and Daffodil Society Judges come to fruition.
As far as standard daffodils are concerned, John Goddard must have been very pleased with his efforts winning the class for three vases of three blooms, and also having Best Bloom in show with ‘Banker’.
How do you get your flowers to the show if you don’t drive and have to use public transport? Peter Rogers with help from his mum has come up with a box which fits into a travelling case and well worth a look at in the photos below.
Dave Vivash has retired from membership of the RHS Bulb Committee (formerly Daffodil and Tulip Committee) and was presented, much to his surprise, with a gift from the Committee Chairman Jan Pennings, also pictured below.
With regard to miniature flowers this show would benefit from a significant increase in classes not solely directed towards raisers. The class for a single miniature had twenty-plus exhibits from all divisions, both single and multi-headed. An almost impossible task to judge. Now that there are so many exhibitors who grow and show miniatures then a serious rethink is overdue. The Daffodil Society at its Annual Show recognises that, as with standard cultivars, there is a case for splitting non-species classes into different divisions. I would suggest, as a start, Divisions 1-3, Division 4, Divisions 5 and 7, Division 6, Division 10 and any other division. The single bloom/vase classes for Division 13 would also benefit from being split into two, single-headed and multi-headed, and why not have two Best Miniature awards for single-headed and multi-headed flowers. Any comments at the end of this post would be welcomed.
Finally I have slipped in a photograph of my first miniature cross ever to gain an award. I hope you don’t mind. It has been registered as ‘Pale Wren’, along with its sister seedling ‘Yellow Wren’.
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I agree with your comments about classes for miniatures – I did not envy the judges their job, very difficult to judge different types against each other.