RE: SHOW: Advance Prep

Similar to Griff, I use fruit juice bottles and pack them 4 to a square plastic container. I can fit a tall drinking glass in the middle and buffer the glass containers with paper towel. The glass generally contains PCI's. The fruit juice bottles hold 3 or 4 stalks of usually IB's Spurias, Siberians, etc.
I seperate them with tissue paper or paper towel.
I label as i cut, using a marking pen and writing the name right at the bottom of the spike in tiny letters. I couldn't use Griff's method of filling out the labels in advance, because I never know what I am putting in the show until I get there. I do find it a real hassle remembering to fill out the labels correctly in the rush of setting up. Our club has the labels taped to the table in the position of your exhibit, so you need to carry a pen round, and if a stalk has to be changed after stting up, then you have to change the label of course, so it gets messy.:-(
My TB's go in buckets, with an upturned hanging basket frame. Hard to describe, but this is a 1/2 circle shaped green powder coated thingy, with rectangular, diamond shaped, rhomboidal or whatever spaces which are handy for seperating the stalks. I attach it to a standard bucket with clips sturdy enough to allow me to carry the whole thing by the wire frame at the top. I put newspaper in the bottom of the bucket, and when wet that prevents slipping.
I did manage to have one bucket tip last year, and wet the floor in my Holden (very australian) station wagon. I bought the wagon with shows in mind because the little Peuget hatch was too small and awkward. I still had to do 2 X 2 hour trips with a full load for the main show, as I live a good way out of Melbourne, in the country.
I discovered that stalks like TITANS GLORY cannot be carried that way, they are simply too tall! Mine just fitted, but on the way out I heard a little "phlp" sound as the top bud suddenly opened, and when I went to get it out, it was sort of wedged against the ceiling :-) Should I trade the wagon for a van so soon?
We have a species display and a "display of iris" which is more or less for the public (educational) and gives plenty of leaway for the creative. I found that the smaller irises could be fairly well prepped at home and placed in drinking glasses set in cardboard trays (amazon boxes from book orders are good for this) seperated by paper towel or newspaper - enough to prevent the blooms knocking together.

Someone wrote:
All shows are a "crap-shoot" basically.

This must be so because I sure do see al lot of "crap-stalks" at the shows - LOL (some of them mine)

Cheers, Jan in Aus, starting to envy the lot of you for having irises in bloom :-)

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