SHOW: PART 1 -- Our Adventure at the 341 Show in East Aurora

From: "Mark, Maureen" <MARKM@tc.gc.ca>

So much for my promise to take copious notes...all my notes are only in
my head so I had better download it quickly now before I forget.  (As
Sandy mentioned in a previous posting, I forgot my notebook.)

This was a combination trip that totalled about 1500 km of travel (half
of it with two kids ages 8 and 4 in the car).  We started out from
Ottawa on Friday evening to Moonstone in Simcoe County (about 500 km) to
attend a niece's birthday party and pick up our kids who had spent the
week at Granny's (it was a nice quiet week, thank you).  From there we
went to Toronto on Saturday to have dinner with my parents and then to
Oakville (my sister's place) where we were going to stay over and leave
the kids.  (I do this fairly often but supply my sister with lots of
plants.)

Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny as we headed out at 7:30 a.m.
having managed one cup of coffee each and armed with CAA triptiks, maps
and e-mail instructions from Kathy Guest and Carolyn Schaffner.  Sandy
drives as I "navigate".  No problems to get to the Peace Bridge and
Sandy actually got a passport this time so we had no problems getting
across the border.  (Sandy got the inquisition when we went to the
convention last year.)

By the way, don't ever volunteer to navigate for Sandy.  He needs
everything repeated several times and still questions whether it's the
right way and needs to stop to take a look at the maps and instructions
himself.  So, anyhow, I'm looking at the map when we come to the I190 -
I90 intersection.  The map shows that the I90 goes north-south but the
signs say I90 east or west.  So we decide to go east because we are
supposed to be going eastward.  So next we are looking for exit 54 but
the numbers are counting down to 50!  We find a place to stop to take
another look at the map and the e-mail instructions.  And there we find
it--both Kathy and Carolyn mention going west on I90.  So we turn
around.  This time, I've put the map aside and I'm counting on Carolyn's
instructions to get us there.  We get to the 400 turnoff but Sandy
decides that Carolyn's instructions don't make sense and goes the other
way.  We have to stop for gas anyway, so we turn around at the gas
station.  Carolyn and Kathy, your instructions were great -- we're just
not good at following instructions.

We arrive at Johnson's nursery at about 9:30.  As we ease along the
driveway, we see the incomparable Kathy Guest just walking down the
driveway to the nursery.  Sandy wants to go in to help set up but my
stomach's rumbling and I know that it will be a long time to lunch.  So
Kathy directs us to the village.  I was hoping for eggs and toast but
settled for coffee cake and a café mocha and headed back to the nursery.
By this time it's almost 10:30 and everything is set up and it doesn't
look like anyone needs help.  Kathy introduces us to Peter (I don't
remember his last name) who she has lined up to do judges training for
us with the brand new training manual.  Peter is reviewing the manual so
I do a quick tour of the sale plants -- all perennials 25% off!  I pick
up three hostas -  Blue Mammoth and 2 of Whirlwind.  My sister had
requested something large and blue and something different.  I got one
Whirlwind for myself.  So I get my purchases stashed behind the counter
and go back to Peter for the judges training.  (BTW, this was not a
judged show.)

The JIs are set up on a long tables about two feet high.  Peter explains
that it is recommended that JIs are exhibited on short tables so that
viewers are not looking down on the flowers.  He reviews the point
scoring system (which I didn't write down as I didn't have a notebook)
and explains the difference between show judging and garden judging.  In
show judging, it is the grower/exhibitor who is being judged not the
worthiness of the flower.  A good exhibit will have a number of
well-spaced blooms with few defects on the bloom and stalk.  The size
and other characteristics of the specimen should be appropriate for the
cultivar and the cultural conditions for that area.  For example an
early season will result in shorter stalks.  For that reason, a judge
must be aware of the weather conditions in that area both for the
growing season and during the period immediately prior to the show.  For
example,  there was a severe rainstorm on Saturday in East Aurora that
likely damaged many blooms.  As a result, the judging would not be as
strict as it would be under perfect weather conditions.

Not only do you need to know the weather conditions, but the judge needs
to know what the cultivar looks like under normal conditions.  Peter
informs us that many JIs gooseneck normally so this is not a fault of
the grower.  At the show he points out many cultivars that have
goosenecked because of the heavy rain the previous day.  The first
specimens were a wonderful illustration of some of the principles of
judging.  Two specimens of LITTLE SNOWMAN were exhibited.  The first was
a tall specimen with a 5-inch bloom that goosenecked and was fading at
the edges.  The second specimen was almost a foot shorter with an
upright delicate fresh bloom about 3-inches across.  Neither gets a blue
ribbon because neither is a good example of the cultivar.  The second
specimen gets a red ribbon because it is well groomed and looks great --
it's just too small for the cultivar.  The first specimen gets a white
ribbon because it is an aging and damaged flower.  That's all I'll say
about the judge's training.

The exhibits were quite an eye-opener for me.  This is the first time
that I've seen named cultivars in the "flesh".  Some preconceptions were
affirmed and others blown away.

Queen of Show would have gone to Kathy Guest's stalk of STATELY
FLAMINGO.  This one is appropriately named.  It is a tremendously tall
and large 3-F pink.  It had three well spaced blooms open.  I'm sure
that everyone would have picked this out from across yard.  It was about
a foot taller than everything else and was the only one with more than
one fully open bloom.  It would have "won" even if the third older bloom
had been removed.

ROSEWATER looked glorious and slightly better than its pictures.  It is
a large 3-F sanded pink with a blue wash around bright yellow eyes.  I
loved the colouring.  It stays on my wish list.

ORIENTAL EYES looked exactly as I expected.  It is a small 6-F pink with
the falls symmetrically placed side by side around the flower.  The
pendant falls and large yellow eyes make this one appropriately named.
A lovely flower.

LION KING was a surprise.  I never could understand why people raved
about this one.  The pictures of it can never do it justice.  The
pictures I've seen show a huge mass of petals.  To me, it just looked
like a mess.  In life, it is magnificent.  The violet petals are
symmetrically arranged and layered (I didn't count the layers) so that
the depth of the flower is about three inches -- and the flower is
probably just under three inches wide.  This flower has enormous depth
and probably looks fantastic in the garden.  It goes on my wish list.

I know that there were other exhibits worthy of note but it is now two
days after the show and I can't recall them off the top of my head and
this message is getting too long already.

Part II will cover other parts of the show, the visit to the Guest
mansion and the journey home.

Maureen Mark
Ottawa, Canada (zone 4) -- is my thesis going to be longer than Kathy's?


> ----------
> From: 	Irisborer@aol.com[SMTP:Irisborer@aol.com]
> Reply To: 	iris-talk@onelist.com
> Sent: 	Tuesday, July 07, 1998 12:32 PM
> To: 	iris-talk@onelist.com
> Subject: 	[iris-talk] Re: HYB:pedigrees
> 
> From: <Irisborer@aol.com>
> 
> In a message dated 98-07-07 11:11:50 EDT, you write:
> 
> << I checked the 90's R&Is, and all the checklists EXCEPT 50's and
> 60's which
> I
>  don't have, and no listing for Blue Geometrics >>
> 
> I have referred this question to Howard Hughes.... if it's been
> registered, he
> can tell us when.
> 
> Kathyguest - who will be posting about this past weekend's 3/4/1
> iris/hosta/daylily EXTRAVAGANZA... which Sandy Ives and Maureen Mark
> attended
> (all the way from Ottawa).... that is, as soon as everyone finishes
> reading my
> last thesis
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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