Transporting blooms


The following is from the Dahlia.net, but it speaks of transporting blooms
for shows, a topic of some interest as I am not ready for the task this
week, as usual. Additionally, it gives some thoughts on the British mind-set
for blooms & shows.  It seems that the British are exacting when showing
groups of blooms, each petal/marking must be identical to each other, and
to the other blooms.  Many remarks might apply to iris, also.

**
As one of the English contingent who take large numbers of blooms to a show, we
have developed various means to get them to the show in pristine condition.
There are two basic types of container.  One is a 5-gallon tub, the other is a
drinks crate.

The 5 gallon tub has holes drilled about 1/2 inch from the top and about 1inch
apart around the drum.  A piece of crumpled wire netting is placed in the botto
m
and the drum is filled to about 1/3rd depth with cold water.  Sometimes a house
brick is placed in the bottom to add weight and stability.

The drinks crate has 20 locations for bottles.  A washing -up liquid bottle or
similar is placed in each of theseand the bottles are 3/4 filled with cold
water.  A bamboo or wooden frame is built with a leg at each corner of the
crate, and cross members making a rectangle at the top.  This raises the suppor
t
point to around 20inches from the base of the crate.  Cross members are usually
added to permit blooms to be fixed in the middle rows of the crate also.  The
need for a house brick is eliminated with these crates as their shape makes th
m
more stable.

As the flowers are cut, a split cane 24" long is attached to the stem using
twist ties (paper covered wire in case the term is not a familiar one in the
US), usually one just below the bloom and one about 1/4 of the way up the cut
stem so that the stem is adequately supported.  The stem is cut at an angle, no
t
square so that when it is placed in water, the water can freely flow up the
stem.  The caned bloom is then placed either in the tub or crate, and firmly
attached to the framework on the crate or to the hole in the top of the drum
using another twist tie.  This will give the bloom support and prevent it from
moving while in transit.  Further blooms are cut and fixed in the container
until it is full.  The blooms must not touch or they will bruise.  It is quite
an art fitting many blooms into the containers.

Once the containers are filled, they can be loaded into the vehicle to take to
the show.  Many exhibitors hire  large vans to carry their blooms, especially i
f
they are taking fifteen or more crates or tubs, while others use estate cars
s
are loaded into the vehicle, again it is necessary to make sure blooms in
adjacent containers are not touching each other.  In the case of vans, it is
usually necessary to place some packing on the floor to prevent the containers
sliding when the vehicle slows or goes round bends  (bear in mind our speed
limits are 70mph).

If the flowers are for commercial display rather than competitive exhibition,
they are usually carried in tubs, not crates, and are not usually caned.  More
blooms are placed in the containers and these wedge each other to prevent
serious damage.  The requirement to avoid any bruising is not present with thi
type of display, but damage should be avoided wherever possible.

I have noted both Wayne and Mac have commented on the English show scene.  They
are correct in that we do not take as much trouble about foliage as in the US,
but we do not ignore foliage or stems.  If blooms are of equivalent quality in
different exhibits, foliage and stems are looked at and would cause one exhibit
to beat the other.  All our efforts go into producing perfect blooms, equally
matched for size and form.

The largest class at our National Show calls for 72 blooms (twelve vases of 6
blooms of pompon dahlias) most Championship classes require from 12 to 30
blooms, but members classes ask for one two or three vases each containing thre
eor five blooms depending on size.  The only classes we have for single blooms
are for the giant (AA) flowers in colour classes.

 The major individual championship requires three blooms of AA or A semi-cactus
or decorative (in one or three vases); one vase three blooms medium (8")
decorative; one vase three blooms medium semi-cactus; one vase five blooms smal
l
(6") or miniature (4") decorative; one vase five blooms small or miniature
cactus or semi cactus. There are usually around twelve exhibits staged in this
championship.


We have had a change in our judging rules for this year, such that bi-coloured
blooms will not be penalised if the tipping is uneven or faded.  We are hoping
this will bring some colour back to the shows which are dominated by yellow an
white varieties as they do not show the faults as do the reds and purples.

I could go on and write a whole book on this subject (in fact I produce the NDS
Classified Directory) but hopefully this is enough to give you all a taste of
the English scene.  If you managed to get to the last Canadian International
show, you will have seen the way we Brits go about showing and winning.  We are
geographically closer than yourselves and have around 200 exhibitors at our
National Show.  That's strong competition and you have to get it right to
succeed. Sadly we dont all manage to reach perfection every year.

*********
**************

Cold weather kept the borer quiet this spring, but with the onslaught of
warmth this past week, he/she came out with full force!! I waited till
the rains stopped before spraying again --- MISS TAKE!!!  

There are, however, glorious blooms out there!! Prolific blooms on
Immortality, Breaker, and many IB's. My favorites are the MTB's, which
are absolutely perfect!.

The arils aren't going to bloom, but are putting on great foliage and 
increases.

Miss Lilac is --> lilac!! and very very pretty, but short, but new.

Carolyn Schaffner in Buffalo, NY
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