Helen and Roy Stickland got in touch to help clarify the flower competitions we run.

The rules of the competitions are as follows.  Members are invited to bring a flower and/or a pot plant to each of our seven meetings at West Monkton Village Hall throughout the calendar year.  The entries will be judged by our guest speakers and the top three in each section will be awarded points:  3 for 1st, 2 for 2nd and 1 for 3rd.  Points will be accumulated during the year, and the overall winners will receive gardening vouchers as their prize. 

1. For the flower section, the requirement is a single flower (usually displayed in a vase) if that is how the plant grows, e.g. a narcissus or a dahlia.  If it is a flowering shrub, for example with clusters of flowers along the stem, then it is the whole stem that you display.  The point is that it is not a flower arranging exhibit, so multiple blooms or stems are not what we are looking for.  If you are an Ikebana fiend then you’ll know, of course, that even a single bloom may be displayed artistically!
2. For the pot plant section, much the same rule applies. The requirement is for a single plant growing in a pot.  For a plant that naturally produces little offsets all around the central growth, as many succulents do, you do not have to remove all the offsets!
3. During January to April there is an additional category of a cut flower from a bulb.

Bring something along for the Jan 14th meeting to liven up the room.

Bill.