For the past couple of years we have been going to the State Fair on what the Federated Garden club calls seniors day. It is a dispaly and a judging of several catagories of plants flowers and leafs. First year we won 3 ribbons and the second year 4. I have no gripes about anything I had that did not win a ribbon,but the show is a mess if there ever was one. Here is a list of things I observed the second year.
To begin with they have a group of helpers and judges asst. that are there to get all the competing things into the proper areas. I ask one of them where was the Heuchera leafs suppose to be placed. I told her the plants class. Well I had a feeling right of the bat that she did not know what a Heuchera was. For any of you who do not it is a Coral Bells. I had three leafs to present and she told we to put it in BULBS!!! The plant is a perannual nothing about it has a thing to do with a bulb. I did as I was told but it should have been grounds for disqualification.
There was one group of plants growing in containers that were being judged. These were all outside plants. I mentioned to another lady that was a judge asst that had I known that I would have brought a potted hosta that I have. She said I would not have been able to enter it because "those plants are the kind that can be grown in the ground outside" Well I went over there and checked it out and a blue ribbon was hanging on a hanging basket of impatients plus a few house plants. I still do not know what the h---- they were judging over there there was even house plants in there. So this year I am going to take ( if we bother to go) a long pot I have with three mini hosta in it and plant some kind of small flower around them like allysum and present it and just see what happens.
Well after the judging we came back to see how we done and I had 3 ribbons awarded just on my heuchera leafs. The amazing thing was one leaf took both 2place and 3rd place. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE. I also had a heuchera leaf there from a Purple Palace that was 11inches long and almost 8 inches wide and a perfect leaf. That leaf was over twice the size of normal for that plant. I thought sure if we got anything it would be on that. I got to wonder now if they even knew what it was,especially if it was being judged as a bulb where it did not belong.
Today we had a board member of National Federated Garden Club at out club meeting. She was explaining how the judges do the judging and all sheets they fill out for points etc. Well let me tell you these judges we had went thru that building and several hundred plants in about less than 20 minutes. What kind of thing is that.??? I am sure it was not judging the way they are suppose to.
State Fair
Whew!! Talk about a mess! I can't believe they put 2nd and 3rd on one heuchera leaf. That is crazy. I am gonna show that to my fellow gardeners at work so they can see what you went thru down there. I don't know if they show any down there or not but they will be interested in hearing about that.