Contents
of the Winter 2008 Northants News
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The
National Show 2008 Trevor Wray |
Before
The National Show was coming and
I was busy, very busy. Towards final entry time I finished work and popped up
the greenhouse to finalise my entries. You understand I had always intended to
enter. Maybe a token entry, I am not a great grower. There was a short list of
plants that might fit the grade, good enough to not be embarrassing: they were
mostly in the Crassula and Mesemb show groups. I had bought some special ‘National
Show’ flower pots at huge expense, (quickly ‘borrowed’ by the FL, but I
was going to borrow them back).
My entries ticked, I sat down for
dinner. The FL’s quiche, home grown vegetables, mouth-watering ummmm…
I glanced again at the Schedule.
Eeeekk!! Show entries must reach Mike Stansbie by 7th August and it was the 7th!
Then, now, today! In the rules I read, “Without exception, NO entry will be
accepted after that date”. It was underlined. Could I plead ignorance, slow
post, friendship… Could I even drive to Coventry that evening and sneak my
entry though Mike’s letter box before midnight? Email a photocopy? Well it
seemed pretty definite and, as I mellowed with a glass of wine, I thought about
the hours I would be saving not titivating my show entries. And half an hour on
show day not staging my exhibits. And half an hour not collecting them. A couple
of hours I could spend doing all the other things I must do and before more
deadlines. I shoved to the back of my mind that I would never win a National
Gong with the entries I hadn’t entered, nor any of the sponsor’s prize
money, which paid my expenses for the day out four years ago..
Naturally I would be looking very
closely at those classes I was going to enter. Were my potential entries better?
Would I scrape a third prize? (Of three entries.) And naturally I won’t fall
into the same trap in four years time. My entries will fall through the Show
Secretary’s letterbox two months before the deadline. If I am not too busy.
And if I am it will be a month before!
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The Day
I went with friends Richard
and Sheila and we cruised down with plenty of time to spare. I have to say
that Huntingdon is much nearer than Spalding. From Northampton, I don’t
suppose there is much in it from Scotland.
At the show ground there
was plenty of nearby parking which was good because I had a fair bit of
camera and computer gear to carry in. Flashing my steward’s wristband,
(I was an official photographer and had a minor administrative role there)
I jumped the queue and gained early admission to the Show Hall. Wow! Even
at a glance I could see the plants were good. |
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Mal Weobley (– Shows Chairman)
gave the official photographers the official briefing and we got on with it. I
had 17 classes to record – First, Second etc and Hugh was my ‘scribe’.
(Yes, our Hugh.) It was good fun. I concentrated on the technical side and Hugh
kept me focussed on what I should be doing. He would make a great Show
Secretary. Oh, he already is.
We tried to concentrate on good
record images. After we got the hang of it, Hugh would scoot round and move
distracting show cards and sometimes plants. In a few cases we moved winning
plants down to the floor and took pictures against a matt black cloth I had
brought. In most cases the black cloth used on the actual show tables was fine
however. When I went round later and took my ‘unofficial’ pictures a little
‘photoshopping’ could paint out all the distractions. The AGS could learn a
thing or two here, and the MSG, though the AGS move ‘selected’ show plants
to a mobile studio for the record images.
Our photos downloaded and
collated we were free to enjoy the Show and I did. Camera in hand I went and
took the pictures of the plants that interested me. For several hours. Lunch was
in one hand, camera in the other and err, my can of pop on the table. “Good
heavens, someone’s left their rubbish on the show table.” “Err… sorry
madam, that’s my lunch.”
My initial impression had been of
great plants and in the ‘other succulents’ this was certainly so. I am not
sure that the cacti were as good as the last show but there were certainly some
great plants there as well. I have a fairly good photographic record from both
these shows so there is scope for a bit of subjective winter research. Best
cactus went to Gillian Evison’s Uebelmannia pectinifera and I had
actually taken its ‘official’ photo earlier without even registering the
plant. (Class, first, second, third… next!)
So. What impressed me? As I look
through my photos, in the order I took them, I see… No it makes a better story
if I shuffle the pack…
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Happy branch member Tina beside
her Fockea crispa plant (left) which won the Ceropegia Class. Now
that plant was impressive! Later it gained an ‘Award of Merit’ card.
Tina will be autographing images of her plant for a small fee to aid her
Ebay conservation fund.
Harry Mak’s exhibit of variegated
Haworthias, (right). Most of them are disgusting; but well grown and
interesting! But disgusting. |
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Gillian Evison’s Pseudolithos
cubiformis in the Trichocaulon Subgroup. (Left) |
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Diana, the Hon Sec (left)
standing beside that Euphorbia horrida. Humongous! (The Euphorbia)
Brian Fearn’s pan of
Lithops. (right) The Judges preferred others for first and second but my
high resolution image captured 150 plants neatly indexed by number to the
species and Cole number. A useful reference. |
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| Best Succulent at the Show was
Tony Morris’s Euphorbia stellispina. (Right) Strangely the
certificate reads ‘stellaspina’. Strangely ‘stellaespina’ is an
invalid botanical name for this species. Just thought you should know.
I met a few even bigger ones in habitat last month. But they had the odd
bits knocked off and bent spines – it happens when they live for a few
decades in the Karoo. |
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Most enigmatic to me, (do I mean
problematic?) was a plant of Echinomastus kakuii (Left) which won a
first in the Pediocactus Class. Never heard of it and neither had CITES. A
web search had no hits but suggested ‘did I mean echinomastus kakusei?’
But when I clicked OK that had no results either. |
| The label that most impressed me
was Reicheocactus pseudoreichianus (think that’s right ‘rei….
rei’ twice) on Richard Edgington’s Lobivia famatimensis. (reight,
no right) I, we, have admired Tony Morris’s’ Lobivia famatimensis
for years at Zone Shows. This looks just a mite better. Shame about the
label. I have a few doubtful taxonomic names and perhaps some wrong ones
on my plants but pseudoreichianus went out with the ark. Not even
Mrs. Dell knows it. Millions of years ago Pseudoreichianus was
confused with what we now call Neoporteria (or even Eriosyce). Millions of
words were written about it, half of them by Backeberg. (‘Nuph said,)
Now this species is a Lobivia. Nuph said, please change the label
Richard. |
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An announcement from big DK said
that so and so’s plants were now half price. Then there was another. And
another. I tried to focus my camera with the sweat running into my wallet.
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Mammillaria
bocasana ‘Fred’ |
Most disgusting plant in
the Show was awarded to an exhibit of ‘Fred’. (left) Fred is Mammillaria
bocasana gone wrong, a monstrose apology for what is a pretty horrible
Mammillaria anyway. This particular exhibit was Fried Fred. Imagine the
worst Fred you have ever seen with eruptions, incrustations and
multi-colorations. You got it. I feel sick writing about it. Lucky the
judges did too.
Second most disgusting
plant was a ring cristate of Dudleya albiflora (right) which won a first in
class 124 for a disgusting succulent. Sorry that’s a misprint. Winning a
first is true but Class 124 is for a small (140mm) cristate or monstrose
succulent plant. D. albiflora is a native of Baja California which
seems a good place for this one. Interesting though. |
A ring
cristate of Dudleya albiflora |
Enough of the pretty (or not)
pictures. It was getting on and I had still not seen the sales plants.
Enthusiasts travel hundreds of miles for the sales at the National and I hadn’t
got even a sniff let alone a snout in the trough. Despite David’s
announcements of half priceness, when I got to the sales area it was deserted.
My conclusion was that all the good and/or half price plants had gone.
I turned the corner to see the
first stall. Nice plants. ‘Half price?’ I enquired. I got a stony look.
Apparently not so. At the next I asked if the price was in Euros. Apparently no.
Don’t these nursery people realise that with the global meltdown and fiscal
fiasco they should be giving their plants away?
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Eventually I was persuaded to
take some money out of the inner recesses of my wallet in exchange for some
plants. As no one can escape the Spanish Inquisition no one escapes the National
sales tables without a purchase. Actually my plants were a snip. All half price
but I would have happily paid the lot an hour earlier.
On my way round the sales plants
I passed Ray Stephenson and the Sedum Soc stand (left) and collected a free plant and
two cuttings. I also saved the cost of a stamp when I renewed my subscription.
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Later
A few days after the euphoria of
the National I went back to work, I work hard. Then I went to South Africa for
three weeks. Looking this week at my images of the Show I am still enthralled by
the skill and patience required to grow some of these plants. And their beauty.
And even when they weren’t beautiful they were interesting.
P.S.
So, would I have won any gongs at
the National if I had entered in time? I looked at the images… you bet I
would! I had competing entries in the Rebutia, Lithops, Mesemb and Crassula
classes. But remember for next time – if you don’t enter you won’t win.
Must buy a lottery ticket today! And enter the National in four years.
Trev
