The ‘art’ of showing your plants on the show bench starts long before the date of the show with you making sure that your plants are grown well and grown clean. Your plants should be covered with an abundance of foliage and unless they are destined for the ornamental foliage class they should also have an abundance of flowers.

Final dressing (dressing is the term given to making the best of your plant, tidying it up, removing any pollen from leaves, placing branches in the correct positions and moving flowers to cover as much of the plant as possible) of your plants can be completed at the show, however you should spend a few minutes with each one, removing and yellowing leaves, faded blooms and debris that may have accumulated on the compost.

Holding your plant and pot securely turn it upside down and giving it a shake will often remove any loose leaves and blooms. It is worth noting here that leaving the pedicels (a pedicel is the part of the flower which holds the ‘seed pod’ and stays on the plant after the flower has dropped) is frowned upon and deemed to be a cultural fault so make sure you remove these.

One of the biggest headaches faced by anyone who wants to exhibit is how to ensure that the plants you intend to show actually reach the show bench in as perfect and pristine condition as possible.

Many methods have been devised to ensure this, including;

• having purpose made boxes;
• using cardboard boxes and packing plants in these;
• making concrete ‘pot holders;
• using a cloth roll – mutton cloth is good for this;
• wrapping plants in net curtaining;
• wrapping plants in horticultural fleece;
• a combination of all these.

Personally I use a roll of lightweight muslin cloth, cut to length and rolled over the plants to form a sleeve. These are tied at the top and depending on the size of the pot either packed into boxes or stood in individual concrete blocks and place in the boot of the car.

With larger plants and standards I use either lightweight net curtaining or fleece, again made into a sleeve using safety pins and with assistance slipped over the plant, from bottom to top. When you get to the show venue you can undo the safety pins from the bottom to allow the foliage to fall naturally and a slight shake will ‘settle’ the plant.

Hanging pots, baskets and half baskets present a challenge and once again many variations and ingenious designs have been made. The main criterion is to maintain the length of drop in these exhibits in good condition without damaging the blooms. A bowl or bucket with a wide bas can be secured and use for this purpose. With half baskets the easiest way is to wire two together and handle as a full basket.

AT THE SHOW VENUE

When you arrive at the venue you should firstly take as many saucers as you have plants to exhibit, then locate the show secretary and obtain your exhibitors cards. Next, have a look around the venue, I always like to see where the plants are going to be staged and I see if I can find a good spot for my plants (it always a good idea to get to the venue as early as you can) and place a saucer in the spot where you want your plants to go.

It is an unwritten rule that at any show you DO NOT touch any other exhibitor’s plants without their permission, many an argument has ensued over this happening. If you want a plant or an exhibit moving to make space for your plant you should ask a steward or the show manager.

NEVER MOVE ANY PLANT OR EXHIBIT THAT
DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU

ALWAYS ASK A STEWARD OR THE SHOW MANAGER

You can now start to bring your plants into the show, preferably one at a time making sure that there are no obstructions to your route. The last thing you need is to have to make a detour when you are carrying a large plant or exhibit. The term exhibit can refer to a single plant, standard, hanging pot, full basket or half basket, three pot classes are also exhibits, but the individual plants that make up this exhibit can be judged as a single plant for a special award, if the schedule doesn’t say otherwise).

STAGING YOUR PLANTS

Make sure before you put your plants on the show bench that they pest and disease free, in clean pots, terracotta in colour (hanging pots are usually green) and of the size required. Don’t try and put a larger plant into a smaller pot, believe me the judge will know he will have many years experience and no doubt seen it all before. Trying to do it the other way, a plant growing in a small pot being put into a bigger pot is a bit pointless and besides the rules state that the plant must be shown in the pot it was grown. This doesn’t literally mean that dirty pot that the plant was grown in but a pot of equivalent size. The saucers that you are using should also be clean terracotta in colour and where possible match the size of the pot you are providing it for.