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THE STATE OF THE ART By Dave Reid.
I doubt if many growers will have experienced a more frustrating summer season, definitely one for the record books. Heat when we required rain for plant development and rain when sunshine was needed for bloom production in August. With so much free moisture drifting under the covers, just before the show season commenced, it had a devastating effect on the blooms, especially giants. Yes it was a time when we were considering putting mulch down on the mulch. The hot conditions had a more detrimental effect on certain varieties than others and it soon showed up as the blooms developed when the dreaded open centres appeared. White Charlie Two was the first victim. Sir Alf Ramsay did not like it and blooms were very late to develop and when they did the colour was awful, to be polite. I had a few late developing plants that were alright, so I will be able to propagate from them with confidence. From twenty eight plants only a handful of blooms made it to the show bench.. The general consensus is that it is unsafe to propagate from plants that had open centres. I wouldn’t like to say what effect it had on pot tubers, but if they had double blooms on them they should be alright. New releases
Well how did the new releases perform for you? I had two extremes,
Ruskin Michele, medium sem- cactus was
very early and the first flush was blooms were on the small side. Form and
colour were good, excellent stems produce blooms well above foliage. Definitely
needs restricting, one that you could maybe grow two plants at the same station.
Kea magic, a white giant dec was very
late to bloom, around the end of September after I thought a normal stopping
time. For the national show would have to be stopped around the middle of May.
Good growth habit on strong stems producing flowers well above the foliage.
Don Mosley had two blooms in his winning
twelve at the Harrogate Show. One of these blooms in particular was outstanding
with excellent depth, a quality essential for good giants.
Bryn Terfel was again amongst the cards
but my reservations on its future classification are not fully allayed. I am
convinced on one thing and that is, the bigger the bloom the more the petals are
twisted and distorted. If blooms were grown smaller they would be nearer to the
decorative ideal. Some exhibitors however want to grow blooms as large as
possible. Some judges are reluctant to down point it on form and appear to be
influenced and transfixed by mere size. I would like to be a fly on the wall at
the classification committee when its future is decided. Could you have the
first giant miscellaneous type to be recorded in the classification directory!
It begs the question should there be different petal form ideals for giant and
large decoratives, as they appear to enjoy latitudes of form not accepted in the
mediums and below classes. Time for a rethink hear. I grew the new yellow small dec Joan Walker from Phil Watson but didn’t get the long stems the raiser produced on it. Grown six up, this could be a useful addition. The centres were suspect being a little inconsistent to maintain good tight form. Maybe it was due to heat but it will be better assessed in a normal season. Blyton Lady in Red has very good form and on easy manageable plants at around four feet. The stems need strengthening a bit for the showbench and this one will be a regular for exhibitors shortly. Blyton Soft Gleam had a good year, either as a small or minature ball and was not affected by the heat. One that the classification committee might have a problem with but it is a pleasure to grow, so easy to look after Cliff Wragg had an excellent vase of it ton take the medal at the Midlands Late Show. It finished the season off in fine style when it won the Stedwick Medal as the best disbudded variety at the Wisley Trials in its first year. Hillcrest Matt released at Ridgeway Nursery last year as a small decorative is now considered by the raiser Les Jackson to be a small ball, a bonus for the struggling small class. Well done Les. NEW VARIETIES SEEN. Of the new varieties seen, one that caught the eye was the yellow giant dec Clivevale from Gordon Armstrong which has a resemblance to Alvas Supreme but I think it has a better centre, with equally as good form. Not available until 2008. Gordon has not been about in recent years at out shows but he certainly has come back with a future winner to wet the appetite of the Giant growers. Clearview Irene , medium semi cactus, 2005 overseas seedling winner at the national show was seen on the trial grounds at Wisley and Leeds. Another Classification Problem here. Is it Medium Semi Cactus or Decorative. At Leeds grown inside it was MSC at Wisley grow outside it was Dec. I was tempted to grow this one as a large. Available fron Rycroft Nursery in tuber or plants looks a good prospect. Roy Rodgers of Coolham Sussex, a leading miniature decorative and ball exhibitor has struck a rich seem of miniature seedlings as well as having medium dec and small cactus as well. We await with interest for their release after seeing them in various classes at the national show in 2006. Roger Turell’s small cactus Avoca Kiowa which won the Crowley Seedling Cup at the national show and went on to get the Jescot Cup as the Best seedling in the show has excellent form and should make an impact in it’s very competitive class. On release from Porter’s Dahlias in 2007. The Western Miniature Cactus-Semi Cactus seedlings keep rolling off the production line at Bulkington and the latest, Western Stardust is a real eye catcher. The petal of Purpleto Red with a yellow base maintains the high standard we have come to expect from Tom McLelland. This one should be equally as popular as his Spanish Dancer and Torero. Granville Davies of Pembroke is best known for his exellent Pom growing but in 2006 he brought to the National Show his pink small ball seedling Pembrooke Levanne to take home the Luckhurst Cup. A seedling with Hamari Genes in it’s raising, being a product from Hamari Rose’. It should be released from Halls of Heddon in 2008. Exhibitors at Harrogate in 2006 were attracted by the winner of the overseas class Narrows Tericia a yellow medium semi cactus from the U.S.A. and staged by Les Jackson. A seedling out of Hamari Accord with all the Accord Characteristics in evidence but it will have to compete in a very tough section, where refinement is essential. I would be tempted to try this one as a large. On release from Les as plants for 2007 when we will be able to see it under general U.K. conditions. The parent performs better in hot overseas countries, so with the climate change here it will perform well. Another addition to the large section is Geerling’s Gold which has good form and growth habit, and is available now from Gerrlings Dahlias. Also from the same nursery is the giant or possibly large red, Jet Fire. It has a very strong stem and compact growth habit and could be grown in either classification. Medium Decoratives. Despite the usual cry from the Medium Dec growers for a new good one, not many of the recent released varieties appear to be finding favour. B.J.Beauty despite it’s detractors still keeps appearing in winning exhibits. The best medium dec exhibit I saw all season was the two vases of Avoca Salmon which got the silver medal for Alan Bradley at the Birmingham show. Maybe we don’t persevere enough with the ones available. Ruskin Moonlight, a medium semi-cactus had the misfortune to be wrongly entered in the 2005 Classification Directory and got off to a bad start as a result, as technically it could not be entered in a show in its proper class. If you can acquire stock of this one it is well worth growing. Around The Shows. Around the national show benches we find Wendy and Barry Kenyon in fine form. The big question here, do they have separate trophy cabinets. Any bets on which one will be filled first? I particularly liked her G.S.C. exhibit at Harrogate, along with the successful defence of her titles at all of the national shows. Barry got the prestigious Terry Clarke and Crane Tropies at the national, titles hard to defend. He also won the Midlands championship silver and bronze medals. The weather, no doubt had an effect on staged entries, especially the late shows and was particularly evident at Harrogate where there was only one entry in the G.S.C, M.S.C., Pompon and Small Decorative championships, with just two in the small cactus. One bloom in the specimen bloom class caught my eye, and it was Staleen Condesa, which got the bronze medal for the best in the section. This variety has come in for criticism in the past, but this one was the best I have ever seen. There was no evidence of an isolated centre, which knockers tend to highlight. The Monklands D.S. again completed the double despite the loss of Tommy Melrose in the A. Luck society cup, well done by them. Trelyn Kiwi did not have the success it usually has in 2OO6 and it could have been the result of the weather conditions. Another question here for the classification committee. What is its proper colour classification? It is slowly reverting to the parent colour so what effect has this on its being judged. I staged, a vase at the National show recently, which was pure white and when the judges were asked why they were not impressed by it they replied that it was the wrong colour! It recalls the old debate about the correct colour of the small decorative Nina Chester which had a slight lavender overlay at its centre in some blooms and others were pure white. A lot of the variations are due to certain soil conditions which can affect the intensity of colour. Despite the weather conditions there was a good turn out at the National show, much to the surprise of many people. Exhibitors overcame the adverse elements to get their blooms staged, regardless of distance travelled and misfortune and it was good to see the benches filled up. Commiserations to the two Bedford exhibitors who had the misfortune to arrive too late to get their blooms staged at Harrogate. Due to roadworks delay and finally an engine failure their luck finally ran out, Also , sad to report that the Bedford Dahlia Society has had to pack up due to lack of membership support. The news of the closure was kept back until after the funeral of their president, Ernie Pitt, a stalwart both at local and national level where he served on the Executive Council and was a former editor of N.D.S. publications.
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