It was so good to return to RHS Rosemoor for the Daffodil competition & Hyacinth competition. The sight and scent of a flower filled hall was a delight and it was clear from the surge of visitors pouring in as the doors opened that it wasn’t just the exhibitors who had missed this joyous event.
Frankie Charlton’s long journey from the North East was well worth it. He had some strong , colourful flowers in Class 1, Six cultivars, one bloom of each successfully overcoming three other entrants to be the worthy winner of a beautiful crystal trophy. Polgooth, was the Best Bloom in the show, Ombersley, Navigator, Seville Orange, Honeybourne, Corby Candle.
Other notable wins included a vase of three Corby Candle, 3×3 blooms of Navigator, Seville Orange and Habit.
To be honest the single vase classes were rather on the thin side with some colourful but unexceptional flowers. Division 6 entries from Richard Mc Caw provided a winning Susies sister and a Trena seedling combination. Division 4 found the first and third placed Heamoor split by a Kiwi Sunset.
I like to see multi stemmed collection vases and Ivor Clarke had a nice set of Early Choice x 2, Honeybourne, Bramcote Gem and an Unknown flower but this was fairly beaten by five stems of Queen’s Guard shown by Richard Mc Caw.
The Miniature and Wild Daffodils section saw the strongest entries with six competitors in the Nine vase Crystal trophy class. Brian Duncan’s winning entry was a delightfully fresh set, with some colour, conventionally arranged with alternate coloured perianth that won the heart of all three judges. Great Try , the best Miniature Bloom in the show, Little Tweet, Eenie, Speedie plus seedlings frpm N jonquilla, N dubius and N triandrus concolor completing his collection. There was excellent competition and it was a joy to be able to see so many charming and exquisite hybrids a real testament to the skill of the raisers.
All this section had a good range of entries with some unusual flowers. Ann Wright achieved first, second and third place with a “Persil white” N cantrabicus, a well rounded Mitimoto and a rarely seen Hedraenthus lutealentus out of 12 entries in Class 25.
Her delightfully pale and elegant Andy Blanchard drew much admiration (or was that envy?) in Class 24 and her winning entry in Class 29, three miniature species was diminutive but startlingly bold and bright with a buttery yellow N calcicola, a pure white N triandrus and a lemony yello N x incurvcervicus.
Ann is also “Queen of the pots”. All her entries achieved firsts and were superb examples of good growing and attention to detail. N provincialis, N asturiensis, Coo and Papa Snoz.
There were also some more readily available miniatures with prize cards. Humming bird and Jetage had strong colour and form and Roundita, albeit substantial next to some entries still had daintyness and good form. Two Bulbocodium hybrids caught the eye. Golden Palace , of good size with neatly spaced distinctive green perianth segments and Capilla Gold with a deep green eye will surely be seen on showbences in the future.
The show was topped by Adrian Scamp who produced a stunning trade display. From a slowish start the sudden hastening of the season clearly gave him a magnificent range of form and colour fdrom which to create such an eye catching display.
Meanwhile those taking a turn around the beautifully kept garden would have seen daffodils in their prime throughout the borders. Jack Snipe, Rosemoor Gold and Rapture make such an impact. Then N. cyclamineus meadow and waterside looked stronger than when I last saw them in 2019 and the N. Bulbocodium likewise. There were N pseudonarcissus in the entrance and car parking area . It was so good to be back.
