Buderim Garden Club

 

                                                                                 “Friendship through gardening”

 

 

Buderim Garden Festival 2019

 

Spring Flower Show

 

 

ENTRY SCHEDULE

 

Hall Set-Up:                                     Friday 18 October 2019                        7:00am – 9:00am

 

Acceptance of Entries:                      Friday 18 October 2019                        9:00am – 2:00pm

 

Judging of Entries:                           Friday 18 October 2019                         2:00pm – 4:30pm

 

Show and Plant Market Open:          Friday 18 October                        5:00pm – 8:30pm

                                                      Saturday 19 October 2019            8:00am – 4:00pm

                                                      Sunday 20 October 2019             8:00am – 1:00pm

 

Presentation of Prizes:                     Saturday 19 October 2019            2:00pm

 

Removal of Entries:                         Sunday 20 October 2019              1:30pm

 

 

Show Raffle Drawn:                    Sunday 20 October 2019          12:00pm

Show Enquiries to: Chief Show Steward, John Sargaison

Tel: 0490 770 547

 

In conjunction with the Spring Flower Show:

1. Open Gardens: Saturday 8:00am - 4:00pm and Sunday 8:00am - 3:00pm;
2. Quality plant market in grounds during the Spring Flower Show (including Friday evening);
3. Refreshments available Saturday and Sunday.

 

Garden Festival further information: www.buderimgardenclub.com

* Entries in Section 11 Garden Photography must be submitted by 4pm Friday 11 October

Conditions of Show Entry and Rules

1. Every care will be taken of exhibits however BGC will accept no responsibility for damage to or loss of exhibits.
2. A maximum of 3 entries per exhibitor in each class.
3. All exhibits in Sections 1-7 and 9 must be the property of and have been grown by the exhibitor for at least 3 months prior to entry.
4. Exhibitors in Sections 1-4 must use containers provided by BGC.
5. The stem of exhibits in Sections 1-4 must be clearly visible at the neck of the container.
6. Exhibits in Sections 1-4 may be wedged at the neck of the container, with plastic tubing or similar, but staking of the stem above the container is not permitted. It is better to insert the stem between the container and plastic tubing rather than the middle of the plastic tubing.
7. Special arrangements will be approved for supporting flowers of climbers / vines (Sections 2/26 and 3/28).
8. Exhibits in Sections 6/7 must only be shown in the pots / containers / baskets that they have been growing in, without additional display container or covering.
9. Section 11 Garden Photography – additional rules are detailed under this section.
10. Exhibitors are responsible for the arrangement of their exhibits before staging.
11. Only Stewards and Judges will be allowed to touch/move entries once staged in the hall.
12. Points to determine Trophy/Champion Exhibit winners may be awarded in each class, as follows: First - 5 points, Second - 3 points.
13. No person other than the Judges and Stewards are to be present during judging.
14. Prizes may be awarded in each class at the discretion of the Judges (1st = $10, 2nd = $5).
15. The judge’s decision will be final.
16. Prize money can be collected from the Chief Show Steward or nominee any time after 12:00 noon on the Saturday.
17. Hours of entry acceptance will be strictly adhered to.
18. No exhibit is to be removed from the show benches until the Show closes on Sunday and the Chief Steward has approved the commencement of removal.

 

Please note, entries in Sections 1 – 3 are expected to last 3 days and where possible exhibitors should replace spent flowers where required to maintain the overall quality of the show.

 

 

Section 1 – Cut Flowers

 

Class

 

1. Spike – 1 flower stem, multiple flowers (e.g. snapdragon, stock, foxglove, delphinium, lupin)
2. Spathe Anthurium – 1 flower head
3. Spathe (other)– 1 flower head (spike with single large bract) e.g. spathiphyllum
4. Hippeastrum – 1 flower stem
5. Clivia – 1 flower stem
6. Any other Bulb or Corm – 1 flower stem (e.g. gladiolia, Jacobean lilly)
7. Heliconia and Strelitzia – 1 flower stem
8. Any other Rhizome or Tuber – 1 flower stem (e.g. ginger, iris, dahlia)
9. Rose hybrid tea – 1 flower stem
10. Rose other – 1 flower stem (e.g. climbing, floribunda, scrambling, miniature)
11. Orchid Crucifix – 3 flower stems
12. Orchid other – 1 flower stem
13. Pansy or Viola – 3 flowers on saucer, stems through absorbent paper
14. Nasturtium – 3 stems with flowers and leaves
15. Nasturtium – massed container of flowers
16. Salvias – 3 flower stems from same plant/species
17. Geranium any colour – 1 flower stem of any type / species
18. Composite flowers – any colour – 3 flower stems (e.g. daisy, gerbera, marigold, sunflower)
19. Other species – 3 matched stems of flowers not covered by classes 11,14, 16 or 18 (e.g. carnation, sweet pea)
20. A single flower/head – 1 flower stem (e.g. carnation, daisy, geranium, gerbera)
21. Collection of flowers, all same type/species – multiple flowers (flowers from Section 1 only)
22. Collection of flowers, mixed type/species – multiple flowers/flower stems (flowers from Section 1 only)

 

 

Section 2 – Flowers From Exotics (soft shrub, woody shrub, tree, climber)

 

Class

 

1. Hibiscus – 1 flower
2. Shrub, soft-medium stem (short-medium height) – 3 flower heads (e.g. azalea, butterfly bush, ixora, pentas, shrimp plant, vireya)
3. Shrub, medium woody – 1 flower stem (e.g. calliandra, camellia, crepe myrtle, tibouchina)
4. Tree or climber  - 1 stem (e.g. bougainvillea, jade vine, Rangoon creeper)

 

 

Section 3 – Flowers From Natives

 

1. Shrub or Ground Cover – 3 stems with flowers (e.g. bottlebrush, grevillea, wattle, banksia, boronia, eremophila)
2. Tree, Climber or Vine not specified – 1 stem with flower head (e.g. firewheel, Frazer Is. Creeper, gum, wonga vine, tree waratah)

 

 

Section 4 – Foliage Collection (maximum height 500mm)

 

1. Croton – 3 stems
2. Coleus – 3 stems
3. Cordyline – 3 stems
4. Foliage collection, other, single species – 3 stems (e.g. aglaonema, caladium, fern)
5. Foliage collection, mixed species – 3 to 5 stems
6. Foliage collection, massed container – maximum 8 stems

 

 

Section 5 – Bonsai

 

1. Novice Bonsai – entrant has not won two first prizes in competitions
2. Open Bonsai

 

Section 6 – Plants in Standing Pots

 

Class

1. Fern – single species
2. Begonia – flowering or not       
3. Bromeliad - flowering or not
4. Anthurium - flowering or not
5. Dieffenbachia - flowering or not
6. Agloanema - flowering or not
7. Foliage Plant (not otherwise specified)
8. Plant in flower (not otherwise specified)
9. Succulent or cactus – single species
10. Succulent or cactus - mixed species
11. Multi planted pot  - with 3 or more species (flowering or not)
12. Orchid in flower

 

 

Section 7 - Hanging Baskets/Pots/Plants (also air plants)

 

1. Fern – single species
2. Foliage Plant
3. Flowering Plant
4. Tillandsia / Air Plant exhibit

 

 

Section 8 - Novelty Arrangement

 

1. Boot / Shoe with flowers*
2. Teapot with flowers*
3. Open Design with plant and/or flowers* (base no larger than 30cm square and be able to sit on the display table).   

           

            * No artificial flowers allowed

 

Section 9 – Fruit, Vegetables and Herbs

Class

1. Any Fruit
2. Single Vegetable in pot
3. 3 Salad greens in pot/container – leaf vegetables (e.g. lettuce, mizuma, rocket, cress, chives, shallot)
4. Single Herb in pot
5. 3 Herbs in pot/container – leaf, seed or root (e.g. coriander, basil, mint)
6. Massed collection of edibles – maximum 10 (e.g. fruit, vegetable or herb)

 

Section 10 – Children “Small World” Potted Plant

 

1. Decorated “Small World” Potted Plant – Daycare (0 – 3 year old), using a potted plant create your own small world design around your plant
2. Decorated “Small World” Potted Plant – Daycare (4 -5 year old), using a potted plant create your own small world design around your plant

 

Section 11 – Garden Photography (Unframed)

 

1. Single Flower
2. Multiple Flower
3. Flowers produced by bulbs, corms or rhizomes
4. Flowering native plant – small plant, shrub or tree
5. Fauna in local garden

1. the exhibitor must have taken the photograph and the photo must not have been previously entered in a BGC photo competition
2. photographs can be submitted either *:
   1. electronically in JPEG format via email to buderimphotos@gmail.com or
   2. printed (150 x 200 mm - 6 x 8 in) and mailed (or handed) to Merryn Jooste (Show Photo Competition, PO Box 626, Buderim, QLD 4556)
   3. with both electronic and printed entries the following details must be provided: member’s club number, class number and title (as detailed in the BGC Show Schedule) and photo title (e.g. name of plant in photo) -with prints write these details on the back of the photo, with a soft pencil, so that the details do not damage the photo

N.B. the closing date for entries in Section 11 is 4:00pm Friday 11 October

* non-members may only submit printed entries in Section 11

List of Perpetual Trophies and Prizes

 

Best Buderim Garden Club Member in Show

1. most points overall in show “Manawee Plant Nursery Trophy” plus $25

 

Encouragement Award

1. Gordon Eaton Memorial Vase

 

Section 1 – Cut Flowers

1. Champion Rose “Nelva Russell Memorial Cup” plus $15
2. Champion Bloom (other than rose) “Geoff Drury Memorial” plus $15
3. Most Points “Maroochy Shire Bi-Centennial” plus $15

 

Section 2 – Flowers From Exotics

1. Champion Exhibit “Buderim Chronicle Rose Bowl Trophy” plus $15

 

Section 3 – Flowers From Natives

1. “Buderim Garden Village Trophy” plus $15

 

Section 4 – Foliage

1. “Buderim Garden Club Inc. 2011 – 65th Birthday Trophy” plus $15

 

Section 5 – Bonsai

1. “Buderim Garden Club Inc. 2011 – 65th Birthday Trophy” plus $15

 

Section 6 – Pot Plants

1. Champion Exhibit “C. Brentnall Trophy” plus $15

 

Section 7 – Hanging Baskets/ Pots/Plants

1. Champion Exhibit “Buderim Garden Club Trophy” plus $15
2. Most points Sections 6 and 7 (container plants) “Maroochy Shire Bi-Centennial” plus $15

 

Section 8 – Novelty Arrangement

1. Champion Exhibit, cash prize only $15

 

Section 9 – Vegetables and Herbs

1. “Buderim Garden Club Inc. Vegetables and Herbs” plus $15

 

Section 10 – Children’s Small World Potted Plant

1. Class 63 $10
2. Class 64 $10

3. Class 65 $10

 

Section 11 – Garden Photography

1. Best exhibit “Picture Frame Trophy” plus $15

Buderim Garden Club

 
 President: John Lyon

Secretary: Monika Stinton

Treasurer: Lesley Doyle

 

Founded in 1946, the Club has approximately 260 members and welcomes residents of Buderim and surrounding districts.

 

Club meetings are held at 2:00pm on the second Friday of each month from February to November in the Buderim Memorial Hall on the corner of Church and Main Streets, Buderim.  Meetings include:

1. a guest speaker;
2. flower and photography competitions;
3. free seed bank;
4. library;
5. plant stalls; and
6. afternoon tea

 

Tours, both one day and longer, garden workshops, working bees at the Edna Walling Memorial Garden and around the Memorial Hall are organized throughout the year.

 

Annual membership of the club is $10.

 

A monthly newsletter is issued to members and regular updates are available on our club website: www.buderimgardenclub.com

 

Contact Details:

 

Email: buderimgardenclub@gmail.com

 

Mobile phone: 04 4871 4561

 

Mailing address: P.O. Box 626, Buderim, QLD, 4556

 

We are also on Facebook: www.facebook.com/BuderimGardenClub/

 

 

BUDERIM GARDEN FESTIVAL 2019

Over the weekend of 18th, 19th and 20th October 2019, the annual Buderim Garden Festival will attract many gardeners and interested spectators from around the state. This Festival will centre in and around the Buderim War Memorial Hall (corner of Main and Church Streets, Buderim) with a competitive Spring Flower Show of Cut Flowers, Floral Arrangements, Hanging Baskets, Bonsai Plants and Photography Exhibition
This year, the colour “yellow” is being featured, as exemplified by the Wattle flowers on our attached flyer.

Adjacent to the hall, there will be a Quality Plant Market selling Mixed Garden Plants, Bromeliads, Gerberas, Orchids, Staghorns & Ferns, Sub-tropicals, Roses, Geraniums, Cottage Garden Plants, Begonias, Garden Novelties, Cacti & Succulents etc.

This year we are trialling a twilight Quality Plant Market, from 5pm-9:00 pm on Friday 18th as well as the usual Saturday 8am-4pm and Sunday 9am-1pm plant markets. Each day and as needed, stalls will be replenished with quality plants.
The Flower Show and a much expanded Photography Exhibition will also be opened on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the times shown.

There will be Exclusive Open Gardens in the Buderim area which are selected to showcase the diversity in size and style of gardening in our area.  Visitors will be able to see the Open Gardens without traffic and parking problems via a free small bus service. These will be open Saturday  9am-4pm and Sunday 9am-3pm

An inclusive weekend Festival ticket for the above is $15.00, or
$2 entry to the Spring Flower Show in the main hall and Photography exhibition in the hall foyer only.
The tickets will be available at Manawee Nursery, the Old Buderim P.O., Buderim Newsagent or Buderim Bendigo Community Bank branch

We welcome bus groups, and a discount to $12 is available for pre-booked groups of 10 or more. Book on 0448 714 561 or buderimgardenclub@gmail.com. Please book as early as you can, so that arrangements can be made for tickets to be sent.

At the Craft Cottage adjacent to the Hall, Buderim’s artists, potters and sculptors will present their exhibitions including “The Sculptured Garden.” which features sculpture, along with unique planters, outdoor wall art, and functional and decorative pottery.
Next door is St Mark's church which will be decorated with floral arrangements.

Light refreshments will be available, with the Buderim Village Green across the road being an ideal place to wander and picnic. 
We have two local co-sponsors - the Manawee Garden Centre and the Buderim Bendigo Community Bank branch. Manawee Garden Centre is one of QLD's best nurseries, and is within walking distance from the Hall. 

The official opening is on Sat. 19th October at 2 pm.  On Sunday 20th, the Monster Raffle will be drawn at 12.00 pm and the Festival will finish in the Hall at 1pm however Open Gardens close at 3pm. Festival details and the Show Schedule will be on the website www.buderimgardenclub.com in due course.

Next year’s Festival will be held on October 16th,  17th and 18th 2020.  We’d love to see you again

The 2018 Garden Festival was a resounding success. The feedback we have received has been overwhelmingly positive, visitors all thought the gardens & flower show were great.

We were fortunate this year to have had wonderful weather and great crowds (what a relief after all the rain the weekend before & most of the week leading up to the Festival).

 

Organisation for the Festival started soon after last year’s AGM with the formation of the Festival Committee and with date claimers being sent out to all Garden Clubs. It takes a huge effort on the part of many to stage an event like the Garden Festival. My thanks go to the convenors who carried out their area of responsibility so effectively. This has been very much a team effort and I sincerely thank all the members of our management committee for their individual input and efforts as well as all the Club members who assisted with the setting up of the hall, manned stalls, assisted with buses traffic control, sat on Gardens, donated plants and entered exhibits to the competition.

 

SPONSORSHIP

This year we were fortunate to have two sponsors. Manawee Garden Centre sponsored the club by covering the cost of producing the tickets for the Festival which this year came to $1125. They also supported the club by arranging an attractive floral display on the stage and we thank Manawee for their consistent and continued support.

 

We also received sponsorship from the Buderim Bendigo Community Bank. The Bank sponsored most of the cost of the buses ($1500) which allowed people free travel to the open gardens. The cost of the buses came to $1920. We received much positive feedback for this free service. We are extremely grateful to the bank for their support of this community event.

 

The club arranged a display of flowering and non-flowering plants at the OPO and Bendigo Bank for the last two weeks to promote the Festival, and I thank Steve Wikman and Jenni Campbell who readily helped setup & supplied their plants.

Also, this year the BGC purchased 10 Festival flags, and they were well displayed around Buderim, and Teddy Gove provided 4 hanging baskets that were displayed at the hall.  Thanks Teddy, they had great comments from the public.

FINANCIALS (Summary, some items combined & floats/ticket sponsorship & Bus sponsorship left out, Lesley will have full breakdown of finances in her report).

 

 As always, it needs to be noted that it takes significant costs to stage an event like this. All the profits go to the beautification of Buderim and Buderim businesses benefit not only from our expenditure within Buderim but also from the extra customers that the Festival brings to the district.

 

PROMOTION AND ADVERTISING

We have received excellent coverage in the media this year especially the print media. This was largely due to Noel Williams. Leanne Crowe provided great promotion to supply bus trips information on the Festival, and Monika used her many contacts to ensure the event was advertised widely with Garden Clubs of Queensland.

 

Our Festival poster was on display in the Old Post Office for two weeks and at the Bendigo Community Bank for two weeks, as well as at the Qld Garden Expo. 5000 flyers were handed out at Nambour and the Buderim Street Party and various other locations such as local businesses and retirement centres in the months prior to the Festival.

 

 

SPRING FLOWER SHOW (refer to full report from John Sargaison - Chief Show Steward)

The display this year in the BWMCA Hall was once again splendid in its colour and the quality of the exhibits. This year we had 11 sections and 70 classes for members and non-members to enter. In total we had 577 entries in this year’s show.  This compares with 480 in 2017 and 450 in 2016.

 

 One of the significant changes this year that accounted for the increased numbers was with the Children’s section.  In 2017 we continued with inviting entries from the local pre-school however no entries were received.  This year Milford Lodge Day-care Centre were enthusiastic to participate, so the Children’s Section was changed to two classes for children 0-3 and 4-5-year-olds.  We had 80 great entries from the children at Milford Lodge based on the theme of a “Small World Potted Plant”. 

 

The official opening of the Show and presentation of trophies was again held at 2pm on the Saturday and BGC invited Marjorie Van Roy, our patron and sponsor, Peter Macdonnell from Buderim Bendigo Community Bank and the Federal Member for Fairfax Mr Ted O’Brien to present the trophies to the winners of the various sections.

 

Our Chief Steward and Convenor John Sargaison has once again done a wonderful job. Thank you, John.

 

OPEN GARDENS

The 2018 BGC Garden Festival featured 6 Open Gardens. The Open Gardens where selected to showcase the diversity in size and style of gardening in our area. It was very pleasing to have 2 of the 6 gardens from Club Members this year, and it was great to have 4 non-members offer their gardens as open gardens to the BGC, a great effort on behalf of our Club and the Members/Owners. The club donated $300 to each garden owner to help in preparing a colourful display, which was most appreciated by the owners. 

This year we had 1 x 28 and 1 x 24-seater bus on Saturday and 1 x 28 on Sunday making a total of 8 trips on Saturday & 4 trips on Sunday to all the Open Gardens from the Memorial Hall. 284 people used this free service, and were very happy with the opportunity to enjoy some of Buderim’s beauty. This was free to ticket holders with thanks to the sponsorship this year from Buderim Community Bank branch of Bendigo Bank. I would like to thank Peter and Laurel Asimus who controlled the mini buses visits to gardens (well used).

 

Again, this year the BGC in conjunction with Sunshine Coast Council (SCC) had Temporary Bus Zones for open gardens. The SCC arranged the installation of temporary Bus Zones. These signs were placed as set by SCC on Friday before & taken down on Monday after. 5 Garden Clubs attended the Festival, using presale tickets and 5 Buses – 113 visitors in total (last year 290, which saved us with Big Wet).

Attendance at gardens:

1. Glenn & Pam Busby (BGC members) 8 Le Claire Place. (had 597 visitors)

 

1. Milford Lodge (Molly Stewart) 28 Gloucester Road. (had 500 visitors)

 

1. Debbie & Glen Kassuke 6 Chadwick Street. (had 596 visitors)

 

1. Coline & Geoff Murphy (BGC members) 6 Xanadu Grove. (had 493 visitors)

 

1. Mariya Taylor & Neven Daniel 67 Gossamer Drive (had 493 visitors)

 

1. Evelyne & Mark Roche 18 Murray Pine Court (had 601 visitors)

                                                                       

TICKET SALES

The BGC arranged preselling of tickets from the Buderim OPO, Manawee Garden Centre, Buderim News and Buderim Community Bank prior to the Festival, with some sales at Manawee over the Festival weekend, and we thank those outlets for their help.

Complimentary tickets, discounted tickets ($12) to Garden Groups bus trips and $15 ticket sales, totalled just over 800 tickets in total, not forgetting the return from $2 coin donations for Hall entry. $15 tickets were available at all Open Gardens with a $5 entry to a single garden.

 

CATERING

Once again, the Buderim Scout Group did a wonderful job catering for us at the Festival. Everything ran smoothly and the cakes, scones, quiches, pies and sandwiches were enjoyed by many, Great food and great service.

 

RAFFLE

This year we had a total of 19 raffle prizes to the value of $800, due to the great support by mainly Buderim business (see list below). Thanks to Monika in assisting me to obtain the great prizes, and thanks to Lois Van Motman for organising the raffle tickets. She does a wonderful job for us, not only at the monthly club meetings but also for the Festival and we sincerely thank her for all her effort. The raffle raised $1,080.45

 

Monster Raffle Prize Draw Order & list of Business who provided prizes

1. Manawee Garden Centre- Large parcel of selected Searles Garden Products
2. Chris Ryan, (BGC member) Remax Real Estate- Garden/beach trolley
3. Books of Buderim The Garden of Ideas - 4 Centuries of Australian Style book
4. Dawn Toth (BGC member) $50 Manawee Gift Voucher + Manawee Loyalty Card
5. Manawee Garden Centre - $50 Gift Voucher
6. Books of Buderim: The Hidden Life of Trees -The Illustrated Edition
7. Woolworths - Buderim $50 gift voucher
8. Bunnings - $50 gift voucher
9. Buderim Tavern - $50 voucher
10. Buderim Chemist - Gift box- personal care products ($50 value)
11. Terry White Chemist- Gift bag- personal care products ($50 value)
12. Coffee Monkey + Fenwick’s Fruit Shop

1. 2 bottles red wine and $25 voucher

1. Star Liquor - French Red wine + 4 pack Rebel craft beer
2. Brent Mickelberg - 2 bottles of red wine
3. BWS - a selection of 3 wines, red, bubbles and white
4. Old Post Office +Ted O’Brien- Essence of Buderim book and 1 bottle of red wine
5. Margaret Dowzer - (BGC member) Large home baked fruit cake
6. Castello Café Bar - $30 voucher + Gardens of Buderim book
7. Buderim Landscape Centre - $30 voucher + Gardens of Buderim book

 

Stalls and Craft Cottage  

The lawn area between the Hall and the Cottage housed about 20 stalls, BGC was very pleased with the location/quality of the different stalls and the general flow of people traffic, thanks to Robin Porter for arranging this. All stall holders were very pleased with their location and sales. All expressed interest in returning next year. The Club receives 10% of their takings and this year we made $? from the stalls.  Special thanks to Vonnie Young for arranging the stall holders that attended this year.

Our Club plant stall did exceedingly well and we thank all who donated plants. We raised $2,336.00 on this stall and this is surely due to Shirley McDonald and her team, many thanks.

 

An art exhibition in the entry foyer, organised by Sarah Seeberg proved to be very popular. The artwork by local artists showed we have here in Buderim some very talented people and it is hoped they will be part of the 2019 Festival and once again display their works. Thank you, Sarah. As in the past the Potters of the Craft Cottage ran their sculpture Garden Exhibition in conjunction with our Festival, and St Marks Church had a great floral art display. The BGC thanks them for their contribution to our Festival.

 

IN CONCLUSION

I would like to thank all members of the Club who volunteered their time by sitting on gardens, working on the plant stall, selling raffle tickets and Open Garden Tickets, helping to set up for the flower show, and take it down again. Thanks to Laurel Asimus and the ladies who made sandwiches and sausage rolls for Friday morning breakfast. I would like to give a special thank you to Peter Asimus for working tirelessly organising the passengers for the buses. I would like to thank the Convenors, all of whom did a great job in their area of responsibility and who made my task much easier. I would like to thank everyone on the committee for the role they played in making this Festival the success it was, especially treasurer Lesley who had lots of money & finances to deal with. I must thank Kathy my wife for great cleaning of hall during festival and putting up with me and all the time I spend on the festival organisation. Lastly, I must thank Caryll Beck for organising & catering the post festival drinks and feedback session.

 

John Lyon

President & Festival Organiser

Buderim Garden Club 2018 Spring Flower Show Report

John Sargaison - Chief Show Steward

For the week prior to the show Buderim and surrounds received much needed rain for which we should be thankful.  However from the Flower Show perspective the duration and quantity of rain received did have an impact on the quantity and quality of entries received and in particular with the cut flower sections.  Despite this, members still found sufficient entries to provide a wonderful floral display in the hall that the show judges and members of the public endorsed.

The Friday show set-up commenced at around 7am with an army of enthusiastic members fronting up and within 1.5 hours the hall was ready to accept entries.  It was a pleasure to watch the transformation with such a great team in action.  The set-up was followed by a lovely breakfast for those present that was provided by Laurel and her team.  It is touches such as this which make the week-end such an enjoyable experience to be involved in.

Entries were accepted from 9:00am and by 12:00pm the hall was looking and smelling wonderful.  The judges arrived around 12:00pm and were taken to Ann Colville’s residence for a lovely lunch that was thoroughly enjoyed by all in attendance.  Judging commenced at 2:00pm and was completed by 4:30pm.

This year we had 11 sections and 70 classes for members and non-members to enter in. In total we had 577 entries in this year’s show.  This compares with 480 in 2017 and 450 in 2016.  One of the significant changes this year that accounted for the increased numbers was with the Children’s section.  In 2017 we continued with inviting entries from the local pre-school however no entries were received.  This year Milford Lodge Daycare Centre were enthusiastic to participate, so the Children’ Section was changed to two classes for children 0-3 and 4-5 year old.  We had 80 great entries from the children at Milford Lodge based on the theme of a “Small World Potted Plant”.  The judging of the two classes proved very difficult due to the imagination and efforts of the children.  The children’s entries were staged at Milford Lodge that freed up some space inside the War Memorial Hall.   

A comparison of entry numbers in each section from 2017 to 2018 also revealed the following significant changes in 2018:

1. Section 2 - Flowers from Exotics were down by 25%  (58/44)
2. Section 7 Hanging Baskets/Pots/Plants were down by 53% (17/8)
3. Section 11 Garden Photography were up by 30% (60/78)

Overall the judges were very complimentary with the quality and staging of the entries in this year’s show.  There were a few observations noted whereby improvements could be made next year:

1. There were approximately 10 entries staged in the incorrect class which immediately disqualifies them – suggested improvements being tighter control over entry staging and training of preparation assistants / stewards
2. Some entries in the flower sections were not prepared as well as they could have been to show off the best of the entry - suggested improvement being training of preparation assistants
3. Entry Slips not being correctly filled in - suggested improvements being changed layout of entry slip and training of preparation assistants / stewards.

Over the week-end our volunteers maintained the show exhibits in a great condition for the benefit of our visitors.  Some members even went to the effort of bringing in fresh flowers on Saturday and Sunday to replace the wilting flowers staged on Friday.  It was very pleasing to hear the many positive comments from our visitors who were suitably impressed with the size and quality of our Show.  This is something that our club should be justly proud of.

The official opening of the Show and presentation of trophies was again held at 2pm on Saturday and there were a number of visitors and members present in the hall to witness this.  The Federal Member for Fairfax Mr Ted O’Brien, Marjorie Van Roy (Manawee Plant Nursery) our patron and major sponsor, and Peter McDonnell (Buderim Bendigo Community Bank) our other major sponsor conducted the opening and presentations.

The show closure and dismantle again went off extremely well due to the great turn out of volunteers.  The heavens were kind to us and just as we finished the bulk of the work the skies opened up with a heavy downpour. 

To run a successful show of this size involves many activities and in turn these activities working seamlessly together to produce a great outcome.  Some activities are straight forward and/or don’t have critical time paths and others are more complicated and have tight time constraints.  One of the more complicated activities which also comes with tight time constraints is the preparation of the first/second place and champion certificates which you see on the hall tables when the Show opens on Saturday morning, and working out the trophy winners.  One person does this and I would like to acknowledge Monika Stinton who worked until after midnight on Friday night to complete this task.  There are many other people that I would like to single out for special mention, however for fear of missing someone out I will not – you know who you are and if I have not yet personally thanked you for you valued efforts please accept my sincere thanks.

In conclusion I would like to sincerely thank again the army of volunteers that assisted in any way with the running of what was a very successful 2018 Flower Show.

John Sargaison

Ken Evans won the most prizes throughout the Sections - he also won this last year!   Congratulations to all winners and competitors.
2. Champion Bloom other than a Rose - Ken Evans
3. Champion Flower from Exotics - Elizabeth Hales
4. Champion Flower from Natives - Cassie Burlington
5. Foliage Collection - Del Wittaker
6. Champion Bonsai - Reg Gibson
7. Champion Plant in Standing Pot - Del Wittaker
8. Champion Hanging Basket - Red Gibson
9. Champion Novelty Arrangement - Lynda Reynolds
10. Best Fruit, Vegetables & Herbs Exhibit - Ken Evans
11. Best Children’s Plant Art - Sophie Rudd and Emma Rudd
12. Best Garden Photo - John Sargaison
14. Encouragement Award - Joy Fixter
15. Most Points Section 1 – Cut Flowers - Rod Nicholls
16. Most Points Sec 6&7 of Schedule - Rod Nicholls
17. Best Buderim Club Member in Show (most points in all sections) - Ken Evans