The first of the bigger shows in the southern part of the N I is the Titahi Bay Horticultural Society Spring Show , held on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 August . This is early season for the Welington region growers but the show is only an hour south of the much earlier flowering Kapiti – Horowhenua region .I staged my flowers On Friday evening , Wilfred Hall , Denis Rodgers and Diana Loader travelled south to stage on the Saturday morning .Martin McKendrick and our NDS publicity officer Margaret Seconi , both work very hard across the media to cleverly promote this show and it had easily the best attendance of our regional shows this season .A good dsplay of daffodils and very good classes of other spring flowers made an attractive show to reward the effort involved in a difficult , late spring .A big thanks to Margaret and Wilfred for photos supplied and show results .
Champion Bloom , 2W – W ICESCAPE , John Mclennan . This Canisp line seedling , raised by John Hunter is a very reliable early flower , good size and very white .I had 5 nice stems in the show .
Reserve Champion 4W – W ERLICHEER Diana Loader . A deserved reward for a superb example of this very widely grown variety . A lot of flowers on a big head , well held on a very solid strong stem .
Premier 1Y – Y P Ramsay Seedling John Mclennan
Premier 1W – W POLAR MONARCH Peter Tijsen
Premier 2Y – O TERMINATOR John Mclennan
Premier 2W – P SMITTEN John Mclennan . Proving to be a useful early pink ; again , quite a few at the show .
Premier 3W – YO ANTJE Peter Tijsen , a reliable early smallcup , show by it,s raiser .
Premier Div 6 MANGAWEKA . Margaret Seconi . A good flower of this Kiwi bred cyclamineus .
Premier Div 8 WTH AVX – 84 Wilfred Hall .Another very neat and bright tazetta from Wilfred .
Premier Intermediate WTH 2O – R Wilfred Hall – A neat flower , even flush .
Premier Miniature Vase WTH 3 Tazetta sdlgs . Wilfred Hall. Neat and bright .
We had a severe , 7.8 earthquake in the central region of NZ . , very early on Monday morning . Our thoughts are with the NDS members in the immediate area , North Canterbury , Southern Marlborough .Particularly to the Spence families in the Seddon area .I understand the house damage is not as severe as the previous Seddon shake but the mess in the house is bad .Hope you are all well – still to many aftershocks to start the slow recovery .Our thoughts are with you .
Hi John,
Thanks for your mention of Lane Spence. I was concerned too for Margaret and George Seconi as their area seems to be getting hit continuously with shaking, now high winds and flooding.
Dave
Thanks for publishing the photos John. You, Wilf & Johnny H have helped us continue too especially when the local blooms are late.Our new President, Gill Palmer, is the main force behind the resurgence of this show and society. She has many fresh ideas which I intend to share in a written article sometime soon.
George & I are fine but the garden is absolutely waterlogged. Fortunately we cleared our front drains (7m of tree root) and realigned the backdoor path several months ago so that the water is directed away from the house. We’re in a single storied house on solid clay so the quakes feel like a gently rocking boat. (I’ve felted a beautiful merino/silk scarf over several days).The heavy Rainfall combined with extremely high King tides prevents any outflow into the sea. Roads are submerged, waterlogged slopes collapse and tonight the Main Highway from the Hutt valley has been diverted through our suburb and, in one area, through a private retirement village which is quite funny really. Earthquakes, rain, wind & hail. We’ve had it all since midnight Sunday but still have all our basic services. We’re the lucky ones. Thanks Dave and others for your prayers & concern.
John, I’m Smitten with Smitten! Smooooooth, elegant, and sort of sassy, too! Interesting colors. Congratulations!
(And smitten with Wilf’s little 8s, but I hardly have to say that, right? It’s pretty much a given :))
I’m so glad you all appear to be ok — and appear to be coping nicely with the road and mudslide situations.
My best to all,
Suzy Wert