This is number 1 in a series of 7 posts on my visit down under.
The Claremont Flower Show Group, Inc. holds a spring show and a fall show. I went to their spring show, the “Claremont Daffodil, Camellia, and Other Spring Flowers Show” on September 1 and 2. Claremont is a suburb north of Hobart in Tasmania. The show was in the town’s memorial hall. Here’s an overview of the show
I did not tell anyone in Tasmania that I would be attending any shows, but when I appeared Saturday morning, Rod Barwick invited me to judge at the Claremont show. Also, Mary Crowe was in charge of the Hobart show the following weekend and invited me to judge there. At both shows the best exhibits in various classifications are designated as champions (in contrast to premiers at New Zealand shows), and the best in show is the grand champion. So let’s start with the grand champion. It was ‘Impeccable’ exhibited by Mike Temple-Smith.
The Reserve Champion was ‘Ethel Breen’ exhibited by Anne Scarfe.
The Claremont show was not a large show, and as you might suspect from the Reserve Champion there was not a vast number of top quality specimens from which to choose. Nevertheless, there were other interesting, unusual, or otherwise little-known (in the northern hemisphere) specimens. The following is the champion seedling and the champion miniature exhibited by Kevin and Mary Crowe. It is seedling M2/09-10/04 and is 6Y-W.
For fans of split coronas, here’s Mike Temple-Smith’s 12-19.
Mike also has a new intermediate in Division 2 named Tannatea.
Of course Rod Barwick had some interesting miniature seedlings. Here’s 38/03 a cyclamineus with a slightly greenish perianth. It’s probably closer to yellow than green. It was labeled 6G-W just out of ambiguity. This exhibit also won the John Mathews Perpetual Trophy for 7 miniatures, any divisions or varieties, not necessarily different in one container.
Here’s another miniature that’s a little lacking in form but has a lot of color. Glenbrook 6/2006 is a miniature 2Y-O.
Of course there’s more, but this is just a personal view of the ‘greatest hits’ of the Claremont show. After the Claremont show I did some sight seeing as well as visiting several daffodil growers near Hobart. Then it was on to the Hobart show, a Friday and Saturday show to be described in the second in this series of posts.
Kirby Fong