Daffodils to be '˜at their peak' for competition

The event, on Saturday, April 22, in Broughshane Community Centre is organised in conjunction with Broughshane and District Community Association Ltd. The hall will be open for viewing from 2.00 pm until 4.00 pm with the prize distribution at 3.00 pm.

Special guest this year is James Burnside who is well known throughout the province as a Floral Art Speaker, Demonstrator, Judge and Tutor.

The show is a week earlier than usual so it is expected that the daffodil blooms will be at their peak.

The show attracts members of the Northern Ireland Group, drawn from all parts of the province, to compete for a wide range of awards.

This year the Group has asked the Club to host the Gilbert Andrews Award which requires exhibitors to stage six varieties of daffodils drawn from at least two divisions, one stem of each variety to be staged singly.

It is worth attending the show just to witness the variety of colour and form of the blooms in the wide range of daffodil classes.

There are also classes devoted to foliage and flowering pot plants, cacti and succulents, and cut flowers. The Floral Art Section is well supported by local floral art enthusiasts including Women’s Institutes.

A new class has been introduced restricted to Young Persons.

The Schools and Young Persons Section provides an opportunity for young people to express their creative talent in classes in which they are invited to create a creature made from vegetables and/or fruit, construct a miniature garden or grow mustard or cress in an unusual container. We expect that school class entries will be well down this year due to the show falling at the end of the Easter vacation; however students have been invited to enter on an individual basis.

Afternoon teas will be available and there will be an opportunity to purchase plants from a well-stocked plant stall where an extensive range of garden, house and greenhouse plants grown by members will be on sale at reasonable prices.

You don’t need to be a Club member to exhibit. Bring your favourite pot plants, cut flowers and flowering shrubs to the Community Centre on Friday 21st April from 6.30 pm to 9.00 pm or Saturday 22nd April between 8.30 am and 11.00 am when an official will help you put them on show. Vases will be supplied for exhibiting cut flowers and flowering shrubs.

However, it is important that exhibits must have been grown by the exhibitor for at least three months prior to the show. The entry fee is only 20p for each exhibit with free entry for school-aged children.

A free Schedule of Classes and further information can be obtained from the Show Secretary, Miss Isobel Petticrew; Tel: 2175 8240.