During the past year I have had the pleasure of judging six shows
throughout Scotland namely Denny, Ayr, Chryston, Perth, Dumfries
and the late show at Drumpellier covering a distance of 469 miles
in the process.
After judging I like to stay on to speak to exhibitors to explain
to them what I thought was right or wrong with their exhibit.
Generally most exhibitors accept my explanations but if they don’t
no amount of arguing will change my decision.
At Ayr two years ago two well known giant exhibitors queried
my decision not to award a first for a single giant, claiming
that judges in England would be drooling over that bloom. But
I pointed out it was oval, one-sided, had an elongated centre
and was spotted over the face of the bloom, so it was fortunate
to get a third place ticket.
If a vase has green centres then I wouldn’t give it an award
or in the case at one show calling for three giant decs., Alva’s
was OK, White Alva’s was OK but Gemma Darling was more semi
cactus than the nine Jupiters staged next to it, so no award was
made, and I wrote this on the card. But the query I got was, why
was I N.A.S.?
Exhibitors should get a copy of the Classified Directory and
read the rules, serious faults are all listed there.
It is a very serious fault if a bloom
(a) is malformed
(b) faces downwards
(c) has been badly damaged
(d) has limp drooping florets
(e) has had an excessive number of florets removed
(f) has an open (daisy-eyed) centre
(g) has a centre which is hard and green, large and undeveloped
or badly distorted
(h) has a gap created by a missing floret
(i) seriously departs from the standard formation of the group
of dahlia for which the class calls.
Rule (i) was the reason I did not give an award. Part of an article
in the Dahlia Annual 1997 stated that some of the varieties staged
in the giant dec. classes would not be out of place in the semi
cactus classes.
I hope the judges down pointed them because it is a very serious
fault and then considered whether they were worthy of an award
or not. The major talking point at most shows is generally the
best vase.
Comments like: “That’s never the best vase”, my
answer: “It is the best vase, you show me a better one”.
“How the **** did you pick that”, my answer: “I
picked it by looking at every single vase in the show, marked
the good ones on my schedule, grouped them together and then eliminated
them until I was left with the best vase”.
Judges should also read the Classified Directory where it states
“All exhibits must be judged as seen at the time of judging
and not as they possibly were, or might become.”
If a variety is classified as a dec but is on the show bench at
the time of judging showing semi cactus formation then surely
no award should be made.
Problems also arise with the showing of unclassified varieties,
how can a vase be medium and large, as shown a few years ago in
the individual at Stirling - Grenidor Pastelle as a medium and
as a large - surely one is an oversized medium or a small large?
As is the case with the rings we should have a level playing field.
No unclassified varieties should be shown except in seedling or
sport classes unless it is on general release.
It is obviously in the interest of nurserymen to give new unclassified
varieties to top showmen, as it would increase their income if
it was a success on the show bench.
Judges should be given more help other than sitting the judging
exam and then let loose, just like a driving test, pass then away
you go.
Surely something on the lines of a judging seminar every few years
whereby senior judges or people we perceive to be senior judges
(not just old ones!) could pass on their wisdom to us thereby
increasing our knowledge.
I realise this would take a lot of time and effort to organise
but unless we do something there will be no judges left with enough
knowledge of dahlias to make exhibitors feel as if their flowers
have been properly judged.
Perhaps it is time we had a grading system, similar to football
referees , whereby judges are all graded according to experience.
This system should apply to the three national shows. (The Scottish,
Harrogate and London.)
The Scottish is by invitation whereas at Harrogate and London
you are asked if you are going to the show, then you get invited
to judge. Can you just picture a RANGERS v CELTIC match, stopping
all the punters at the turnstiles and asking them if they want
to referee the game!
On the subject of the judging exam, would it not be better if there was an exam along the lines of the chrysanth exam whereby you have to reach a certain standard of exhibiting, also you have a written paper. Then you judge a mini show.
As far back as 1989, Doug Semple wrote an article in “IMPACT”
concerned with the lack of judges, 8 years down the road we seem
to have adopted Doug’s second option which was “ To
bury our heads in the sand ostrich style and hope that things
will get better.
As Rabbie Burns said so many years ago:-” Forward though
I cannae see I guess and fear”. 8 years is too long to wait
for changes to be made. We need to evolve, we must move forward
into the next century.
On opening the new classified dahlia list I was saddened to
see the changes in the staging rules. This to my mind was completely
unnecessary and will lead to nothing but arguments and even more
untidy vases on the show bench.
My idea of exhibiting is that you should always continually strive
to present your exhibit to an even higher standard. That to my
mind is what exhibiting is all about.
The vision of vases of flowers held in place with pieces of stem fills me with horror.
The failure of the classification committee to reclassify varieties into their correct size and section never ceases to amaze me. However coming from a committee which has failed to address the situation since it reclassified Reginald Keene to a Large, we cannot expect too much.
Varieties which I think should be reclassified include Grenidor Pastelle to a large, Karenglen to a small and La Corbierre to a miniature decorative - there are many more. Any variety which is continually exhibited oversize should be put up a size. The whole idea of an updated classified list to my mind should be to sort out varieties into their correct sections and size for exhibition. Failure to do this remains a mystery to me as it is quite a straightforward exercise.
Over the years, I have received many explanations for the committee’s failure to address the problem. These include commercial and personal interests - if this is the case, the system stinks. Perhaps the time has come for the Scottish National Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society to take the bull by the horns and publish a Scottish Classified exhibition list to rectify the situation.