Controversy!

I've always said that growing for showing is my hobby and I will never let a judges decision get to me. I've said to my wife that the day that happens is the day I should give it up.

A situation occurred at the weekend that I've come across every now and then that could leave a bad taste in the mouth if I didn't find it so funny. I grow Jomanda dahlias which are technically a 'ball' type, but I have from time to time entered them in the decorative classes. It's taking a chance but at small village shows I believe that you can enter them as a dual purpose bloom. Having said that, if I found that I had been given a NAS card (not as schedule) I would accept it and not bleat about it.

Last Saturday I entered a new show in Sileby that had been restarted after a gap of 10 years by Norman Byatt who had died last week as I have already mentioned in the previous post. I wasn't going to enter originally but felt that I ought to support the dedicated volounteers who had decided to go ahead with the show, and as I had quite a few dahlias I went specifically to enter those. I entered two vases of 3 cactus Kenora Sunset, a vase of 5 Jomanda in the class for poms or ball type and as I had 3 Jomanda spare I put those into the class for 3 'Decs'. A gentleman then approached me and more or less demanded that I remove them from that class as they were technically a ball and shouldn't be in the decorative section. He said that if I won he'd lodge an official complaint as he had entered that class also.

Now, if there's one surefire way of making me not do something then it's insisting that I do, so I decided to leave the vase where it was and let the judge decide. Looking at the competition I didn't think I would win but you never really know.

Anyway, on returning later that afternoon, lo and behold I had won the class in question! (In fact I won all the dahlia classes) And sure enough when the gentleman turned up himself a few minutes later he saw the 'red card' against my vase and went straight to the organisers to lodge his complaint. Like I said these organisers are all volounteers who give up loads of their spare time to help put on these events and when they have to listen to plonkers like him it must make them wonder whether it's worth the effort!

Chill out fella!