Parlour Shows

Parlour shows are designed to be a pleasant learning experience and practice for entering fall fairs and other flower and vegetable exhibitions. They also offer a venue for members to display their outstanding or rare plant material.

The Club’s parlour shows are held indoors at the February, March, April, May and September meetings and outdoors at the June Strawberry Tea. Members may exhibit only material that they have been growing for over four months or have grown from seed, unless otherwise specified in the schedule.

Guidelines for participants:

During the week preceding the show, review the schedule for the month to see what suitable items you might have, and then go among your plants and select the best for display. DO ask the advice of the Parlour Show Committee members.

  1. Early in the morning on the day of the show, cut your selections, treat the stems and keep the plants cool. Select a few spares in case of damage. Arrange your entries as attractively as possible and pack them in containers for transport. Fill out the entry forms, providing as much information as possible about the plant(s).

  2. Follow the wording of the schedule as closely as possible to avoid disqualifications. Where a number is specified, have the correct number of specimens and select those that are the most alike. Have a few spares on hand as replacements.

  3. Exhibits must be on the exhibition table no later than 6:30pm so that everything can be properly categorized and displayed for the judge’s scrutiny.

  4. When you collect your plants at the end of the meeting, please leave your entry forms on the table. The forms are collected by the recorder, who tabulates entrants’ points over the course of the year.

The UNLISTED category at the parlour show has be- come a popular way to showcase members’ garden bounty; it has also become a challenge to our judges to do more judging in less time. Our solution? Members will be the judges for this category. On arrival, members will be invited to take one token from the bowl, view the category “UNLISTED,” then place their token by their 1st choice before the meeting starts. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Honourable Mention will be awarded based on the number of tokens received by each entry in the UNLISTED CATEGORY only.

Winning entry for the Len & Fern Maudy Memorial Award 2019

 

Trophies

Parlour show awards are presented at the AGM in November.

The member earning the grand aggregate (highest total points) for the year wins the Olive Brehn Memorial Silver Tray.

The member exhibiting the “Best Rose” in the Rose Trophy Competition receives the Nel Milne Memorial Trophy.

The winner of the Georgi Steele Award, which recognizes the year’s best flower arrangement, as selected by members from photos of arrangements earning a first-place ribbon during the year.

The Bill Bell Award is given for the year’s best single fruit or vegetable entry.  Judging for this award is done by out-of-town judges from pictures taken of entries that earned a first-place ribbon over the course of the year. 

The Len and Fern Maudy Memorial Award, new in 2018, will be awarded to the best Mixed Produce Basket. 

 

Parlour Show Schedule

CLASS NUMBERS FOR ENTRIES – Please check guide for entry information

February Schedule

  1. Any indoor plant

  2. Cactus or succulent

  3. Open category vegetable(s), fresh or stored

  4. Flowering or berried branch, 1, max. length 30″

  5. Arrangement using winter foliage (purchased blooms permitted)

  6. Heather

  7. Hellebore, 1 stem

  8. Orchid

  9. People’s Choice

March Schedule

  1. Outdoor bulb or tuber, 1 stem

  2. Fragrant branch, 1, max length 30”

  3. Perennial, 2 stems, 1 variety, herbaceous

  4. Flowering houseplant

  5. Narcissus, 3 stems, 1 variety

  6. Named edible weed

  7. “Easter” arrangement in a basket (purchased blooms & accessories permitted)

  8. Open category vegetable(s)

  9. Peoples Choice

April Schedule

  1. Narcissi, 3 different varieties

  2. Single bloom of any flowering bulb

  3. Single stem of any flowering bulb

  4. Spring arrangement in a bowl: “Mother’s Day” (all from your own garden)

  5. Rhododendron/Azalea, 1 truss

  6. Rhododendron/Azalea, 1 spray

  7. Flowering branch, 1, max. length 30″

  8. Open Category, Flower(s)

  9. Open Category, Vegetable(s)

  10. People’s Choice

May Schedule

  1. African violet – 1 crown

  2. Perennial, 3 stems, 1 variety, herbaceous

  3. Iris, 1 stem

  4. Single bloom of any flowering bulb

  5. Flowering branch, 1, max. length 30″

  6. Rhubarb, 3 stalks

  7. Open category vegetable(s) or fruit, in season

  8. Rhododendron/Azalea, 1 truss

  9. Rhododendron/Azalea, 1 spray

  10. Floral arrangement “Living in Sooke” (accessories permitted)

  11. People’s Choice

June Schedule

  1. Trophy rose: 1 single bloom 1/2 to 3/4 open, leaves attached, no side buds

  2. Scented rose in a snifter

  3. Collection of 6 different named culinary herbs in water

  4. Strawberries, 6 with stems & decorated with own leaves

  5. Open category vegetable(s)

  6. 3 different named annuals

  7. Any perennial, 1 stem

  8. Arrangement “Summer Spendor” (using own garden plants)

  9. Flowering vine

  10. People’s Choice

September Schedule

  1. Dahlia, 2 blooms, 1 variety, long stems, no buds, 2 leaves on each stem

  2. Any herbaceous perennial, 1 variety, 2 stems

  3. Rose, 1 spray or 1 stem, leaves attached, any variety

  4. Scented rose in a snifter

  5. Named tomatoes, 3 of 1 variety

  6. Collection of 3 (or more) different named culinary herbs in water

  7. Open category, Fruit or Vegetable(s)

  8. Mixed produce basket (from own garden) 9. Arrangement using flowers & grasses (accessories allowed)

  9. People’s Choice

October Schedule

  1. Open category Fruit

  2. Open category Vegetable

  3. Tomatoes, 1 standard or 5 cherry

  4. Any perennial, 2 stems

  5. Dahlia, 1 bloom with leaves attached

  6. Collection of 3 (or more) different named culinary herbs in water

  7. Fall floral arrangement

  8. Mixed produce basket (from own garden)

  9. Peoples Choice