A Highland Welcome

[Carol Shaw]

Awaits you if you come along to our wee show and plant sale on 25 April in Nairn - details in Events or phone me on 01309 641405! We do not have a huge number of classes, though David and I are slowly beefing the show up and this being our 40th anniversary we would love to see as many folk as possible 

[Lesley Cox]

Hope it all goes well for you Carol.  The date is Anzac Day over here.

[Carol Shaw]

Hi Lesley and thanks for the good wishes. David has promised to take photos as Maggi will not be with us this year.

[Anthony Darby]

My good wishes for your show Carol and David.

[SueG]

Best wishes for the show, hope it goes really well.
Sue

[Carol Shaw]

So do we... just finished organising our own plants  Would not do for the show secretaries to not put a healthy batch of entries on the show bench.

Seriously though if you happen to be passing call in by... you will even get offered Earl Grey tea as it is the only tea David & I drink!

Last year we had the excitement of Jimmy MacDonald of the Moray Group, then in Section II, winning best plant in show and the Askival Bulb Trophy... will obviously have to do better at bribing the judges this year 

our plants aside I think you will be impressed with the standard of showing for such a small show!

[David Shaw]

Yeah, we had a most successful showand we all enjoyed ourselves.
As the plants strt to come in
Jim Sutherland does not just sell plants
The benches fill up
Judging - John Graham, Lindsey Drummond, John Owen, Roma Fiddes
Haberlea rhodopensis
Primula szechuanica
Meconopsis grandis Cluny Form
Gentian acaulis
Ranunculus x flahaultii

[David Shaw]

More plants:
Calceolaria uniflora var. darwinii - Best plant in Show
Trillium paviflorum - Best Bulb in Show
Three pan Frits.
Lorna Milnes sets up her auricula display
Auricula display
Trillium albidum
The Show Secretary gets down to taking a picture of -
Meconopsis x cookei

[David Shaw]

Of course there was food, guess who could not resist this little morsel?
Yes, the Convener, Carol Shaw tries to get her mouth round this cookie
Olive Bryers receives the trophy for most points in Section 1 From Roma Fiddes
Treasurer, and treasure, Tina Finch receives trophies for Best Primula and Best plant in Show
The Convener could not resist making this presentation herself. Our trophy for Best Bulb in Show was donated to the Group by Mike and Polly Stone when they had the garden at Askival. It is a lump of pink quartz (weighs a ton!) and is named the 'Askival Trophy'. The recipient this year is the new encumbent of Askival, John Owen, who was delighted for it to come home, presented by a rather emotional Carol.

[David Shaw]

I am not blowing my own trumpet when I say this was a remarkable show put on by a small Group. We only have twenty to thirty active members and many of these are couples. In the show of 28 classes only two classes did not have any entries at all and all the others had as many as eight entries. Of these many of the plants could have done justice to one of the big shows and qualified for a First.
I would like to acknowledge our membership for a splendid effort and say how proud I am of them. In addition to the show the members managed a club plant sales table and served a goodly number of teas. I don't know how many of the local public came through the door but it was a good number. Thank you to all HRGC members who helped today and who read this.

[Maggi Young]

There has never been a shortage of good growers in the Highland region and the current "crop" displays evidence of great skill. No doubt at all that many of the plants could win at a full SRGC Show.
Looks a lovely show and quality cakes, too.... what more could anyone ask?

[Carol Shaw]

Ah Maggi the cakes were to die for... David failed to get a pix of John Owen stuffing his face with the same gooey pastry as myself. We have our local bakers Ashers to thank for the feast of food... they donated a lot of the bakes and charged us half price for the rest! Roma Fiddes & John Owen did us proud as judges... though David had to step in to judge Section II as John Owen had so many entries... As an aside this is the second year running the best bulb in show has come from Section II - time those of us in Section I got our acts together?

David is right I was completely choked up presenting the Askival Trophy to John, when the Stones sold Askival I'm sure a lot of us wondered what was going to happen - rest assured that the garden, and the nursery, re going strong under John's hands.

Next year our show will be on 24 April - same time, same place... make a note in your diary and come and spend a weekend on the Moray Coast - we'll even host a dinner for you all!

[Lesley Cox]

So...a right good Highland Fling then. It looked great and while the big shows are perhaps more spectacular, the friendliness and intimacy of the smaller "regional" shows make them just as great events to visit. Well done the Highlanders. (Wish I could say the same for our own Highlanders rugby team, sinking rapidly to the bottom of the competition table. )

[ichristie]

Well done everyone and Carol and David as always organised, we are sorry to have missed the show but we were in Belfast at the 70th Ulster group show, cheers Ian the Christie kind.

[Carol Shaw]

Hi Ian C - we forgive you for not being there...