flower show '24

2022 marked the first time I entered the LIDS flower show. Before then, I had clerked at shows and used that as my reason for not entering. That strategy worked until someone noted that a person can enter a show and be a clerk. What a person cannot do is be a judge and an entrant in the same show. I have no interest in being a judge, and am not qualified tom judge a show anyway. But I enjoy clerking.

This year I agreed to enter again. I really didn't want to -- it means getting up super early to prepare. But the club has been shrinking lately -- due largely to demographics and deer. And I felt the club really could use all the entries it could get. My 20 plants (the entry limit is 20 plants per household) -- less, considering that some would get damaged in transit -- would make a difference.

As I groomed my scapes for entry, I didn't worry excessively. I got a bunch of ribbons two years ago, so I had decided that ribbons didn't matter to me anymore. I was doing it for the club. So my attitude was somewhat lackadaisical. "I don't care about ribbons" was my mantra, and that really made it a lot easier to relax while I groomed. Some brown marks on the foliage? ugly scars from old buds? Who cares. These'll be pretty flowers for the public to appreciate. I felt a twinge of shame when someone on the placement team summoned me to say that I should be grooming my scapes better before submitting them. And, after that, I did try to do a better job. But most of my entries were already in and I had come without the tools you really need for the job. Instead of an X-Acto blade, I had my fingernails. Instead of a little brush, I had my breath.

And I wasn't really worried -- confident in my conviction that all that mattered was helping with the number of entries. But the judging began, and I had to follow my team of judges around, obeying their instructions. And I soon found my convictions going out the door. As the judges looked over one of my entries they were merciless. "Did they even groom this at all? Look at this!" Of course, the judges didn't know that this was one of my entries. So when they noted some imperfections in the petals, and one looked at me and said "I would have just thrown it in the garbage," she wasn't trying to get personal. It stung, but I had to just stand there and not show any emotion. But at that moment I started wishing I had taken the grooming more seriously.

Fortunately, that was among the worst of my entries. Though another one lost a lot of points because I had failed to remove seed pods. That was actually a surprise. You don't want to remove buds (unless they're interfering with the bloom), so it never occurred to me that you had to remove seed pods. Live and learn.

But when one of my entries earned a purple ribbon -- scoring a 97, I was starting to get some hope. Maybe it would be a candidate for Best in Show. That thought lasted until the next flower was judged a 98. But now there was hope. And, with it, there were recriminations. If only I had groomed better, that 97 could have been a 99 -- or maybe 100. BUT NOOOOO! I had to relax through the grooming, and now I was paying the price. Damnit.

But a little later, one of my entries (Run N The Green Light) earned a 99! Though another plant in that class also scored a 99, the judges decided that mine was better. And the euphoria hit as I realized that I had won a best in class. In the end, I scored another best in class with Anniversary Lace. But I didn't even realize that at first, since it was judged by the other team of judges.

So now, in the second show I had entered, I had two flowers on the winner's table. I didn't get Best in Show, which comes with a cash prize, but I guess my results were pretty good -- especially considering my attitude going in. Next time I'll actually try to win.