Gillian Vine finds out what it's like showing and judging at the Ellerslie International Flower Show.
The earth stayed firm - well, reasonably - during the 2012 Ellerslie International Flower Show in Christchurch earlier this month.
Behind the scenes there were a few dramas, though. Heritage Roses New Zealand (HRNZ) members were setting up their display near the entrance of the Hort Galore marquee the Saturday before the show opened.
"It was horrific. We were challenged beyond anyone's expectations. The rain was pouring in and the wind howling," says HRNZ president Fran Rawling, of Dunedin.
"All our trees were windburned."
Worse was to follow: when workmen attempted to put doors across the opening, one of their long ladders fell, crashing across the HRNZ display.
Despite wishing they could turn around and go home, Fran and her team completed their display, which used roses from Motueka company Tasman Bay Roses and small trees they borrowed from Dunedin Botanic Garden. Their efforts were rewarded with a merit award.
About 25 volunteers from Christchurch, Southland, Rangiora and Dunedin were rostered to do the daily tasks of watering and deadheading roses - "That had to be done before opening and after the show closed" - and talk to the public.
"People were fascinated by the hips. A lot of the public didn't realise roses could hip up the way they do, and give autumn-leaf colour, too," Fran says.
HRNZ members demonstrated taking cuttings and talked about using rose petals and hips in the kitchen. People wanted to buy the aprons Colleen Fox, of Dunedin, made for the show demonstrators and were disappointed none was for sale.
But the media response was "huge" and the public was "very, very positive".
As with several exhibitors, HRNZ had originally planned its design for last year's show.
Barbara Watt, of Oamaru, was the convener of the North Otago Floral Art Group's Ellerslie display.
"We decided two years ago to do it and when [the 2011 show] was cancelled, everything got put into a box on top of the wardrobe," she says.
The project was revived late last year.
With advice and support from other club members, Barbara and two other group members worked on the Parisian-themed bay. They sourced material from the group's gardens, picked up a flower order from a Timaru company as they drove north, and, halfway through the show, bought more flowers in Christchurch to freshen the display.
The cost of flowers and materials was about $250.
Some of that came from Ellerslie, which paid groups to put up Hort Galore displays; and part from the club.
Although clearly a little disappointed not to receive any awards (the group won a Silver Distinction in 2010), Barbara isn't ruling out entering next year.
"The Ellerslie infrastructure is amazing. It's all so well-organised that it is nice to take part," she says.
Whether exhibiting or judging, Dylan Norfield has done it. Now collection curator of the geographic and arboretum collections at Dunedin Botanic Garden, Dylan moved here from England with five Chelsea golds under his belt, so he was a natural for Ellerslie, this year judging the Hort Galore entries and serving on the horticultural excellence panel, the latter assessing everything in the show.
"I enjoy judging and [having exhibited] I understand the emotion that goes into a display," Dylan says.
This year, he felt the standard of the gardens was "very high" and that the quality of the Hort Galore entries was "definitely higher than two years ago".
It's a myth that exhibiting at Ellerslie costs the earth. True, some of the designers of display gardens often have big budgets, usually thanks to sponsorship, but smaller exhibits "can be done quite easily on a budget".
"It's a shame we haven't got more people from Otago showing at Hort Galore," Dylan says.
Clubs specialising in lilies, dahlias, orchids and chrysanthemums could mount displays or work together, as long as the result was "cohesive".
"It's an amazing opportunity for nurseries and garden clubs to promote themselves," he says.
More info
Want to know more about entering Ellerslie? Contact Dylan Norfield, telephone (03) 477-4000.
