Did you enjoy the national show

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Spro
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Did you enjoy the national show

Post by Spro »

It was my 1st national and loved it and now a lighter wallet and some nice plants.. Also nice to meet up with new friends
Everything under the sun is in tune but the sun is eclipsed by the moon
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juster
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Re: Did you enjoy the national show

Post by juster »

I also had a good day and have fourteen new plants to take home tomorrow. The standard of entries was really high, some marvellous plants and classes so well supported; I counted 24 large Copiaopas, amazing plants, also many Mammillarias, Gymnocalyciums, Aloes, Agaves - I could go on! Well done and thanks to all who worked so hard, it must have been a long tiring day. After a dreadful journey on Friday, over 5 hours to travel about 100 miles - we've rarely been stuck in so many queues, it was great to enjoy the day.
Croydon Branch member, growing mainly cacti and Echeverias
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jhb
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Re: Did you enjoy the national show

Post by jhb »

Great day. I came home to a very wet & extremely windy Noth Devon with 29 new additions. All I have to do now is find room for them.
Jayne H.B.
Growing Mamms, Turbs, Ario`s & a bit of most genera in darkest North Devon. Love Lithops too.Now getting hooked on Haworthia`s & Cono`s.
Terry S.

Re: Did you enjoy the national show

Post by Terry S. »

A great show and I admire all those exhibitors who really struggle to bring large plants to the show for our enjoyment. I was particularly impressed this time by the bench of euphorbias and caudiciform plants which were of a size, variety and standard that I did not realise were in UK collections. Trends were also very obvious - the very large copiapoa class close to a tiny matucana class. And where are all those big mammillarias of yesteryear?

But I still have my once every four years gripe! The standard of labelling is still bad and as a viewer of the exhibits, I want to know what they are. Please, please Shows Committee make it a requirement that each plant has a horizontally written label that is easily visible from the front of the exhibit.
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Stuart
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Re: Did you enjoy the national show

Post by Stuart »

First thoughts - quite remarkable as to what can be done by basically a bunch of amateurs! As far as I know it was all done without any professional help so quite an amazing achievement. Having the whole event in one large venue can't be easy any I expect the venue on a cost factor was the best we could afford. Great to see people I hadn't seen in ages, the social side of the event just as enjoyable as the plants. Poor lighting and very stuffy with no air movement and the constant muffled announcements didn't help when judging, maybe there could be an announcement break for an hour during the judging next time. Plants were fantastic as usual, the sales area had plenty of bargains in all price ranges, Aztekiums on their own roots for £7 and very cheap seed grown Mexican gems, good to see Terry Edney back amongst the nurserymen - the society needs more nurseries. Plenty of space, attendance seemed to be down on the previous National. Conversations in the pub on the Friday night couldn't be repeated here!! Well done to all involved - look forward to the next one.
Stuart
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cactuspip
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Re: Did you enjoy the national show

Post by cactuspip »

The delays stuck in traffic were soon forgotten when I got into the hall. So many plants to buy to satisfy any taste. A great opportunity to catch up with friends not seen for some time. The prices in the catering department were as reasonable as the tea was welcome!

The show itself was excellent. My feet are still aching from walking round, marvelling at the stupendous plants on display. I can't wait to upload all the images I took and relive the experience. I even managed to work the lock on my wallet and buy a few plants. (Honest Lesley, I tried my best not to.)

My thanks to all those who organised and managed the show. Three cheers all round - you deserve them!

All in all a day to long remember.
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daniel82
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Re: Did you enjoy the national show

Post by daniel82 »

It was great, loads of selections for buying and the exhibition plants looked brilliant. I know a few non-members who a had interest and after visiting they seem to have caught the bug :wink:

I picked up a bunch of nice new plants and was very tempted by the own roots yavia but they were a bit too much of a stretch for me, this time at least.
topsy
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Re: Did you enjoy the national show

Post by topsy »

A huge thank you to every member of the Shows Committee for their dedication and energy in getting this Event staged every four years. I suppose some would think it would get easier the more of these you are involved in, but I am sure that each time it throws up different problems and the ever present worry - will there be enough entries? There were and what a very high standard for the most part.

With my Mesemb Study Group hat on I must encourage all the Mesemb growers to give Terry Smale a better run for his money, he and Jennifer won 1st, 2nd, 3rd, HC & C in one class alone, to be fair his plants were the best there.

I am glad that the weather was not nearly so hot as it was four years ago, but it was still very humid in the main hall, the air circulation was poor.

But three cheers for the organisers and I hope they had the chance to put their collective feet up today.

Suzanne Mace
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DaveW
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Re: Did you enjoy the national show

Post by DaveW »

Very good show and great sales plants on the Continental dealers stall. Will be interesting to see if they are there next National Show since we should no longer be in the EU. At the moment they can just load their plants into a van and come here without unnecessary CITES paperwork, as can members who visit ELK at the moment.

Lets hope sense will prevail and the same trading arrangement will be negotiated for plants between the UK and EU in future and our MP's will step in straight away and stop British bureaucrats trying to re-impose such paperwork when we leave. We are supposedly leaving to get rid of unnecessary regulation detrimental to British public and commercial interests, rather than the interests of foreigners. Therefore logically only CITES and other paperwork should be needed in the UK for importing direct from habitat. Something that makes far more sense since the material ex-habitat is usually cultivated and no longer in situ anyway and therefore would never be reintroduced. It was the second countries regulators job anyway to vet it when it first left habitat. Therefore employing dozens of duplicated bureaucrats at every border to inspect or record the same plant material numerous times on it's progress outside habitat is just a pure waste of taxpayers money and does absolutely nothing for conservation, probably just hinders it.

Possibly our countries representatives to CITES could be instructed by Parliament to vote this way in future, since they will no longer be bound by EU regulation? As I recall any national law than conflicts with CITES regulations automatically overrides them, so it's just a case of the Society lobbying our MP's to embody these simple legal changes before we leave.

Interesting to see one of the thematic exhibits had a note saying that the originals of this material had been rescued when a botanical garden wanted to put it into a skip since the original researcher was no longer there, and other researchers were not interested in it. Perhaps a sensible change to UK law would be that all such material from public institutions had to be offered to the trade, or appropriate societies, for propagation if no longer needed and not destroyed?

Congratulations to those who organised and ran the show. Thankfully it was not as hot in the hall as last time.
Nottingham Branch BCSS. Joined the then NCSS in 1961, Membership number 11944. Cactus only collection.
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Re: Did you enjoy the national show

Post by Liz M »

I would like to thank all the organisers and those who ran the show on the day. It all seemed to go very smoothly and was so enjoyable. Thank goodness it was not so hot this time, even so maybe some giant fans would help. Setting up your show plants on the Friday seemed to be a very popular option as so many were put in place then, it also gave you a chance to see the sales plants, so I hope that is something that will happen next time. Great selection of sales plants as usual, I bought a few, who could resist? A chance to buy something new and unusual. The show plants were a huge pleasure to look at and you can marvel every time that people are so dedicated to growing and can bring such huge and beautiful plants. I enjoyed the last class 137 for the plants in an aesthetically pleasing container, such variety and good to see really nice plants in a suitable pot, even if you did not like them, they are a lesson in presentation.
Looking forward to the next one.
Obsessive Crassulaceae lover, especially Aeoniums but also grow, Aloes, Agaves, Haworthias and a select number of Cacti.
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