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Golden Bells
Ben Loyal
Taylor Beck,5, of Roanoke, tied for first with Maren Helfrich of Fredericksburg
Judges (from left) Olivia Welbourn, Mary Koonce and Dorothy Sensibaugh inspect daffodils while helping choose the Best in Show
Judges face an array of daffodils in the annual show yesterday at the University of Mary Washington.
Chromacolor |
OW ON EARTH do you judge a daffodil?
The question might baffle even the most seasoned gardeners at The Garden Club of Virginia's 72nd annual Daffodil Show.
The show, sponsored by the Rappahannock Valley Garden Club, opened yesterday and continues today from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the University of Mary Washington's Jepson Alumni Executive Center on Hanover Street.
Yesterday morning, judges scoured a sea of 2,300 flowers in search of the winning entries.
When the judging was over and the doors opened, crowds of entrants--from all over Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina--and curious observers rushed in. The ballroom glowed with every imaginable shade of yellow, orange and white.
Judges don't just wander around looking for pretty flowers; they are daffodil experts.
"The judges are trained through three seasons and they have to pass exams," said Anne Donnell Smith, one of this year's judges from Stevenson, Md. Once they finish basic training, they have to serve as student judges in official shows, she said.
So what do the judges look for?
Judges select winners in each class--there are 180 of them--based on the flowers' condition, form, color and pose (more about this later).
Once a daffodil wins a blue ribbon in its class, it competes against winners from other classes for "Best in Show."
This is when judging gets tricky, according to Clay Higgins, a judge from Gaithersburg, Md. Higgins said one of the most difficult parts of daffodil judging is comparing different varieties.
"I usually look for the flower that's the freshest and the one that best represents daffodils," he said.
A quintessential daffodil should have flat, rounded petals, said Higgins.
"When they don't, it's usually because the person grooming it didn't do the job they were supposed to do," he said.
Yes, participants must groom their flowers. Tom Taylor, a judge from Dunn Loring, described the process, which he said takes about 15 minutes for each entry.
First, he poses the flower, bending it so the cup and stem meet at a 90-degree angle. He then twists the neck of the flower to make the petals appear as symmetrical as possible. He uses a Q-Tip to clean the pollen, dirt and dust from the flower, and uses his hand to warm and manipulate the flower.
"That's the reason they're all perfectly shaped; you don't see them outside looking so perfect," he said.
Taylor, who is a former president of the Washington Daffodil Society, won "Best Vase of Three Miniature Stems" and "Best Miniature in Show."
The overall Best in Show went to William Pannill of Martinsville for a Peggy White daffodil.
Higgins also entered flowers. His wife, Fran, who accompanies him to shows, said judges are allowed to enter as long as they do not judge their own flowers. They must step back and wait for a replacement when they get to a class they have entered.
This show, which is sanctioned by the American Daffodil Society, is one of the more challenging ones Higgins has entered. He said Virginia and Maryland tend to have the toughest judges.
"If you didn't have just superb flowers, you didn't win anything," he said.
Although the judging is a major part of the show, most people enter for fun, and enjoy sharing a sense of common ground with other entrants.
"Flowers are nice, but the people are wonderful," Fran Higgins said.
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