JUDGING OUR WORTH

I had the pleasure of spending yesterday in Mt. Vernon, Washington, at the Summer Workshop of the NW Federation of Dahlia Growers. We learned about how to use the new clerk sheets, tags and 4-digit classification system. The local affiliates all shared their information about their upcoming show dates, challenge flowers, and awards. As I said after the March workshop, these meetings are a lot of fun. Fernie, Sherry and Beth came along this time, and we spent any unscheduled time just sharing ideas and thoughts with dahlia people from across the Northwest. We were especially interested in finding out what other growers do to combat the earwig invasion that so many of us have faced in our gardens this year - the consensus seemed to be that Sluggo-Plus is effective, but it's hard to find in our local stores or nurseries. We will probably end up ordering it online. The other growers are so generous with ideas and we were just tickled to hear that so many of them are planning to come over for our show on September 17-18. This means, of course, that we are going to have to be even more diligent in making sure that our organization is first-rate, and that we have enough space for all the anticipated entries. Many of these wonderful people will be judging as well as showing, so the show this year should be nothing short of totally amazing! The Pacific Northwest is apparently recognized nationwide as having ideal conditions for dahlia growing, and members who have traveled a lot to othere shows shared that entries from Washington state always attract a big crowd at any midwest, southern or east coast shows.

We were encouraged (urged, in fact!) to bring entries to other shows around the state. Competing in dahlia shows is the option of every dahlia grower, whether or not they are affiliated with any group. There are standards for show flowers and staging that everyone considering entering should be familiar with. For example, any dahlia entered in an ADS show must have been "disbudded." This means that when the buds appear, the grower needs to pop off the smaller buds on either side of the center bud, thus allowing optimum strength and exposure for the main bloom, making a better flower. Standards for showing are available by contacting any show chairperson or dahlia society members who have entered in prior shows. Here in Wenatchee, our club is only about 7 years old and relatively small. Very few of us have entered shows in different areas, but I think it is a good experience and a way to learn a lot. Last year, I had about 5 entries at the Seattle show, and was pleased to receive blues on three of them, especially since I didn't know ANYTHING about how to safely transport, and as a grower, I was less than adept!

This year, our club is taking a bus over to the Puget Sound Dahlia Association show on August 27 - I won't be able to go to that, since my husband will be having major spinal surgery (6-7 level fusion) on August 23. This is kind of a bummer, but we are happy that the surgery will finally take place, and hopefully improve my husband's situation. So, as an alternative, I am planning to go over to Everett on August 20, to enter and to clerk. I really hope I have some "show-worthy" blooms, but in any event, I know that, as a novice, I will get excellent feedback from the judging teams, and learn a lot about how to produce even better flowers in coming years. I hope that the NCW Club members who are going to Kent on August 27 bring flowers to enter in the show. I know that several of them are also planning to clerk, so this is a great opportunity for them to put what we will learn at the Judging Workshop on July 31 into practical use.

I have lots of buds coming on, and some blooms are actually open. I'm optimistic about the next few weeks, if the summer weather holds......