Thursday, 3 May 2012

Catforth Daffodil Show


Goldhanger



The Spring Show season began for me on Saturday 24th March with Catforth Daffodil Show
run by Tom Alty and Andrew Clark which attracts a good quality entry from the best exhibitors
in Lancashire. In the past I have struggled to get blooms for this show as my allotments are
very late because of their altitude and exposure to the elements, so last autumn I got my 49
10 litre pots of daffs into their sandpit in late August and the first week of September, rather
than a couple of weeks later as in previous years. This paid off as I had a much better cut for
Catforth. My best results were 1st out of nine entries in the 3 x Division 1 with three Midas'
Touch and 1st out of seven entries in the 3 x Division 2 with three Goldhanger. After that,
however, it all went downhill for me and I was even  NAS'd because I had bought some Redhill
but in fact they weren't so some unscrupulous company had sold them under a wrong name.
Ian Tyler did not miss this error and rightly gave me the dreaded NAS. If I remember, I bought
them at South[port Show. Big mistake. I also showed various other daffs which Ian did not
judge to be as good as others there. I like Cotinga but it doesn't ever beat flowers like Rapture.
My Sealing Wax which were fresh and cheap and cheerful didn't get a red card but I managed
a second with some Martinette. 

Catforth is one of the best run shows around with proper food for exhibitors both during and
after staging, a brilliant raffle and terrific sponsorship which ensures that most exhibitors go
away with something extra. Keith Capper always brings some very high quality blooms and
Andrew Clark's are getting better each year. The miniatures were down following the demise
of Derek Roscow but I hope some of us will try to fill that section better next year. Tom Alty
is another very good grower who is hard to beat, especiaslly on his home turf. A great show
and one I would recommend to any daffodil fan.   




Martinette
Cotinga
Sealing Wax



Midas Touch



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