The Dahlia Show

Today was the big local dahlia show. I was up and out the door by 7:30AM. I packed all of my entries into milk crates and loaded them into the car. Then I drove slowly down the steep, long gravel driveway. The hardest part about entering blooms into a dahlia show is safely transporting them to the show. Many an exhibitor has had their heart broken by a pot-hole induced snapped stem!

We had 42 exhibitors enter over 1,500 blooms. The show room was a sea of color. Let the judging begin! As I wrote yesterday, this was my first year entering in the open category. The competition is the toughest here and I had little hope of going very far with my few blooms. I was correct in predicting that my "Dagmar" would be my best entry. It won a blue ribbon and then advanced to win Best of Type. So I was pleased to make it to the second round with a bloom in my first year. Next year I will shoot for the next level, Section Champion and a shot at the Head Table.

After judging concluded, the Head Table was filled with all of the "best of the best". The top row holds all of the single bloom entries and the bottom row all of the 3-bloom entries. Amazing, beautiful blooms.

There is also a section for arrangements. This year we had 11 exhibitors enter the category  "She was an elegant lady" in honor of our late member Alfretta. The only criteria for the arrangement was the blooms had to be in pink and purple, her favorite colors.

And we also had full tables of basket arrangements. Pictured below, the winner of best basket in the show.