Spring Show Report 2026
21st March 2026, Willis Hall, Church Crookham
Saturday 21st March was an early start for everyone entering our Spring show. Entries needing to be chosen, cut and transported to the show. A tip from the judge’s was not to pick the daffodils with pollen dropping onto the trumpet. A sign they are going over and an obvious one for them to detect.
JUDGE’S TIP
Many pot plant entries were squeezed into the Willis Hall and the display was amazing. Another judge’s tip was to make sure the plants are dead headed and damaged leaves removed, it could make all the difference. And please make sure the society vases are used for the daffodils. We did run out of vases, but we had spare containers which we advised the judges of and were permitted to use. We will be ordering more for next year and we will be back in the Memorial Hall for a bit more elbow room.
DAFFODILS
Starting with the daffodils there were over 57 daffodil entries, all to a high standard. Judges Annette Blackwell and Elizabeth had their work cut out but managed to get through all the classes within the time. Thank you for their judging efforts, they had some difficult decisions to make.
OVERALL WINNER: SUE GRANT
The overall winner with the most points was Sue Grant with 35 points. A deserved winner with results in all sections including the daffodils, flower arrangement, photography and baking section. This comprised five firsts, two seconds and two third places. Congratulations to Sue who received the Ian Watson Spring Cup.
In second place was Caroline Morris with 30 points. Her highest ever place with four wins, two seconds and two third places. Newcomer to daffodil showing was Helen Baker in joint third place with 23 points along with show regular Gillian Rose.
BEST POTTED PLANT
The Richard Constantine cup for best potted plant went to Jo Wilson. A difficult decision for the judges who ruled that second place despite being spectacular, still had an old flower head attached.
CHILDREN’S SECTION
Tweseldown Infant school played an important role in our children’s section. Our thanks go to Julie Dear who runs their “Forest School”. They had three entries in the miniature garden in a tray. Well done to Alex and Esme, Lola and Dottie (who entered as pairs) and Archer who all claimed joint second place. Overall winner of the junior Spring cup was Georgina Moutia with the best exhibit in the junior section with her miniature garden. Closely followed by Emilia Horn with her Spring animal picture.
RECORD NUMBER OF ENTRIES
I have never seen so many floral arrangements at the spring show before, 11 in all between the two classes. And it was nice to see entries in the baking section as well with Sue Bean winning a rosette.
MYSTERY BULB MIXED RESULT
The Mystery bulb had a mixed result. Some with flowers and some without! The bulbs were all from a Golden trumpet variety, (I have no idea how the multi headed bulb slipped in!). They can now be planted out into your gardens to naturalise. Jennifer Kelly won with her daffodil still in flower and looking good enough to win in the daffodil class.
SEED POTATO CHALLENGE
Hopefully everyone collected their seed potato for potting up and bringing the crop along to our summer show in July. This is a very prestigious competition requiring lots of focus and dedication.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST
Thank you to all the helpers including Sue and Stephanie in the little kitchen. Caroline, Jo, Paul helping set up and squeezing all the classes in. And thanks also to Kevin Morris for looking after the shed during the morning. A busy but rewarding day was had by all of us.
Helen Howard CC& F Garden Society
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