Judging in progress
As Tim has pointed out, the benches on Saturday, were rather sparse, and there was much debate through the day as to why this was. Two main reasons were proposed, at least to me; firstly that it provided further indication of the damage inflicted on many collections of bulbs, and cyclamen, by the rigours of last winter, and secondly that the curious season this year in the south of England, with a desperately hot and dry spring meaning that many bulbs which survived the winter died down early, and didn't store the resources to flower well. My own plants were either in peak condition a week ago, or will be another week before flowering, and this was certainly the case for other exhibitors as well; there were several pots with tiring flowers, and others with many buds to come.

Oxalis flabellifolia
Nevertheless, among the plants which were brought there were some exceptional specimens. The first to greet the eye as you passed the Artistic Section and entered the main part of the hall was a small pot entered by Colin Rogers in the Beginners Section of a beautiful and wonderfully compact (perfectly grown) South African oxalis, O. flabellifolia, awarded a Certificate of Merit.

Hessea stellaris

In the Open Section there were many other pots of South African bulbs, exhibited mainly by George Elder, who went home with a hatful of seconds and no first prizes, mainly because many of the plants were either past their best, or not fully out.

Hessea stellaris was second in its class, probably because the flowers were just starting to wilt, but this was poor recognition of the achievement in getting it to flower so well; neither I, nor several other members who grow South African bulbs can get this to flower at all.

Massonia pygmaea ssp. kamiesbergensis
More familiar perhaps is the genus Massonia, with its heads of white shaving brush flowers nestled between pairs of glossy leaves; this is Massonia pygmaea ssp. kamiesbergensis, again exhibited by George Elder.

Romulea autumnalis
When judging was completed, George's South African Romulea autumnalis was resolutely closed, with tightly furled bunches of stripes giving little indication of the wonder which was to appear little more than 30 minutes later.

Polyxena longituba
Fortunately, you do not get this problem with Polyxena. George exhibited 4 different species. The first is Polyxena longituba, which has been appearing at autumn shows for a long time, but until recently was often wrongly named.

Polyxena ensifolia
Secondly we have Polyxena ensifolia, a plant with a larger, showier bunch of flowers. Unfortunately George's potful was staggering out, and only two bulbs were fully out.

Polyxena maughanii
Thirdly, the tiny Polyxena maughanii, a personal favourite. George exhibited a pan with over a dozen bulbs in, spaced out to allow room for the leaves to develop, though at this point each plant, with its pair of leaves ant little bunch of flowers is only about the size of the top joint of your thumb.

Polyxena brevifolia
Finally, Polyxena brevifolia, a plant which is notoriously difficult to germinate in this country. Bulbs are most commonly imported from nurseries in South Africa as 1 or 2 year old seedlings, but that then entails the tricky task of turning them round to Northern hempishere seasons; however these bulbs originated, the flowers are well worth the effort.

Nerine bowdenii
The final South African bulb I photographed was exhibited not by George Elder, but by Anne Vale, who had the misfortune to put it up in the same class against the eventual Farrer medal winner. This is an light pink selection of Nerine bowdenii, which was dug up from her garden, and as such has no name associated with it, though it clearly resembles the plant which has been sold recently as N. Stephanie. Anne came to the show needing two more firsts for her gold medal, and only won one, so I have a feeling some of her plants may be embarking on the long trip to Newcastle in two weeks time. Best of luck Anne.

Oxalis lobata
Bob and Rannveig Wallis also brought some fine pots of bulbs to the show, starting with the South American Oxalis lobata (?= perdicaria). This is a familiar presence at the autumn shows, but is usually seen looking rather drawn and straggly. Not so this pan, which was splendidly compact, and it was a surprise not to see it awarded a Certificate of Merit.

Biarum marmarisense
However, Bob and Rannveig were awarded a Certificate of Merit for their pan of Biarum marmarisense, which always intrigues visitors to the show, with its little white hoods looking like a Ku Klux Klan gathering.

Biarum pyrami
In the same three-pan class they included Biarum pyrami, a wonderful rich velvet red from a distance, but be warned if you have to carry a potful to a photography table, or travel with it in a car; close to, it smells dreadful.

Narcissus elegans var fallax
Another plant they brought attracted a lot of interest, and was on many people's list of favourites. Not this year the large pan of Narcissus serotinus, but a smaller cousin, Narcissus elegans var fallax.

Narcissus cavanillesii
The other narcissus at the show was the one which attracted so much attention the previous year, Narcissus cavanillesii exhibited by Ian Robertson. This was awarded the Keith Moorhouse Trophy for the best plant in a 19cm pot.

Here is the pan of narcissus making part of Ian's AGS medal-winning small 6-pan in class 30.

Cyclamen graecum ssp. anatolicum
Of course, Ian is best known for the wonderful cyclamen he brings, and it was no surprise that he won the Saunders Spoon for best cyclamen with a beautiful (heavy !) pot of Cyclamen graecum ssp. anatolicum.

Cyclamen graecum ssp. graecum
There were many more large cyclamen, but I prefer to photograph the smaller ones, which seem to me to have a grace and delicacy which is lost as the plants grow larger (and of course they are lighter !). This is Ian's Cyclamen graecum ssp. graecum.

Cyclamen mirabile Tilebarn Nicholas
There were many pots of Cyclamen mirabile; this is a seedling from the Tilebarn Nicholas strain, also from Ian Robertson.

Cyclamen mirabile seedlings
Cecilia Coller exhibited a 3-pan of Cyclamen mirabile seedlings which illustrated beautifully the variation in leaf which the species exhibits.

Cyclamen mirabile Tilebarn Nicholas
Another nice specimen of Tilebarn Nicholas was exhibited by Mike Chadwick.

Crocus goulimyi albus
Normally we associate this show with splendid pans of autumn crocus, but these were mainly absent this year. Among the survivors were Crocus goulimyi albus, also from Mike Chadwick.

Crocus salzmannii El Torcal

Don Peace came a long way to bring this pleasing and photogenic pot of Crocus salzmannii El Torcal to the show.

Crocus boryi
Finally, Lee and Julie Martin produced this fine pan of Crocus boryi.

Sternbergia greuteriana
Lee and Julie were awarded the Halsted Trophy (for the best plant grown from seed) for this pan of Sternbergia greuteriana.

Not content with that, they exhibited a far bigger pot of the same Sternbergia, which was awarded the Farrer Medal. I can't tell you how heavy the pot was (Lee carried it for me), but it sure looked heavy.

Myosotis albosericea

Well, that's about it for flowers. As always at the autumn shows, many of the plants on the bench were in the foliage classes. Here is an unusual cushion plant exhibit: Myosotis albosericea from Paul and Gill Ranson.

Silver Saxifrages

Such was the shortage of entries that show secretary David Hoare's saxifrages were pressed into service out of season. Here is the winning entry in class 57 for three plants requiring similar conditions, together with cultural information. From left to right, Saxifraga Lemon Puff, S. longifolia aitana and S. cochlearis Caros hybrid.

Aruncus dioicus Noble Spirit
Not all the foliage is green of course at this time of year, and there are special classes for autumn colour. This is Aruncus dioicus Noble Spirit exhibited by Ivan Pinnick.

Gaultheria Mulberry Wine
Going with the autumn colour, there are classes for plants in cone, seed or fruit. Here the wow factor came from a female plant of Gaultheria Mulberry Wine, exhibited by Clive Dart.

Somehow or other, I still managed to spend all day taking pictures, perhaps partly because of my particular interest in South African bulbs. I even had two cameras in use at the same time, one with my macro lens on so I could simply swap camera, instead of messing about changing the lens, and getting dust on the sensor.

I would like to thank hard-working show secretary David Hoare, and his hard-working team for putting on an excellent show. It wasn't quite the same without the good humour and ever-willing assistance of David Wisdom, who passed on last week. He will be sadly missed, and his absence cast an unexpected shadow on an otherwise most enjoyable day.