Winners named in Harris Hall Open Class Cut Flower Show, Container Gardening Show

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Lilies and dahlias and phlox, oh, my!

A gorgeous display of cut flowers and container gardens arrived at Harris Hall on Saturday morning, July 18 for the annual Open Class Cut Flower Show and the Open Class Container Gardening Show.

Fifty-seven gardeners from all over Putnam County -- some rookies and some with decades of experience -- brought in the very best their flower beds grew, to compete in the Saturday morning show. Folks brought in more than 300 different entries, and that was impressive, considering the terrific rainstorm from the night before, a deluge that battered local gardens like a fire hose, ruining lots of potential winners.

Banner Graphic/ERIC BERNSEE Cyndi Blocher, Cloverdale, exhibited the Oriental Pink Lily that claimed grand champion andchampion honors in the single cut-flower specimens competition at Harris Hall Saturday during the 2015 Putnam County Fair.

When the doors to Harris Hall opened, folks were greeted by members of the Putnam County Master Gardener Association, clad in green aprons and ready to help.

Harris Hall Superintendent Meredith Bee left her three-year-old and her six-month-old at home with grandparents that morning so she could go to Harris Hall to answer questions, find things and be sure things kept humming. That included getting Harris Hall a new refrigerator to replace the fridge that stopped humming the afternoon before.

At 11:30, judging began. The judge for both shows was Suzanne Potts of Indianapolis. She has previously judged both the Indiana State Fair and the Kentucky State Fair, and she is a National Garden Club certified judge.

There were 23 Cut Flower categories, and six Container Gardening categories. At the end, the grand champion of the Cut Flower Show was the red Oriental lily, shown by Cyndi Blocher.

"I babied that lily all last week," Blocher said, "and on Friday morning I cut it, and to make the blooms pop, I set it under the stove light and put the stem in hot water. Every hour or so during the night, I snipped off a bit of the stem so the hot water would get those buds to open."

The reserve grand champion of the Cut Flower Show was a flawless white formal dahlia, exhibited by Kathleen Ritter.

For Container Gardening, the grand champion winner was the Fairy Garden, exhibited by Amber Beams. The reserve grand champion was the Outdoor Blooming Container, exhibited by Val Haddon.

The following were champions of the various Single Cut Flower categories:

Class 1, Rose --- Kathleen Ritter.

Class 2, Dahlia -- Kathleen Ritter.

Class 3, Gladiolus -- Sharon High.

Class 4, Cosmos -- Kathleen Ritter.

Class 5, Marigolds -- Maxine Williams.

Class 6, Petunias -- Sharon High.

Class 7, Daisy -- Patricia Livvix.

Banner Graphic/ERIC BERNSEE The grand champion fairy garden creation (container garden) was won at Harris Hall Saturday by Amber Beams of Roachdale. There is even a little rope ladder on the right side of the creation.

Class 8, Zinnias -- Michelle Sanders.

Class 9, Daylily -- Rebecca Samsel.

Class 10, Lily -- Cyndi Blocher.

Class 11, Rudbeckia -- Judith Cloe.

Class 12, Sunflower -- Pat Johnson.

Class 15, Specialty Class -- Kathleen Ritter.

Class 16, Perennial Not Listed in Another Category -- Rebecca Samsel.

Class 17, Annual Not Listed in Another Category -- Cyndi Blocher.

Class 18, Flowering Shrub -- Susan Wilson.

Class 19, Hosta -- Archie Hodge.

Class 20, Echinacea -- Carol Thompson.

Class 21, Ornamental Grass -- Rachel Curtis.

Class 22, Fern -- Cyndi Blocher.

Class 23, Phlox -- Jane Jackson.

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