The Cupar and District Floral and Horticultural Society marked its centenary year in 2011 with a special 100th Anniversary Flower and Craft Show which took place on Saturday 27 & Sunday 28 August 2011 in the Corn Exchange, St Catherine Street, Cupar.
The two day spectacular hosted the annual flower show, a coffee morning, demonstrations and talks alongside a craft and trade fair.
Flowers, fruit and vegetables were at the heart of the show weekend but fun activities suitable to all ages and interests were added to ensure that the whole family had a great 2-days out.
People from far and wide turned-out to see JIM McCOLL, and the choir from Castlehill Primary School, open the special centenary of the Cupar Flower Show at the weekend.
The show attracted a lot of new exhibitors to the show providing a colourful and attractive display for those attending. Jim McColl commented “its thanks to the generations of people who have been involved in this community over the last 100 years; those who have put together displays as good as what you see today and what you see today in my mind is incredible and it’s a great credit to the gardeners that can produce beautiful stuff in a summer like we have had. It’s obvious that the skills in this part of the world are as strong as they ever were, and we should pay tribute to the skills of the exhibitors who help put on such a great show as this”.
FLOWER AND CRAFT SHOW
We had a number of categories in our show schedule covering all aspects of gardening, horticulture and rural life.
Our categories were:
- Garden Competitions
- Cut Flowers including Sweet peas, Gladioli, Chrysanthemums & Carnations, Dahlias, Begonias*, Herbaceous, Perennials and Annuals & other classes
- Pot Plants
- Fruit and Herbs
- Vegetables
- Industrial including Baking, Preserves
- Handicrafts including Needlework & others
- Wine
- Floral Art
- Children’s Section
- Schools Competition
- Children’s Group Competition
- WRI Inter Institute Competition
- Photography which was new for 2011
RESULTS
The show attracted a lot of new exhibitors to the show providing a colourful and attractive display for those attending.
The garden section saw an increase in entrants due to the encouragement of the organisers. The judge, Alan Graham from St Andrews, was impressed by the work and dedication that these exhibitors put into their gardens given that it is not an easy task when the weather is not being kind.
There was an impressive display of cut flowers with growers submitting spectacular specimens of sweet peas, dahlias, begonias and herbaceous plants. Mr Tom Nelson from Cuparmuir was the winner of the East of Scotland Four Vase Sweet Pea Championship.
The colourful theme continued in the floral art category with a large number of exhibits in each class. Judge, Mary Law, MBE, had a tough job of selecting the winners as the quality of the exhibits was very high indeed. The best floral exhibit in show, sponsored by Gladys Lundie, Cupar, was awarded to Mr Ann Duff of Balmullo for her fantastic “A Taste of the East” exhibit.
The judges were particularly impressed by the quality of this year’s vegetable section, particularly in potatoes, onions and the root vegetable sections. The winner of the best collection of vegetables Mr James Lowe of Kelty who also gained the most prizes in the vegetable section.
The industrial section was supported well with a range of home baking, preserves and handicraft section. There was a slight increase in the amount of entries received for the children’s section but the main class, the miniature garden, sponsored by Margaret Aitken, a former committee member and longstanding supporter of the show, was entered by nearly all of the child exhibitors.
This year’s School Competition required pupils to create a collage on an “eco-gardening” theme, and the trophy, after a lot of deliberation, eventually went to St Columba’s School. A Group Competition was also launched this year, with the 10th Fife (Cupar) Cubs creating the best “superhero – using recycled materials”.
Newcomer to the Scottish Women’s Rural Inter Institute Competition, Cameron SWRI, took home the Watt Trophy for their interpretation of “One Hundred Years – a Celebration”.
Family members presented trophies that had been given in memory over the 100 years, with the Provost of Fife, Councillor Frances Melville, also presenting some trophies and awards. The Provost made a presentation of a crystal bowl to the Cupar Flower Show in recognition of achievement.
The generosity of the local businesses through sponsorship or the donation of prizes cannot be emphasised enough; it’s down to them that we are able to award the level of prizes we do and to put on such a fantastic show. There was a full programme of talks and presentation and continuous craft demonstrations throughout the weekend, as well as trade stands covering gardening services, societies and other products.
President, Les Wheelans thanked all the competitors, committee members and visitors who made the show a success and said “ I may not be here to see the next celebration of (200 years of) the society, but I hope that the community will keep supporting this flower show for many more years to come”.
If you enjoy gardening; create hanging baskets in spring, have a nice patio ornament, maybe have a collection of border flowers, grow your own fruit or vegetables, are good at baking, needlework or floral art, please give consideration to entering next year’s Flower Show.
The hamper was won by Molly Lumsden, Cupar. Guess the weight of the cake, sponsored by Fisher & Donaldson was won by Carole Pirie, the whisky trail was won by Maggi Young, who correctly guessed “Jura”, and the special prize draw for lunch at the Peat Inn was won by J Douglas. Many thanks to all who donated prizes and raffles.
CRAFT & TRADE EXHIBITION
For the first time we had a very successful craft and trade exhibition and the following organisations were on hand to help.
Mike Pool Wood Turner – www.mikepool.co.uk
Fife Fuchsia Society -www.fifefuchsias.f9.co.uk
The Great Lawn Company – www.greatlawncompany.com
Shoes Glorious Shoes – www.shoesgloriousshoes.co.uk
GreenThumb – www.greenthumb.co.uk
Phoenix Trading – www.phoenix-trading.eu/web/johandonaldson
Tesco – Our Community
Elmwood College – www.elmwood.ac.uk
Thorntons – www.thorntons.co.uk
DEMONSTRATIONS & TALKS
Special Guests
Jim McColl, from the BBC’s Beechgrove Garden opened the Show on Saturday 27th August 2011 at 11am, and he was then a panellist for our Gardener’s Question Time from 2.30pm, along with Les Bisset and Peter Christopher.
We also had a number of other guests appearing throughout the weekend with a series of demonstrations and talks covering:
- Garden Flowers (Begonias)
- Pot Plants
- Cookery Demonstration
- Lawn Care
- Floral Art Demonstration
- Gardeners Question Time
- Growing Vegetables
- Cut Flowers (Dahlias)
- Cookery Demonstration
- Natural Lawn Care
- Home Wine Making
- Organic Fruit & Vegetables
- Cut Flowers (Geraniums)
- Flower Beds & Garden Design
- Honey Bees