Summer Show 2025
The Great British weather often conspires against staging a garden show. In previous years gardeners have faced an absolute deluge in the run-up to the show. This year however, we had the complete opposite with weeks of dry, sunny weather playing havoc with potential exhibits.
As I’ve said before, gardeners are a hardy, resilient bunch and were we put off entering? Absolutely not! In fact, I’m very delighted to say that there were 256 exhibits from 29 entrants. Of those, seven were new entrants, the majority of whom were placed in at least one of the classes they entered, with some winners. Absolutely brilliant! Many, many thanks to them for ‘being brave’ and entering. I do hope they enjoyed the whole experience and will enter once again next year.
A quote from a club member: “Well done to the winners, think anyone who enters is a winner though, and so nice to see new entrants this show”
Feedback from the judges: “Wow, what a great show given the weather. There were some lovely exhibits, and a great variety of classes, as usual”.
A huge thank you to all our exhibitors and to everyone who came along to enjoy and support our club show. Many thanks too to our Judges who were: Sheila Rapley (Plants, Flowers and Vegetables); Jackie Squance (Floral arrangements) and Jill Arthur (Home Produce).
Summer Show Prize Winners Trophies are awarded to the exhibitor with the highest number of points in the relevant classes.
| Home Produce Cup | Janet Hall |
| Floral Arrangement Trophy | Sue Erler |
| Photography Prize | Karen Cozens |
| Mike Hallt Cup (The Potato Championship – growing the three potatoes supplied by the club) | Janet Hall |
| Davies Rose Cup | Viki Cresswell |
| Smith Cup (Plants and Flowers) | Gill Purkiss |
| Davies Tankard (Fruit and vegetables) | Alan and Pamela Wright |
| Novice Cup | Janet Hall |
| Littlejohn Rose Bowl (Plants, Flowers, Fruit and vegetables) | Alan and Pamela Wright |
| Banksian Medal * | Alan and Pamela Wright |
| Best in Show Plate ** | Gill Purkiss |
The prizes were hotly contested with some very close runners-up:
• Home produce: Amanda Dowden came second, with one point less than Janet
• Photography: Gill Foster came second, with one point less than Karen
• Smith Cup: Viki Cresswell came second, with one point less than Gill; while Ann Haussauer came third, with one point less than Viki!
• Davies Tankard: Bronwyn Pennington came second, with one point less than Alan and Pamela
In 1820 the Banksian medal was instituted in honour of Sir Joseph Banks, one of the founders of the RHS. Initially it was awarded to exhibitors of objects brought to general meetings but, by the late nineteenth century, was given to societies for distribution at their local exhibitions. Today, RHS Affiliated Societies who hold an annual show receive a replica of the original Banksian medal, which is awarded to the person who receives the most points in a show’s horticultural classes – fruit, flowers and vegetables.
A special mention for
Gill Purkiss who has been a wonderful exhibitor for many years, and has won almost every award previously, both in the Spring and Summer Shows. This was her first Best in Show for the Summer Show, and it was awarded for three hydrangeas of the same type (class 21b).
Finally, special thanks to the Show Committee who stage these events on our behalf. Each show brings its own challenges and all require great teamwork, attention to detail and sheer hard work. Without their dedication there just wouldn’t be the shows for us, and the local community to enjoy. So, on behalf of all Grayshott Gardeners – Thank you all!
L-R: A Waddell, J Rae, K Cozens, P Wright, A Dowden, L Munson, S Erler
Here are some more photos from the Summer Show 2025:
Spring Show 2025
The vagaries of the British weather are always a challenge for us gardeners. Last year, the challenge was how to stop potential exhibits from being battered down by the weeks of wind and torrential rain. This year however, Spring had definitely sprung in time for our show and so the main challenge was whether to move potential exhibits into the shade to hold them back a bit or to move them into the warm sunshine! Well done to our members who contributed across all the classes – it was especially good to see some new entrants. The judges were delighted with the quality of the entries, and said it was really excellent to see such support for our club. Hope to see you all again at the Summer Show.
The glorious weather brought out the local community in their droves to enjoy the spectacle and they certainly weren’t disappointed! The show offers such a wide variety of exhibits that there was something for everyone to enjoy, young and old alike: viewing the stunning exhibits; admiring the artistry of the craft exhibits and floral arrangements; voting for their favourite photograph; having a flutter on the tombola or recharging over tea accompanied by a wide selection of delicious, homemade cakes. Some people however, barely paused to admire the wall of colour greeting them on entering the hall – they were focussed on making a beeline to the perennially popular plant sale! This year there was the added interest of Jan’s delicate floral watercolours for sale.
The finale of the show is always the presentation of the cups which this year were awarded as follows:
Gladys Wilmot Cup (Home-produce) – Amanda Dowden
Denyer Cup (Flower arranging) – Sue Erler
Craft Prize – Eda Hughes
Photography Prize – Karen Cozens
Spring Cup (Spring bulbs) – Judith Rae
Gardeners Cup (Cut and pot/container-grown exhibits) – Ann Haussauer
Novice Cup (The exhibitor with the highest number of points who hasn’t won a cup before) – Amanda Dowden
Whitehouse Cup (All classes other than photography and craft) – Judith Rae
Best in Show Plate – Ann Haussauer
Pictures speak louder than words and here’s a selection of photos that sum-up the happy afternoon:
Finally, there’s an enormous amount of effort involved in putting on a show, much of it behind the scenes – so a huge thank you to everyone for their help and contributions which helped make the Spring Show such a success. Now… must start thinking about my Summer Show entries….
Show Information
We hold two Shows every year, in the Spring and the Summer. The Spring Show is held on the second Saturday in April (Easter permitting) and the Summer Show is on the second Saturday in July. Staging of the exhibits takes place from 8.40 – 10.00 am in the Village Hall, with judging following thereafter and viewing for members and the general public is from 2- 4pm. At 4pm the prizes are awarded.
Members are encouraged to enter flowers, plants, vegetables and produce from their homes. Non Members can enter any Open classes. For those of you who are novices, help is on hand from any Show Committee member who will be happy to offer support and guidance.
Our Shows are a feast for all the senses – the smell of the flowers, the spectacular flower displays, the superb home produce and photography – not to mention the plants for sale and the lovely teas and home-made cakes for refreshment.
Club members will be on hand to chat about the exhibits and the club in general.
Show Rules, Advice, Current Year Schedules and Entry Forms can be found in the Grayshott Gardeners Handbook, or by clicking on the links below.
If you would like further information, please contact Pamela Wright, the Show Coordinator on shows@grayshottgardeners.net
Show Documents – Everything you need to enter one of our Shows
A copy of the Spring Show Schedule 2025 can be found here: SPRING SHOW SCHEDULE 2025
A copy of the Summer Show Schedule 2025 can be found here: SUMMER SHOW SCHEDULE 2025
For Show Rules click here, Advice for Exhibitors: here, Entry form for the Spring Show here, and for the Summer Show here.
Horticultural Classification of Daffodils: click here, Camellia Flower Forms: click here, Tulip guide: click here.
For our General Show FAQs please click here. For our Home Produce Show FAQs please click here.
Grayshott Gardeners Spring Show Trophies
Grayshott Gardeners Summer Show Trophies
The RHS Bronze medal is awarded to the exhibitor gaining the highest number of points across Spring and Summer Shows