DELIGHTFUL DAHLIAS
"People, because of their busy lifestyles, are content just to have their property landscaped with grasses and easy-care shrubs, and the growing of annuals and perennials has been on the decrease for some years."
New Plymouth Horticultural Society president Catherine McKay
Growers had to contend with drought, but it didn’t stop them entering the summer flower show in New Plymouth.
The New Plymouth Horticultural Society held its annual show at Bell Block’s Fred Tucker Hall on Saturday, and president Catherine McKay said they were pleased with the turnout.
‘‘Considering the weather and the heat and no rain, we’re quite pleased,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s about the same as last year ... we thought it would be down.’’
The show included everything from dahlias and begonias to roses and summer flowers and green plants, and also included fruits and vegetables, preserves and some baking. There were nearly 200 flowers entered.
She said it was a shame that the number of flower enthusiasts was declining, but there were several reasons for it.
‘‘People, because of their busy lifestyles, are content just to have their property landscaped with grasses and easy-care shrubs, and the growing of annuals and perennials has been on the decrease for some years.
‘‘It’s a worldwide problem but somehow societies throughout the world still keep existing, so we hope for the future that there might be a change of attitude.’’
The club had a strong membership ‘‘but it’s mainly of older people’’.
‘‘How people garden, that’s also affected our membership.’’
Phil Mayhead won champion bloom with his Wildwood Marie dahlia, and said they were good garden flowers.
‘‘They’re nice in the garden; they’ve got a wide range of shapes and colours.’’ He also enjoys the local competitions. John Cuthbert has been growing begonias since walking into Cox’s Begonia World in Christchurch 14 years ago. He now has 52 hanging baskets in his shade house in O¯ kato, among hundreds of other blooms.
‘‘I just like the colour,’’ he said. ‘‘There’s totally different styles and types.’’
He said he grew his flowers from cuttings rather than seed.
‘‘You always take the female flowers off and that helps the (male) flower to be a lot bigger.’’