Bumper blooms impress at West Kintyre bulb show
Some of West Kintyre’s best plants, baking and art was proudly displayed at Whitehouse, Clachan, Largieside and Bellochantuy Scottish Women’s Institutes’ annual joint bulb show.
Hosted by Whitehouse SWI, the event was at Whitehouse Village Hall on Wednesday March 16.
The show consists of three main sections: bulbs, plants and floral art, which had 69 entries; arts and handcrafts, which had 85 entries; baking and preserves, which had 52 entries, plus sundries.
A vast array of plants and flowers made for a wonderful display, with an accompanying heady perfume from the hyacinths.
The high degree of skills, expertise and imagination in the arts and handcrafts section showed off the many creative talents of institute members.
In the baking section, the most popular competitions were the soda bread and the cherry cake, while the marzipan fruits, in the sundries class, were exquisitely made and very realistic in appearance.
The show was judged by Jen Ronald, Margaret Bakes and Mary Cameron, three SWI members from the Southend institute.
The individual winners of each section were: Floral Cup: Adrienne Bradley, Largieside SWI; Baking Cup: Zoe Weir, Clachan SWI; Liz Dale Trophy for Arts and Crafts: Linda Bryce, Bellochantuy SWI.
The MacGregor-Smith Trophy for best exhibit in show was awarded to Agnes Sillars of Whitehouse SWI, for the impressive amaryllis she had grown and nurtured.
The overall winning institute with the most total points was Clachan SWI. The individual entrant with most points was Zoe Weir of Clachan SWI.
The judges gave high praise for the work and effort put into all the show entries and said they enjoyed judging and congratulated competitors for making it a wonderful show.
‘All who attended the show commented that it had been a great success and an enjoyable social event,’ said an event spokesperson.
‘It was an opportunity to show the community that the Rural – as it was once known – is fun and that members are interested in a variety of skills, making new friends and meeting up with ‘old’ friends.’