How I Won Eight Ribbons at the Fair
by Carol Lee

Every year at the Dutchess County Fair, the floral displays at the Horticulture Building captivate and energize my soul. Last year, while admiring some winning dahlias in the show, I murmured that the ones in my own garden looked just as good. A judge who overheard me suggested I enter mine, pointing out that I could register on the spot. That cinched it for me.

Flowers are accepted at the Horticulture Building for entry at 7:00 a.m., long before the Fair opens, on three different days: on Tuesday, then again on Thursday and finally, on Saturday. Each show lasts only two days, so the flowers are always fresh. Water-filled glass jars are provided in a variety of sizes to accommodate your flowers for showing. I arranged eight dahlias in eight jars, properly labeled the tags, and paid a 60¢ entry fee for each flower. Lots of clippers and cutters were available, too, but bring your own tools, just in case.

All entrants were then asked to leave the building, the doors were shut, and the judges went to work. It was tons of fun being able to see the fair, behind the scenes, as the public does not. It felt really special: admittance was free, and it was so easy to park! For three hours I roamed around, visiting the sheep and goats, the wool pavilion, watching a huge pink sow nurse her piglets, contemplating the purchase of a new sewing machine, buying honey, examining the handmade goods in the arts and crafts building, checking out a cedar chest that might look good at the foot of my bed, and the like.

Finally, the doors were open again at the Horticulture Building and I learned I had won eight ribbons for my dahlias! Three first prize, two second, and three third prize. I was delighted. (You get one blue ribbon just for competing for the first time!)

Credit, of course, must also be given to the weather last summer, which, for once, made gardening very rewarding. A few years ago, my dahlias were gorgeous by the third week of August and someone suggested I enter them in the fair. Then the rains came and knocked the petals off and pummeled their stems to the ground. It looked as if a baseball team had trampled through my garden with a champagne and confetti party. Of course, a week after the show, the flowers were splendid again . . . I've since figured out that you can protect your plants by covering them with golf and beach umbrellas during pelting rains.

The hardest part, last year, was negotiating with my husband, Marty, not to pick any flowers for a few days. He would make the most beautiful bouquets for the house, leaving only buds and cut stems behind. "Leave the flowers for me . . . just this once!" I pleaded. And, thankfully, he did, taking into the house only those that were not good enough to compete, but beautiful enough for arrangements.

After telling another dahlia fancier about my winning ribbons, he wanted to know if they were planted from rhizomes that I had "wintered over" from the year before. Indeed, many of these plants were wintered over; having bloomed in my garden in previous years, they were cut down and dug up in the fall, dried, and packed away in peat moss in boxes in the garage for the winter, where they "rested," so that I could plant them again the following spring. Since I plant my dahlia rhizomes in late April, they can sometimes still be subjected to a killing frost, even late in May, when they first appear above ground. That's when I lay cotton sheets over them (instead of plastic drop cloths, which might sear the tender leaves when the sun comes up the next morning).

Of course, Jane Santini, of Northern Dutchess Botanical Gardens, suggests you come by and purchase a beautiful potted dahlia that was planted in her greenhouse in February and already in full bloom by May, and enter that into the show. (If you actually want to try this, do it now, because you must own the plant for at least two months prior to entry in the show.) Actually, someone once cut flowers from the gardens right at the fair and entered them. What was he thinking? (He was immediately disqualified!)

The Dutchess County Fair publishes a Horticulture Show book that explains all entry requirements and flower categories for the show. "Sometimes winning can be as easy as following the directions for entering the flower," says Lorraine Birnbaum, now in her sixth year at the Horticulture Show and president for three years of the Rhinebeck Garden Club. To gain an edge for winning, suggests Lorrarine, select flowers that are not yet in their prime. Pick your flowers early in the morning the day before the show, then place them in warm water, keeping them in a cool room or basement. On the morning of the show, make a fresh cut under water. Also try to use floral preservative in the clean water.

"Remove any leaves that have even the smallest blemish," Lorraine also advises, since this will count against you. She recommends removing any lesser quality leaves with a tweezers, and also any errant petals that might detract from the overall look of the flower. One of my blue-ribbon winning dahlias was huge, and had several lush leaves on it, no doubt accounting for its first prize status.

"Be selective," cautions Lorraine, then adds adamantly, "And please . . . no bugs! Even if they haven't yet munched into the petals or the leaves, the judges do not want to see bugs on the entry!"

Other flower categories include marigolds, roses, zinnias, cosmos, geraniums and gladiolas (the last of these also do well in my garden, so maybe I'll enter those, this year, too.) You can pick up a Flower Show handbook at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, or online at www.dutchessfair.com. Or call (845) 876-2789 to have one sent to you. Be sure to request a sufficient quantity of entry tags. This year the Fair will be from Tuesday, August 21 through Sunday, August 26.