Tips on Showing and Presentation’
For our first lecture of 2026 we welcomed Chris Small, the Chair of the Gloucester Federation of Gardening Societies Guild of Judges. The aim of Chris’s presentation was to inform members about growing, storing and preparing fruit, vegetable and flower exhibits for competitive shows and guide us regarding how those exhibits are judged.
Chris had prepared a very useful list of tips and referred to it throughout. He tailored his talk to our 2026 Show Schedule and drew on his 25 years of judging experience to share amusing anecdotes and slides of prizewinning produce whilst encouraging members’ questions.
From simple, but sometimes forgotten, advice like reading a show schedule very carefully and making sure that exhibits are entered into the correct class, to the finer points of exhibiting, such as how many leaves to remove from a cabbage or which vase to use when showing your prize dahlia, Chris emphasised the importance of attention to detail, heeding guidelines and good presentation. He also had suggestions regarding which varieties of vegetables exhibit particularly well; useful to know if you have your heart set on a winner’s certificate.
Chris strongly advised referring to the RHS ‘Horticultural Show Handbook’ for hints and guidance on all aspects of ‘growing for showing’ as this is used by show judges.
As is often the case, however, the most valuable tips are not always to be found in handbooks and Chris gave us a great selection of those too: Remember that biggest is not always best and if it looks good enter it but bear in mind that judges can always tell if something is not home grown!
This was a very informative evening and hopefully will inspire members to have a go and enter our next Summer Show.