Congratulations Amulet! I entered a bunch of catus, 2 dish gardens and some cut flowers. I plan to go this weekend to see how I did.

Congrats amulet! That's awesome.

Thanks for asking about mine, and sorry you didn't get a chance to see it. No, i got 3rd for my category and Pete got 2nd in his. He was behind the breezeway, and has a 'where the wild things are' garden, and my rooftop garden is the one closest to the building- with cake like tiers. I don't agree with the judge's decisions/scoring on a lot of them this year and it was a very tough competition- sooo many great gardens. But I don't feel bad- i'm in good company- there are 4 of us who are former pitzer winners who have 3rd place this go-round. Before somebody says third doesn't sound so bad, each category only has first, second & third. So you always place, and get some prize money, which of course helps offset the money you put into it.

What's really great, though, is my good friend, who i got involved, won the Pitzer! (best of all 27 gardens) I felt like my kid got the grand prize! Be sure to head up the hill to check out her garden and the other 2 up there, which are beautiful as well. The gardens on the hill have been extensively pruned and worked on this year so it's a treat to head up there anyhow.

I haven't taken daytime pix yet, and only have night shots of mine & Pete's, but hope to get some daytime pix tomorrow. I'll post when i get a chance.

God luck, hosta! There was a lot of competition among the cactus dish gardens... so you may need it!

My cut flowers and arrangements this show did terrible- only 2 3rds out of many, many cuts and no arrangements (i did 5). But it is the heaviest show, and i should do better on the 2 later ones with much less competition. Wish i'd recalled that before i drove myself nuts getting ready to enter. I'll have more time to prep for them without the garden as my primary focus. Got a couple 2nds in plants, so i was happy about that. My son got 1st for his terrarium, which was way cool, and a 3rd for his 'retarded turtle' as he called it, b/c he thought it looked so dumb. My daughter's very cute squirrel didn't get anything b/c another squirrel next to hers got 1st. Now, it WAS better, but hers was still better than the 2nd & 3rd place pieces, i thought. I think they just didn't want to give 2 squirrels prizes, which is dumb. Judging is always so inconsistent, anyway.

Well, out of the 15 cactus and succulents I entered I got 3 -1st, 6 -2nd, and 2 -3rd. I was happy with how my cut flowers did too. I got a nice surprise when I saw my Chaemaecyparis obtusa had a big green ribbon for the Arboreal award.

There are so many nice plants there but the one that really impressed me was that huge ric rac cactus covered with blooms out by the hanging plants.

WOW & Congratulations! Can you guys share some photos? I would love to see what these arrangements/plants look like.

Ok- here's the fair garden pix. I didn't really shoot arrangements, plants and cut flowers, except for my reference. There is a shot in there of the orchid display.

Congrats hosta (mike)! That's great. Those extra awards are really nice to get since they are an extra $25! I agree- that huge ric rac was amazing! Did you get a whiff of the fragrance? It was just lovely. I really liked the color of the blooms, too. Gave me hope that one day mine might bloom. I really liked the little yellow arrangement you did, but it didn't get anything. How did you do o/a in the second show?

Amulet, how did you do with the second show?

I did ok with arrangements yesterday, getting 3, 2nds and 2, 3rds. No firsts this go round, but maybe thurs. Didn't get many cut flowers in because i plum ran out of time, but i did get a first and third in the few things i managed to get in. I used my time on arrangements instead. Maybe i'll be able to do both for thurs- we'll see. My daughter got 1st for her praying mantis, and my son got 2nd for his dried arrangement, so they'll both be happy.

Here is a link that might be useful: fair gardens

Thanks for the photos Tammy! Somehow I missed the Orchid Society display - oops. Maybe there was someone I was trying to avoid standing near it.

None of the birds were there when I walked through. I would have loved to see the Golden Conure, we had a breeding flock of them back at the zoo and I knew them well (this was back in the good ol days and they were known as Queen of Bavaria Conures back then).

The level of artsy-craftsiness seemed extra high this year on the garden props. I don't know how the judges judged them.

Boy that sedum really filled in.

Mike - your cardboard cycad is blooming! You're a daddy! (the one you brought to the swap).

Tammy, Thanks for sharing those photos. Absolutely awesome!!! Judy

Judy- no problem. I'm just sorry it took me so long to get them up.

That conure was sooo frickin' sweet i was jealous! She sat and cooed to her owner, cuddled into her neck the whole time and blew kisses and would say 'katie, katie, katie' (which sounded like kitty, kitty, kitty). Her owner said she was generally never noisier than that, and she'd had her about 6 years. Amazing to me. Wish mine were that nice/quiet. I've got both qualities but not in one bird. It took 3 to get some sort of a combo (but they all have bad habits, too). The bird folks will only bring the birds when it's warm enough. Maybe there wasn't a replacement for her once Katie was gone for the day, b/c she was there the morn you were. I think they normally do like 4 or 6 hour shifts.

TJ- re: the sedum- told ya so!! You know, out of everything in my plot, that seems to interest people the most when i've been there. I keep telling people to come after the fair cuz i sure don't need all of that! LOL!! Maybe i'll make some cash....

Yes, i agree the props were extra artistic this year. Made it harder for us b/c that was sort of our niche/advantage before. Oh well. I think Erv really wants to emphasize style AND substance in a nice balance next year (along with innovative thinking), so hopefully we'll see some helpful changes made to scoring sheets and such. I'd be happy if they were just objective and consistent with the scoring.

That orchid display is amazing. Too bad you missed it. I wish i could get closer to get some closeup shots, but at least we get to look. None that i've noticed are heavily fragrant.

Tammy, we visited the Fair gardens this afternoon and I thought your Roof Garden deserved better. I noticed a potted plant with variegated leaves and coleus-like flowers directly across from your Rooftop Garden. I asked a couple of the workers if it was a Plectranthus and if they knew what its name is. None of them knew what it is (or even what a Plectranthus is). Is there any way that you can find out what it is and whether it will be available next Monday?

Tammy, I'm glad your daughters praying mantis got 1st. I've been telling every one how cool it was. My cut flowers did very well in the second show but the two arrangements didn't. While I was driving home I realized I never measured the arrangements and forgot to cut them down to size and I knew they were both over what they should have been, so I was hoping they wouldn't win anything. Maybe in the 3rd show my small halloween arangement will do something.
John, I'm glad to hear the cycad is happy.

I wish you luck with the next show, Mike! I'm doing a little halloween one, too, and it's pretty weird. You know, they haven't been paying nearly the amount of attention to measurements as they have in the past, so that may not have been it. I liked it anyhow. i was happy about liv's mantid, but surprised k's hedgehog didn't do better. I think it should have placed 2nd or 3rd, but you just never know. First place was a well done basket.

Ralph, is it the chartreuse and white and yellowish one? That's the only one i can think of off the top, other than the vari guinea impatiens. If so that is a plect- it's 'gold coin' and i can ask someone if it will be for sale on monday. If not, i can probably wrangle you a cutting- it does very well from cuttings. I had it in a mixed planting for a long time, but am not sure if it's still going or not- it was down to a small bit last i looked. So maybe i'll wrangle me a cutting, too! ;) Sorry about the lack of knowledge from the volunteers- they are just that, and some are better than others. Thanks for the kind words about my garden. I felt like i should have gotten 2nd, but what can you do? The scoring bothered me more than anything, but there's promises that that will be revamped next year, so i can only hope for a better shot then.

Ralph, i looked and it was gold coin; has to be; it was the only vari thing that had coleus like blooms. I forgot to ask but was just breezing thru anyhow, as it was all about the kids having fun with their buds today. I'll write myself a note to ask tomorrow.

Adrianna, maybe i'll see you tomorrow! It was nice seeing you today- sorry i didn't have more time to chat. 3 pretty preteens sure keep you hopping! We saw you later but you were chasing a toddler, so i guess you have some idea of what i mean- LOL!

Tammy, I didn't even enter the 2nd or 3rd contests and I never have, but when I saw how few entries there were yesterday I was kicking myself. It looks like the competition is much smaller for the 2nd and 3rd shows. Well, I guess there's always next year. When I looked at the competition for your category, it looked like the 1st place winner outspent you. The decking they had must have cost quite a bit. Do they put a limit on the amount you can spend to create your garden? I'm not sure if I'll be back to the fair since I didn't enter any other contests, but good luck with the rest of your entries. I hope you win LOTs of ribbons.

hosta, thank you. It sounds like you did well on your cactuses and succulents, 11 out of 15 with ribbons. Congratulations to you too! Maybe you can give me some pointers. I think I may be interested in entering succulents in future years. Do you have pictures too? I didn't get a chance to go into the cactus/succulent house this year.

Maybe I'll get some time later to put up the pictures I took of the cut flower categories that I got a ribbon in the first show.

I'd like to know how everyone does in the next show. Good luck!

"click - whooshhhhhhhhh"
Hear that? That's the sound of me opening up a whole new can o' worms.

Though I am in no way defending the judges or the system by which they judge in. You aren't judged by what is standing next to you (at least in the cut specimens or the container plants, its a little different in the gardens). You are judged against a standard of perfection. They start with 100 points and deduct all the faults with your entry that they can find. If you are the only person entering a category and your cut specimen is of low score you can be denied a ribbon and prize money. You aren't competing against the other flowers on the shelf - you are competing against the perfect flower of that type.

So, it isn't supposed to matter how many other people enter the contest. But of course politics and corruption exist.

John, that may be the case, but I saw several cut flower categories that only had 2 or 3 entries in the category and all were awarded ribbons. I'm sure that wasn't the case for all categories. I didn't really have time to study each of the categories (as Tammy mentioned I did have a toddler - my daughter - in tow). Of course no matter if they don't award all 3 ribbons in each category, the fewer the entries, the fewer perfects competing for each ribbon...

Here are the pictures from the cut flower exhibits that I placed 3rd in...

Click the "Play slideshow" button.

Here is a link that might be useful: NC State Fair Cut Flowers

John, you crack me up! Nice explanation, but as you said, there's politics and corruption aplenty out there. I know some of the plant entries got skipped and someone had to go back and rejudge! I can't go into all of what i know, b/c some of it's confidential, but leave it at it's not all a bowl of cherries. Like you, i believe Erv is actively working to make it a fairer, better show, but it's a lot of muck and years of so called tradition to cut through. I try to have fun and not get discouraged. So far every year has gotten better in some ways, so that's encouragement enough for me. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Ralph, that plect was indeed 'gold coin' and it's erv's personal plant, so it won't be for sale. I asked if i could get some cuttings for you and he was more than willing. So if you can stick around til 10 when i'm allowed in, i'll get you set up! If not, i can take them and get them to you later. That day is just a wee bit hurly- burley though, so it may be best if you can be there. Besides, you'll want to get some other stuff than mums, right? :)

Here's a call out to everyone- at 10am on monday, some of the gardeners will start selling at least some of their plants from their plots. Expect to pay fair price or a little less- most of us don't want to get less than we paid for a plant, tho bargains and cuttings can be had. The mum sale starts at 8 and runs til 10. The mums are cheap- $3 for up to 5 (i think) and $2 ea after that. They go fast so if you are particular, get there on the 8 am side.

Adrianna, yes, the 2nd and 3rd show are less competition and you do stand a better chance to win. I normally do much better in those shows. If i'd remembered that this year i probably wouldn't have bothered entering much in the first show as my schedule was already so overloaded. I'm making a note for next year! :) Since i concentrate on arrangements, those are directly affected by how many entries there are. I do cuttings as well, but to me, they are second fiddle.

Congratulations Tammy! I saw one of your arrangements won the petite award. Of the three arrangements I entered one got a 3rd,but I was happy for that. My cut flower did very well again. Maybe I'll just stick with them next year.

Oh, no, i think you should keep doing some arrangements, too! I love the simplicity and clean lines of yours. Don't get discouraged- i enter a lot and win a few. Your cut stuff is so much nicer than mine ever looks- you are so precise with prepping it and your garden must be amazing! I still enter cut stuff, though, because you never know.

I was excited that i got one petite (which i wasn't sure they'd like- it was the scary hand one for halloween) and one for my collage, too. It's the laughing mother earth one. I meant to write 'mother earth sings a limerick' on it, but in the rush i totally forgot. It was supposed to be humorous, and for some reason that popped into my head. I had fun painting her. I also got 2, 2nds- one for the teacup/midway ride one (which i thought would do better) and one for the 3 dwarves as i call them- the dried cobra lilies- right up your alley. You really never can tell how they are going to judge. I just do what comes to me and hope for the best. I don't think my little wreath with the laughing dried pitchers got anything (it also was supposed to be funny halloween). Oh well- i like it and will have it here when the fair's over. :)