By Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted September 18, 2017)
A white diamond orchid (all photos by Margaretta)
Kenya Horticultural Society’s 119th Flower & Plant Show set a new standard for artistry, originality and excellence of plant entries this year.
That’s the
verdict of the eight professional judges who had the task of adjudicating the
40 colorful exhibits that were on display this past weekend at the SSDS Temple Hall
in Westlands.
George Barua's display won the top Gold Award
“It won the
Society’s Gold Award for overall excellence,” said Celia who explained that
last year, no Gold Award was given out since none of the entries met the judges’
rigorous criteria.
They
consider everything from the condition of the plant and the artistry of its
presentation to its originality, variety and overall effect. The judging went
on last Friday, just hours before the winning plant displays were announced and
the trophies handed out.
KHS’s
chairperson, Mrs. Balinder Ahluwalia explained that winners do not receive cash
awards. Instead, they receive a “floating” solid silver trophy which they keep
for one year, after which they return it to the Society so it can be awarded
again the next year.
“The
trophies have been handed down to award-winning horticulturalists [gardeners]
over the decades,” said Mrs. Ahluwalia. She recalled they were first given out
back in 1926, two years after the Horticultural Society was initially formed.
“Kenya was a
colony at the time of course so the local society was part of the Royal
Horticultural Society based in the UK,” she added.
Like Celia
Hardy, the KHS Chair was also pleased with the turn-out and quality of this
year’s plant entries.
“Our members
keep learning and improving every year,” she said, noting that only KHS members
are qualified to enter the annual competition.
‘There were sixty
members [out of a total membership of more than 300] who brought beautiful
plants to exhibit,” Mrs Ahluwalia said.
“In all
there were no less than 140 plant entries,” she added, noting that many of the
exhibits contained more than a single flower or plant.
For
instance, the award-winning Manda Orchids that won the special award for ‘Best
Display of Cut Flowers’ exhibited more than a half dozen dazzling cymbidium
orchids.
Nyokabi Kenyatta-Muthama's Manda Orchids display won a Special Award for her cymbidium orchids.
“The
cymbidiums are often described as the ‘king of orchids’,” said Nyokabi
Kenyatta-Muthama, who owns Manda Orchids. Her award-winning display featured all
the colors that these exotic orchids come in, from pastel pink to sunshine
yellow and snowy white.
“We only
grow our orchids on three acres, but that still makes us the largest commercial
orchid growers in all of East and Central Africa,” Nyokabi added.
But orchids
were only one of the many plants and flowers that filled the SSDS Hall last
weekend. There were both indigenous and exotic plants, everything from roses, African
violets and assorted ferns to philodendrons, azalea hybrids and anthurium
blooms.
Paul Mwai's sikuma wiki, spinach and leafy lettuce won 1st, 2nd and 3rd awards in the veg class.
There were
flowering fruit trees and miniature bonsai plants as well as tables full of
thorny succulents. And there were even awards for culinary herbs, spices and
vegetables like lettuce, spinach, and ‘sikuma wiki’ (known by its botanical
name as Brassica oleracea and in
English as Corrands Creen). All three of those green favorites, [grown by Paul
Mwai in backyard garden in Runda], won first, second and third awards in their
class.
Alice Kuria won 1st prize for her culinary herbs display. She grows her herb in Karen.
In all there
were 65 award-winning classes, including trophies for children, one for
gardeners between six and eight years old, another for little ‘green thumbs’
between nine and twelve years old.
Mrs.
Ahluwalia, who’s been KHS’s chairperson for the last five years, said there are
many benefits to joining the Society, even if someone isn’t inclined to place
their plants and flowers in the Horticultural Show. For one, members meet every
month in a different member’s garden. “Then we invite a professional landscaper to come and
speak to us about various aspects of gardening, so our members are always learning new things," she added. Membership is Ksh1,500
annually and it's open to all.
The humble Sikuma wiki won 1st prize in the veggie category
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