You could win at the Yuma County Fair

You might win a blue ribbon for a beautiful rose you have grown, or a floral design you create may be judged finest in its class.

The Yuma County Fair will be held March 30 through April 4 and is a great opportunity for all garden enthusiasts to enter their prized floral designs, container plants and cuttings of plants they have grown. Members of the Federated Garden Clubs of Yuma (made up of all Yuma area garden clubs) sponsor the open horticulture and floral design divisions at the fair.

Fair books are available at the fair office, 2520 E. 32nd St., or online at www.yumafair.com. All information concerning requirements for flower show entries are on pages 37 and 38 of the fair book. The flower show is open to all amateur growers and arrangers, along with special classes for junior entries, kindergarten through 12th grade.

Entries will be accepted from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. March 29 and 7 to 9 a.m. March 30. Judging will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 30. The flower show will be closed to the public during judging and will reopen for viewing at 2 p.m. All floral and horticulture exhibits may be picked up between 8 and 9 p.m. April 4 or between 8 and 9 a.m. April 5.

Horticulture

Containers will be provided for cut horticulture specimens, fruit and vegetables. All entries must be clean and insect-free. Horticulture exhibitors are urged to provide both common and botanical names of entries on the entry tags. Use of botanical names may result in a higher award.

Exhibitors are allowed unlimited horticulture entries in each lot if each is a separate-named variety, type or color. Lots will be divided as entries warrant. All entries will be judged variety against variety. All horticulture entries must be grown and cared for by the exhibitor for a minimum of 90 days.

There are 12 horticulture classes, with each having several lots. Classes include roses, bulbs, annuals, perennials, vines, trees and shrubs, plants in containers, orchids, herbs, fruit, vegetables and junior horticulture.

For horticulture specimens, be sure to cut your plant material the night before and place them in a container of water to “harden. inches This rest in water overnight helps stop them from wilting and keeps them looking their best during the six days of the fair. The metal building where the flower show is held can be warm during the fair, making it important to condition your cut specimens.

Floral design

Plant material used in designs must be arranged, but need not be grown, by the exhibitor. All designers have their choice of fresh and/or dry plant material. No artificial material is allowed in the designs. Designs will be staged using background frames provided by the Federated Garden Clubs of Yuma. Some frames are 36x24 inches and others are 24x30 inches, depending upon the design class. Check fair book for details.

The theme for Division II, Floral Designs, is Around the World with Flowers. Each exhibitor is limited to one entry per lot in this division. Class I, Faraway Places, requires advanced reservation to enter a design. There are four designs allowed in each lot of Class I. Call 783-3145.

The design titles in Class I are Lot 1. Evening in Paris (using a frame 36 inches high, 24 inches wide, with 12-inch wings); Lot 2, Mexican Hat Dance (using a frame 24 inches high, 30 inches wide, with 12-inch wings); and Lot 3, China Doll (using a frame 36 inches high, 24 inches wide with 12-inch wings). Designs cannot extend beyond the frame’s borders.

Other interesting floral design classes, requiring no advanced reservation, include Class II, Mini Magic (petite designs, open to all); Class III, Made in the USA (regular-sized designs, open to all); Class IV, Oh Canada! (novice, regular-sized designs, restricted to entrants who have never won a blue ribbon in a flower show or at the Yuma County Fair); and Class V, Australia Down Under (use of plant materials to create a wreath, swag, Christmas ornament, dried flower picture, decorated hat, topiary, corsage, pot-de-fleur, or a decorated gift box).

Why not choose a class and create a design? Our Canadian winter visitors are especially invited to enter the Oh Canada! design class for novices.

Junior horticulture and design entries are grouped by age. Group A, kindergarten through second grade; Group B, third-fifth grade, Group C, sixth-eighth grade; and Group D, ninth-12th grade.

Junior design Class VII, World Travelers, has the design titles England Swings, Hawaiian Hula and Mexican Fiesta. Junior petite design Class VIII, It’s a Small World After All, has the design titles African Safari, America the Beautiful and Australian Hip-Hop.

We hope you will participate in our flower show. You’ll have fun meeting other gardeners; and hopefully, if you’re not a garden club member, you’ll be inspired to join.

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Val Colvin is a member of Pecan Grove Garden Club and can be reached at valcolvin@aol.com. This column is sponsored by the Federated Garden Clubs of Yuma.