Welcome to Stutton

Never entered a Flower Show? Most people who enter the Stutton Flower Show are amateurs. Most of us just have a go and find we enjoy taking part. Don’t be put off by thinking this is only an event for horticulturalists or members of a society or about growing the longest carrot, our Show is for everyone. We have divisions for cookery, homemade wine & spirits and a handicraft section so no need at all to enter any flower or vegetable classes if that is not your thing. And there are categories for the children too.

 

Originally these kinds of shows were started, to give the professional gardeners of the big houses a chance to compete against each other. Soon others wanted to join in and it became more of an event for everybody. A chance to meet up, have a good day out and show off your produce...

 

Participating in the Show starts with the Schedule where you find the different divisions and classes. Like in a Dog Show there is no point putting your Poodle into a Labrador class...

 

The schedule is a booklet listing the show rules, the trophies to be won, a few show tips, the 12 categories that you can compete in, the so-called divisions, and the last page of the booklet is the entry form, which you cut off and hand in (but keep the rest of the schedule because you will be needing it!). Each division is broken down into classes. There are 147 classes in total.

 

First have a good read and browse through the schedule and see what takes your fancy then look to see if you are eligible to enter into that division. The three restrictions might be; your age, whether you live in

Stutton or not and if you employ a kitchen gardener.

 

For the children of Stutton and beyond there are three divisions they can enter depending on their age. There are eight divisions open to all exhibitors, age and place of residence of no account.

 

And then there is the one exception and that is - Division 3 Vegetables - which is for Stutton residents - growing their own exhibits - only. (Thereby excluding the Stutton residents who employ a Kitchen Gardener. They have to enter into Division 2, also Vegetables. This rule harks back to olden times when the show

became not only for the Grand Houses but, like today, a chance for all inhabitants to exhibit.) Note that Division 4 and 9 have their own additional rules.

 

If you like Stutton Flower Show is a “proper” show; the schedule is in line with the long-established traditions of the Royal Horticultural Society whose rules our Fruit, Vegetable and Flower Judges abide by.

 

You are quite likely to know someone who at some point has entered a show but otherwise you can always ask one of our many committee members to help. In the schedule, you will find a few very useful suggestions for showing. In the Stutton Community Shop there are more “Show tips” which we bundled together for you to look at. These have been enhanced with photographs to give you an idea of what the exhibits might look like. For example photographs of decorative and cacti dahlias, floribunda and hybrid tea roses and what is meant by “Shallots – 8 exhibition”...

 

So, if you think you might want to have a try and don’t quite know how it works we have put together a time line to guide you through the different stages.

 

Have a go next year!