The Horticultural Show. Part Four – Staging and Display
‘I have always been convinced that vegetables when shown naked are more colourful than flowers.’ Medwyn Williams.
Horticultural shows reached their zenith at the end of the 19th century and the sheer abundance of what man could grow was reflected in the seedsmen’s bursting catalogues and spectacular vegetable displays.
Wondrous stage sets were put up by the seeds firms themselves or by groups of horticultural societies. It was a chance to show off to the public what it was possible to grow at close hand.
Edwin Beckett, a vegetable hero of the early 20th century was the Head Gardener at Aldenham Gardens, Elstree and a legendary display man. In his oft reprinted and modestly titled Vegetables for Home and Exhibition, he writes lovingly about the breeding and growing of vegetables but also how to show them, ‘with all the tasteful effect, skill and experience could devise.’
Our generation’s Edwin Beckett is certainly Medwyn Williams of Medwyns of Anglesea. A renowned Welsh vegetable grower who creates his own tremendous displays up and down the country. Amongst his numerous awards he has for thirteen consecutive years won the gold medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Medwyn has regularly proved that a splendid vegetable exhibit can be more colourful and beautiful than that of flowers. With careful harvesting, handling and regular misting of clean water his vegetables can stand up well for five days at the show. However, he admits that by the end of seven days in the Great Pavillion the potatoes look a little bit grey and the parsley may have lost some of its zip.
His wonderful wife Gwenda keeps the washing machine running for days before a show, cleaning the black fabric that covers the wooden structure. Onto this he and his team painstakingly build a display of forty different kinds of vegetables The leeks and celery are always placed boldly on the top level next to the cauliflowers. On the shelves below cascade cones of tomatoes, peas hanging on hooks like roof tiles, piles of coloured potatoes, columns of capsicums on pedestals and chillies in baskets—all snugly settled in parsley.
Parsley is a much-overlooked component of the showing world. ‘Faulds’ super-curly parsley is an old Scottish variety perfect for enhancing vegetables. It’s velvety, lush and a deep, deep green. The depth of colour seems to emanate from frenzied tight curls held up on turgid stems. It’s texture and greenness are never dominating, but rather the perfect foil for bright coloured vegetables. The golden orange of carrots glows next to it, the creamy tones of a cauliflower or leek are somehow made more dignified by it and the red tomatoes become positively jewel-like. Parsley can be teased into nests or carefully tucked into any gap or crack with a cocktail stick. Notoriously difficult to germinate but when well grown, parsley keeps its colour and form for a long time out of water. This feature may explain both its use as decoration in ancient Greek tombs and why Medwyn swears by it for show purposes.
Even on a small scale the artistry in staging and presentation of your exhibits at a show can make a difference to your success. In close competition your arrangement may be the deciding factor. Parsley is allowed at any stage, but ‘foreign enhancements’ such as oil, wax or Vaseline are banned and a judge will spot them immediately. Judges are also alert to holes in potatoes filled with soap, superglued tips of carrots that snapped on extraction and split onion skins stuck down with egg white. Shallots and tomatoes are usually shown on a plate of very fine ‘chinchilla’ sand bought from a pet shop, but illegal sand brought back from holiday has been known to add a sparkle. Brown onions rest solemnly on curtain rings with their tops tied with raffia and most other vegetables look best on neat boards of a matt black fabric such as velvet. Labelling exhibits legibly is important as is keeping exhibits covered with damp, white, tissue paper till judging time. It stops them drying out and has the added advantage of stopping nosey competitors sizing you up.
Staging and displaying your exhibits must be taken seriously. Take a fine misting spray, a sandwich and flask of tea—and as E. Beckett recommends in 1899…. ‘Be proud. Take time.’
