Deborah,
I can't answer your questions, but how will the fragrant category be judged? I think it should be judged by blind/blindfolded people. How can one be impartial to judging the fragrance once the physical beauty of the rose has been seen? Best of luck!
Kentucky Rose

I would say that for fragrance, you want to take something cut right before you leave. Refrigeration, IMHO, tends to lessen fragrance on some roses. I know it does for Marchesa Boccella. Once I've prepped everything else, I'll line up the rest and determine which one has the best fragrance, and will enter it.

Oh, and take a flashlight out into the garden early in the morning before leaving for a show to see if anything has opened up overnight or might be good enough for a challenge class. You never know! Good luck!!!

I also think it should be a last minute cut. The day before scout up your potential candidates so if it is dark when you leave, you will know where they are. Cut several so you can choose the best at the show site. Generally they loose fragrance when refrigerated.

I have only participated in 2 shows. I take cuttings for all the classes the same morning. Are you only entering the fragrance class. You should really try you hands at many of the other classes - you can enter as a novice. It's really fun! And you never know how your rose stacks up against others, who likely are first with the same gardening adverse conditions and predicaments as you do. You might surprise yourself. Try the climbers/shrubs/floribunda classes. And if you find HT classes daunting, try the open bloom classes.

I am also going to enter in some other classes...
The Novice Class
The HT Horticultural class
The Mini Horticultural class

and I am seriously considering maybe a challenge class that might be fun like the English Box, Painter's Pallet, and maybe bloom in bowl. I have a Raspberry Swirls that I think will have too short of a stem to win in an HT class but will be a the perfect stage and maybe I could enter that in something else.

There are a couple of "heavy hitter" members who show.. One always wins the grand sweeps trophy, queen, and many of the challenge classes.

One thing the Tidewater Rose Society does is has a challege that extends over 7 months. You are allowed to enter a total of 7 roses... maximum 2 different roses each meeting. It gives you the opportunity to practice all summer for the show and also show some roses that might not be in bloom for a show. its judged by an ARS judge every month.. points are awarded and kept track... and at the final meeting of the year a trophy is awarded. That has been fun and has helped me to learn alot.

I am also going to clerk at this show.

Just a thought for the Painter's Palette.
In most shows, this is the only class that is a color class, not a named variety class. This means that you will need to use roses by their color, not their variety names. Using colors from lightest to darkest is what this class is all about.
We recently had a entrant dq-ed because she used different varieties, but they were the same or nearly same colors.
Good Luck at the show.
Meg

BTW, I've clerked for a few shows and was surpised at how this catagory is judged. The judges first eliminate all the entries with "bad form" (too far open, wimpy stem, etc.) and then *only* smell the ones that look good. So the moral of this story is be sure your fragrance entries look good too.

- HershiGrl

OK, 'fess up. You posted how you did in the English Box classes, what about the rest? Did you enjoy clerking?

I realy enjoyed clerking. I learned alot. It of course rained for several days upto and including the day of the show with high winds so roses in my garden were experiencing much bruising of petals and botrytis was on the rampage... so many of the roses I had planned to take didn't make it to the show.

I still tend to cut my roses too tight or too late. Most were still too tight the day of the show and nothing I did would help them to open up. I think most of the exhibitors in my area cut when the first out row of petals are perpendicular to the center of the bloom... but when I try that the centers are blown by the time I arrive at the show. I just need to practice with the timing more.

But still I did end the day with the following:

HTs and Grandifloras -
Antique Brass - Red Ribbon
Black Magic - Yellow Ribbon
Gypsy Curiosa - Yellow Ribbon
Hot Princess - Blue Ribbon
Love - Blue Ribbon
Superstition - Red Ribbon
(oh and Hocus Pocus was D'Qed because the judge thought it was the "other" Hocus Pocus and wrote wrong class should have been Grandiflora on the tag.... I wasn't with that judge so I didn't know about it or I would have showed them in my CRL that there are TWO Hocus Pocus Roses and YES one IS a Florabunda!)

Minis -
Bee's Knees - Blue Ribbon
Glowing Amber - Red Ribbon
Hot Tamale - Honorable Mention

Special Exibition
Fragrant Rose Competition
Mr. Lincoln - Blue Ribbon (mine lost the trophy to another Mr. Lincoln that was more open...almost full blown and therefore more fragrant)

Novice Rose Competition
HT - Raspberry Swirls - Trophy
mini - Glowing Amber - Red Ribbon

Challenge Class
Three HT Blooms of one Variety in one vase - Gypsy Curiosa Red Ribbon
English Box - HT (2 of each type HT) Superstition, Tickled Pink, Hot Princess - Yellow Ribbon
Rose in a Bowl - HT Black Magic - Red Ribbon
Rose Display in a Calico Can 11- 15 blooms - Blue Ribbon
Minatures 3 of a kind in one vase - Glowing Amber- Honorable Mention
Minature in a Bowl - Bee's Knees - Red Ribbon
Miniature English Box - Glowing Amber, Bee's Knees, Erin Alonso - Blue Ribbon

Overall I was very happy with my day and left with a very nice Crystal Vase

Sounds like you did well at your first show. Congrats. Has the exhibiting bug bitten you now?

Our fragrance class is judged by the public. We put a small glass in front of each entry and a bowl of beans to one side, and ask everybody that passes by to smell each bloom and put a bean in the glass that's in front of the rose they think smells best to them.
George

Hooray!!! Congratulations! Sounds like an excellent start!

Great day!!! It looks to me like you did VERY well.

Very well done!! May you continue to have so much FUN! Because, that's what it's (showing and sharing roses) all about!!

Congrats!

See, once you have got over the nerves of exhibiting for the first time, the bug really bites you!

Thank you everyone for your kind words. I will exhibit again .. and again.. and again.