The last few shows have meant it is all change in the leaderboards for 2025.

Novice Section

After the Loughborough show, Graham Anderson was leading the Novice section, but Lou Nicholls made up one first at Chesterfield, and some more when she won the Novice section at the Midland / Malvern show, so she has now inched into the lead.

Intermediate Section

Again, after Loughborough, Christine Jarvis was leading comfortably, but Andrew Ward made up a lot of ground on her at Rosemoor.  Christine is particularly fond of snowdrops and Hepatica, and the season for these is past.  At Chesterfield, David Harris won the Intermediate section comfortably, and swept into the lead, with Andrew Ward close behind.  Although Lesley Travis won the Intermediate section easily at the Midland show, Andrew picked up another couple of firsts to squeeze above David, with Lesley leaping up to fourth place.

Open Section

The Open section aggregate for the year is always a race of tortoises and hares.  The early spring shows are dominated by the spring bulbs of Bob and Rannveig Wallis, and the Dionysias and Primulas of Paul and Gill Ranson. After Loughborough, these two had a healthy lead over the rest of the field, but Don Peace had managed to accrue enough firsts to hold a solid third place.

Rosemoor saw Bob and Rannveig extend their lead over Paul and Gill, and both moved further away from Don; too far for him to travel.  The following weekend at Hexham, the opposite happened, with Don winning the Open section comfortably from John Dixon, and neither of the other leaders exhibiting.  Don won again at Chesterfield; again neither the Wallises nor the Ransons were present.  By this point Don had passed the Ransons, and edged into second.  The Malvern show saw a big win for the Ransons, who have leapt into the lead, with Don now close behind the Wallises in third.  John Dixon has managed to make 4th place his own for now.

However, the Malvern show also marks pretty much the end of the season for the Ransons.  They will pick up a few more firsts over the rest of the year, mainly with cushions, but they won’t have much more in flower.  So we can expect Don, if he manages to get to the next few shows, to float into the lead.  But how much of a lead can he establish ?  Bob and Rannveig will have flowering plants to dominate the autumn shows.  Last year they won 75 first points in the three autumn shows to Don’s 24.  It is far too early to pick a winner, and much will depend on other exhibitors, and their successes.

Medals and Bars

There have been a few medals and bars achieved over this period.  Rosemoor saw a 27th Gold Bar for Paul and Gill Ranson.  At Hexham, Michael Wilson gained a 3rd Silver Bar and Don Peace won his 39th Gold Bar.  A little flurry at Chesterfield saw a 3rd Silver Bar for Andrew Ward, a Gold Medal for Michael Wilson, a 6th Gold Bar for Bob Worsley and a 31st Gold Bar for Geoff Rollinson.  Malvern saw several exhibitors inch closer to their next achievement, but none quite got there.

Please click on links to see the latest results

• Open Section
• Intermediate Section
• Novice Section
• Paintings / Drawings / Needlework Open Section
• Paintings / Drawings / Needlework Intermediate Section
• Merit Medals and Bars