Grower praises her homemade compost for treble trophy haul

A WOMAN from Sonning Common who dominated the awards at this year’s Chiltern Edge Horticultural Society spring show puts her success down to her own compost.

Jessica Philbrick, of Bask- erville Road, won three trophies in the annual contest for her daffodils and narcissus.

In total, 35 participants submitted 165 entries, across categories including veget- ables, domestic and photography.

Ms Philbrick won the Avern Trophy, for best in daffodil and narcissus, the Grove Cup, for best in daffodil, narcissus and tulip and the Village Cup, for the most points in the flower section.

She said this was the best she had ever performed at the show but added that she was disappointed that she didn’t win any prizes for her photographs.

Ms Philbrick said that there was no trick to growing winning daffodils but her homemade compost does make a difference.

She said: “I planted them in the autumn last year, so they are new. This is because the year before was a disaster as some bug ate most of the daffodils.

“To be honest, with daffodils you just put them in the ground and they grow and on the morning of the show you go out into the garden and pick the ones that are looking good.

“If you are displaying three or five, you want them to look uniform and have a similar size, shape and colour.

“I plant them in my home compost which is a mix of all my kitchen waste, torn up cardboard, shredded paper and garden waste in my hot bin, which is a compost maker and what it produces is amazing.”

Ms Philbrick said preparing for the shows takes a long time as you have to get up early in the morning to select the best flowers.

Colin Mather, of Rowan Close, won first place for his floral narcissus art and said the key is to make sure there are no imperfections.

He said: “It is luck when you grow them and, before you pick them, you look for things which aren’t quite right.”

In the floral art category narcissus are displayed in a frame rather than in a vase.

Mr Mather, who has been a member of the society for 12 years, said that when the judges are making their decision, they are looking for the plants to have flat petals.

He also came second in the signs of spring photography competition, for his photo- graph of catkins in Millennium Green, and third in the birds category.

He said: “I use a proper camera as my smartphone is not good enough but we try and encourage people to take them on smartphones to encourage more entries.

“When I am taking a photo, I am looking at the light. I was walking down the green when I took that photo.”

Susan Hedges won the spring colour category of floral art for her display, which used shrubs and heather, and also won a certificate of merit for floral art, for most points in floral art classes.

She said: “I collected lots of things from my garden and grew all of it myself to make this. You have got to get the colours and the height right.

“I regularly take part and we wish more people would enter. We like the show because they always have different titles for you to come up with arrangements for.”

Mrs Hedges shared a secret to winning the category. She said: “You have to get them ready, by giving them good old water before you start arranging them, otherwise they flop.

“You have to condition it and give it a good drink in a big bucket beforehand. I tried this time using chicken wire because the plastic foam is out of fashion now because of the environment.”

Zeynep Stromfelt, a retired teacher who lives in the village, came second in the open photography competition for her photo of Britwell Hill in Britwell Salome.

She said: “It was a midsummer’s night and I take a photograph every month in the same place. This one was taken at 9.38pm. I don’t have the best iPhone but I love that photograph. I love the light on the field behind it, which changes every time — it is amazing.”

She also entered the floral art arrangement using a cup and saucer and came second. She used a Turkish coffee cup in her display.

Ms Stromfelt added: “I have never done a floral arrangement before. I used mini daffodils and ordered them by colour and shape. I was trying to create a harmony in the cup and saucer.”