In charge of judging Warwick's flowers
BARRY Murphy has one of the most important jobs at the 2017 Warwick Horticultural Society's Flower Show.
For the first time, Mr Murphy judged the competition and was impressed with the quantity and quality of entries.
"Given the weather conditions we've all had to deal with and the very dry winter, it's a great show,” he said.
"The gardeners have done their best considering the conditions they had to work with.”
Warwick Horticultural Society president Graham Gillam said the show had received about 450 entries this year.
"That's down on last year but then again last year was a record show so I don't expect that every year,” he said.
"I'm very happy with all we've got, it's all been displayed wonderfully and everything has its chance to shine.”
Hailing from Stanthorpe, Mr Murphy has been judging horticultural shows for nearly 50 years.
"I've judged plenty of dahlia shows, being a dahlia grower myself, but the same formula applies to all flower judging,” he said.
"I follow a certain criteria where I'm looking at the form of the flower and the stem, hopefully the flower is standing up looking at me.
"I check for cleanliness, whether the flower is disease-free and then the overall condition and give the flower a mark out of 100.”
Presentations for all winners of the garden competition and flower show will take place at St Mary's Hall today from 4pm.
