THE flower tent was a sight to behold on Thursday afternoon, as decorative floral arrangements were met with certificates declaring first, second or third prize.

An array of colour bounced about the flower tent as florists, both professional and hobbyist, waited to see if their arrangement had grabbed a prestigious prize.

From floral art to fun gardening, there was something for everybody — and showgoers were even given the opportunity to purchase some of the flowers available after the prize presentations in the afternoon.

With a record 78 entries this year, the wide variety of entries in the flower tent really showed just how much hard work exhibitors had put into this year’s competition.

Chairperson of the show’s flower committee, Liz Hodgson, read out the results and thanked everyone who had entered and put their time and money into creating the wonderful arrangements. However, she modestly shied away towards the end of the presentation, as she won eight different classes in the floral art section, but was able to get the recognition she deserved as a fellow committee member read out her winning name to the public.

Liz was most pleased to have won ‘best use of colour’ as she said it is something she has always paid close attention to. She said: “It is one of my pet things, I like colour in my arrangements to be good. It is not always about the gaudiest bright colours that make the best display!”

Liz said she started flower arranging around 25 years ago when she took up a City & Guilds flower arranging course at Duchy College. She said: “I started just to have a day out a week and now 25 years later here I am.”

She said the most rewarding part of the day hadn’t been winning lots of prizes but hearing the comments of members of the public who came to view the magnificent effort all the entrants had gone to.

“This is my hobby and it is so rewarding to hear the positive comments from people coming into the tent. At the end of the day we work for months trying to get everyone entering and we have had a lot of good flowers this year so they all deserve praise.”

The committee expressed its thanks to Liz, saying: “She doesn’t often get the recognition she deserves because without Liz there would be no flower tent. We want to thank her because she works her socks off to ensure there is a great display for the public every year.

“She is very committed and enthusiastic and a great leader and we would be lost without her. Her success today is very well deserved.”

Also scooping up some prizes was Bude’s Joan Trewin, a former florist who now takes her passion as a hobby to competitions — this year winning the people’s choice award for her magnificent exhibit, ‘Party Piece’.

Joan said: “I’m delighted, but I do feel everyone works so hard, so everybody deserves a prize. Everyone has put a lot of work and effort into their exhibits this year. But it is nice to get the people’s choice; it’s nice to get the public vote.”

Joan has been on the Holsworthy Show floral committee for five to six years, and is also a member of the Flower Arranging Association and an area demonstrator for the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies (NAFAS). She also had a florist shop in Bude for 18 years, but uses her skill now as a hobby.