Official Rules Issued For The Guidance Of Judges

Interpretation

1.“Society” or “the Society” means the Scottish Begonia Society. Whenever Begonias are exhibited for judgement and the show schedule provides that they are to be judged according to the current Scottish Begonia Society’s classifications and Rules, and elsewhere also that the decision of a judge be final, the latter provision are subject to the provisions of these Rules.

2.(a)Judges should possess a sound knowledge of all Begonias, including their growth, habits and the formation of their blooms.

(b)In the performance of his/her duty a Judge shall act with an open mind, shall not be influenced by any personal likes of dislikes, shall have regard to the provisions of these Rules, and shall judge all exhibits submitted to him/her for judgement as they are seen by him/her at the time of submission at the show or elsewhere.

(c)Whenever a Show Schedule provides that a specific number of varieties must be included in any exhibit staged and submitted for judgement, the colour of any variety officially recognised by the Society and included in its official list of classified colours, shall be final and no variations of such colour (be it light, dark or other variation) shall be accepted by the judge as providing a separate and distinct variety from that so recognised by the Society.

(d)“Collars”, cotton wool, or any similar substance or aid other than container for the water that may be used to support a cut bloom or any part thereof is prohibited.

Merits

Cut Blooms

3.A cut bloom shall be of good substance and have good depth for the variety exhibited.
An ideal bloom, whether it has a rosebud or a camellia centre, shall be circular in outline, the petals arranged symmetrically and so as to present an even shaped bloom, shall be of good size and depth, and it shall culminate in one centre.
The colour shall be that recognised by the Society and classified in its official list and the bloom shall be at or near the perfect stage for such a bloom and be neither too young or too old.
The provision of this paragraph (3) shall apply, change and change about, to any seedling exhibited and submitted for an Award of Merit should be granted in respect thereof. The colour of any such seedling shall be that determined by the sub-committee referred to in sub-paragraph two of paragraph 6 of these rules.

Defects

Any bloom exhibited for judgement that is –

(a) shallow
(b) of poor texture
(c) irregular in outline
(d) in possession of or has more than one centre
(e) of the self colour as classified by the Society, but is pale, dark or blotched
(f) too young or too old, tired, bruised or has marked petals or
(g) possesses any malformation or other defect; shall be regarded by the judge as a defective one for the purpose of judgement.

Handling Or Shifting Blooms Or Pots:

4.Except in special circumstances, a bloom or a pot plant exhibited for judgement shall not be handled, lifted or shifted by a judge or by any other person authorised on that behalf.

Judgement by Points:

5.Should it be necessary, in any special case, to judge a bloom?
On points, such points shall be allocated as follows:

(a) Form 10 points
(b) Size 10 points
(c) Condition 10 points
(d) Colour 10 points
(e) Presentation 5 points (for Boards of 6 or more blooms).

Seedlings and Award of Merit:

6.A Preliminary Certificate may be award to any seedling in the seedling class at the annual show.

Any exhibitor seeking an Award of Merit for any seedling which has been exhibited previously and been awarded a Preliminary Certificate and which is exhibited by him on his own behalf, or by him on behalf of any other person, or by any person authorised by him in that behalf, must exhibit for that purpose two or more plants in bloom of that seedling.

Judgement on such an exhibit shall be given by a sub-committee appointed for that purpose by the executive Committee of the Society and it shall have regard to the fact that an Award of Merit will be granted by the Society only if the seedling exhibited is a new and distinct variety of Begonia and is worthy of such an Award.

Pot Plants:

7.For exhibition purposes an ideal pot plant shall have its blooms evenly spaced all round, but an ideal “facing the front” pot plant shall have its blooms evenly spaced and generally facing one way.

A pot shall contain one tuber only except in the case of a pendula begonia in which case more than one tuber may be included.

“A single stem” plant shall have no side shoots.

If an exhibitor deems it necessary to remove any leaf or leaves for the purpose of providing a better view of its blooms, he may do so without attracting any penalty to the exhibit or pot.

A Well Balanced Pot Plant:

Merits:a well balanced pot plant shall have stout and erect stems, its foliage should be clean, healthy and unblemished and its blooms should be spaced and be in size and number, proportionate to the plant.

An ill-balanced Pot Plant:
Defects an ill balanced pot plant is one that has stems that are spindly, weak or twisted, pale, damaged or spotted foliage; lost its lower leaves; and has blooms that are few in number or small in size for the size of the plant.

Judgement by Points:

8.Should it be necessary, in any special case, to judge pot plants on points, such points shall be allocated as follows:

(a) Standard of cultivation 10 points
(b) Stems 5 points
(c) Foliage 10 points
(d) Blooms (1) Number 10 points
(2) Form 10 points
(3) Size 10 points
(4) Condition 10 points
(5) Colour 10 points
(6) Presentation 5 points

Total 80 points