Ma Maison Fleurie.

Do you remember when I told you about the very first time I met the floral judging committee which to me seemed to made up from anyone who liked flowers regardless of their knowledge. That was 20yrs ago. It has come a long way since then for rural France.

The competition judging is done at the beginning of July. That period this year was not very good weather wise, We'd had a lot of rain & not very much sun, so the flowers well behind in blooming due to lack of sun. So consequently all the hanging baskets & troughs were at there best when the jury had been & gone.

At the beginning of last week I received my invitation from M. Le Mayor to attend the diploma presentation  which was to be held in 'La Salle de Fete' in my commune.  This year chairs were set out in rows & a screen was in place up on the stage with a projector for a photo slide show of all the entrants gardens or fronts of houses. I thought wow! our little commune has certainly come into the 20th c. what progress since 20yr. ago. The Mayor welcomed everybody & explained about the slide show. Then he started to give out the diplomas for the different categories & clicked onto the laptop to show the photo of the winners garden or house. Somewhere along the way the photos seemed to be out of synchronisation with the receiver of the diploma, as the little old who was sitting next to me said 'Why is M. Charbonnier collecting a diploma that's not his house it's mine' after 23 yrs. my understanding & communicating has greatly improved, although I still make the odd 'faux pas'  Apparently right from the beginning of the presentation the photos were not the house of the diploma receiver, but nobody had said anything. Oh well ! maybe next year they will get it right, nobody seemed to mind, all the entrants seemed to enjoy looking at every one else's gardens or window boxes and every entrant was given a diploma even if it was just for making the effort of planting a few flowering plants and each one of  went away with a Camellia shrub to help them add a little more colour to their garden. 

Then the aperitifs were served, which always goes down well, delicious canapes made by the local boulanger and a glass of wine, followed by plenty of refills. Everyone then mingled and chatted about their gardening success 's or the failures due the bad weather early in the year, hopefully going away with encouragement  for 2013.

My categorie is for Terraces & balconies & this year I received a 'Diplome d'Honneur avec mention special.

I was well satisfied with my award, but it was not as rewarding for me as the one I received 2yrs ago. That year I won the 1st prize for the whole of the department, not just the commune. But who ever it was who won it this year, I'm sure they will feel as proud as I did and who ever you are I say congratulations.

My Diplome d'Honneur

The balcony with hanging baskets and troughs.

 

Close up of the Surfinias in the trough.






One of the many window boxes.

A half wall basket.

Hanging basket in front of the holiday cottage.

More Surfinias.

On the steps leading to the pool.

A metal ware container from Denmark.

This is a glimpse of some of the flowers that helped me win my Diplome d'Honneur.

Hope you enjoyed sharing my flowers.

A bientot 

Barbara Lilian.