THE county town was in bloom with a spectacular display of daffodils at the Dorchester Agricultural Society Spring Show.

Hundreds flocked to the society’s third annual event at Sunninghill School at the weekend.

Beautiful blooms, prickly cacti, succulents and glorious tulips in rainbow colours delighted the crowds who turned out to see the exhibits. There were also tasty cakes at the cookery classes and Dorset’s marvellous and myriad wildlife was captured in a photography exhibit.

Former Dorchester Agricultural Society president Ray Hayward was delighted when his Disquiet variety of Yellow Trumpet daffodils took the Best Bloom award. Ray, from Milborne St Andrew, said the winning flower had been planted in September, plunged in peat during the winter months to keep it frost free and then removed in February.

A keen exhibitor, Ray is a regular on the Dorset show circuit, recently exhibiting at Upwey and is planning to show at Wimborne next week before going on to the regional Wessex Group Show in Bristol.

He said: “The daffodil show season is quite short – running from mid- March to mid-April – so you have to make the most of it.”

Leading national cactus grower David Ennals, from Toller Porcorum, took the top two awards in the British Cactus and Succulent Society’s sponsored classes.

David said that he was pleased with the 47 exhibits in the classes, adding there had been an excellent turn-out in the junior classes.

First-time exhibitor Charlie Pitcher had an early birthday present when he was awarded a bronze medal for his cactus entry. Charlie, who turned 14 the Monday after the show, said he was “over the moon” with his award.

The top flower award went to Derek Phillips as he took the Daffodil Championship for the third time in a row. The award is based around nine varieties, but this is nothing for Derek who has been growing 70 varieties since he began exhibiting in 1985.

Derek, from Peasdown St John, near Bath, Somerset, regularly judges events around the country, including the prestigious Royal Horticultural Show at Wisley. He said the trick to his success was concentrating on each exhibit: “You don’t want to think about the nine vases – the exhibit has to be an exhibit in its own right. It has to have all the right colours.”

John Chilcott, Dorchester Agricultural Society president, said he was “delighted” with the excellent quality of the entries, particularly from young people. He said: “I had an extremely difficult task in judging some of the photography entries as the standard was so high.”

This year’s Dorset County Show will take place on 2-3 September. Tickets are available from dorsetcountyshow.ticketsrv.co.uk.