Judging flowers a lifelong passion for local woman

Some people just really dig plants.
One such person is Donna Wasykowski, who will be judging the Fort Frances Horticultural Society’s annual Flower and Vegetable Show taking place tomorrow (Aug. 7) at the old CN station.
Wasykowski has been involved with the local horticultural society for 38 years, and been judging flower and vegetable shows in Fort Frances and Emo for more than a quarter-century.
“Once you get involved in it, it’s just like a way of life almost,” Wasykowski said. “You want to keep up with it, and I’ve enjoyed it over the years.”
She first learned how to judge shows years ago after attending a school for it in Thunder Bay with a handful of other horticultural society members.
Judging is a continuous learning process, and every three or four years Wasykowski returns to the judging school in Thunder Bay to stay up to date on it.
It also means having to keep up with new flowers that have come out.
While judging flowers and vegetables may seem like a subjective thing at first glance, it comes with a whole book of rules and guidelines.
“You have to learn a lot of different things,” Wasykowski noted. “You see, people that work in flower shops learn what are nice-looking flowers, but they don’t learn how to judge.
“Because in judging, we have certain specifications,” she explained. “Like you have to cut the root of a plant a certain way.
“Everything is measured and there are different sizes of flowers, and different amounts . . . and you have to follow the book.”
Local horticultural societies often have their own rules, she added, but the guidelines that everyone across the province follows comes in the book put out by the Ontario Horticultural Association.
For non-members, there is a $10 entry fee for the show, but that also includes a membership to the society.
“I think when most people become a member, they enjoy it because you always get tips going to the meetings and you learn how to do your gardening,” said Wasykowski.
At the previous meeting, for instance, members discussed various helpful gardening tools. Wasykowski also went over, in more depth, some of the rules for entering pieces in the annual flower and vegetable show.
“If you’re not a member, you’re taking chances the first year you enter and you’ll learn if you do something wrong,” she noted.
At the same time, the society still encourages people to participate.
“We just love to have new people entering and there’s prizes for people who enter for their first year,” she remarked. “It’s exciting to see people putting in for the first time, or . . . children’s entries are exciting to see.
“But for me, that’s really not too exciting,” she added. “It’s a job. The people that win are the excited ones.”
The only downside of being the sole judge of the show is not being able to enter her own plants.
“I used to be able to enter things here when we had two-three judges, but now that I’m the judge, I’ve been kind of restricted for what I can enter,” Wasykowski said.
“I haven’t thought about retiring yet,” she continued. “I think when it gets to be a chore, you would retire, but as long as you can do it and enjoy it, it’s something I would keep on doing.”
To participate in the show, entries must be submitted today (Aug. 6) between 6 and 8:30 p.m.
The theme for this year is “Living Green,” and there is a $10 entry fee for non-members although it’s free for children.
The show is open to public viewing tomorrow (Aug. 7) from 2-8 p.m.