Editors Introduction: Without doubt the first thing visitors see when they come to the “Barn at Heligan” is the wall of colour provided by entries in the Bruallen Trophy. Along with the Collerette display this gets more comments than nearly everything else and the numbers that take part in the public vote is remarkable. But what or who is behind the Bruallen Trophy ? I made it my job to find out!
What’s in a Name?
Prior to starting our nursery and floristry business we grew Primulas as a hobby. The species and varieties we grew included:
- Auricula a multi flowered primrose with fleshy leaves
- Denticulata Pom Pom type flowers and toothed leaves
- Vialli like a minute red hot poker in red purple
- Gold Lace Dark primrose flowers with a gold edge (sometimes silver)
- Hose in Hose like a double decker primrose with one bloom on top of another
- Jack in the Green or Jack in the Pulpit single stemmed flower with a backing of tiny green leaves
We knew a Cornish speaker in our village who told us the Cornish for Primrose was pronounced Bruallen so we decided to use (Bruallen) as the name of our business. Later on when we got involved with the Dahlia Society we decided to sponsor a class and so this is the origin of name.
So what is needed to enter?
The Open Bowl class for the Bruallen Trophy is a good way to use any spare blooms left over from the main classes. What you need now is a bowl, supplied at the show, legal Oasis, available to purchase at the show, some tape to secure the oasis and some foliage (anything natural) and of course dahlias. A minimum of 9 dahlias with no maximum limit.
Now all that is required is:
- check if there are any size restrictions
- build a framework of foliage
- Arrange flowers to infill the arrangement
Why not have a go?