F. Harm Saville Memorial Challenge Bowl

by Bob Lundberg

The F. Harm Saville Memorial Challenge Bowl was introduced at the first Annual National All-Miniature Conference and Rose Show that was held in Fresno, California in September of 1999. The requirement of the class is as follows; eighteen exhibition-type miniature roses, six or more varieties, displayed in a low bowl; container to be provided by the exhibitor and should not exceed 4 inches in diameter. Oasis is permitted. The requirements were modeled after similar classes in the United Kingdom. Many of their low bowl classes are for miniatures but they also stage other classes of roses in low bowls. They not only use exhibition stems but also sprays in their presentations. In some shows the class may call for as many twenty-four roses.

The class has been popular in the All-Miniature Rose Show with several exhibitors making an entry at each of the shows. There are a few rose shows on the West Coast that have included a similar class in their schedule.

Sandy and I first entered the F. Harm Saville Memorial Challenge at the Boston Show in the summer of 2001. Our first challenge was to find a suitable low bowl. For six months prior to the show if we saw a plastic or ceramic container that looked like what we visualized as the perfect low bowl we would buy it. Our collection even includes containers that came filled with microwavable pastas, soups, and stews. I forget what container we finally selected for Boston but I recall that it was not too different from what we now know as the bowl of choice. The British define a bowl as a container whose neck opening is equal to or greater than the height of the container. Since the neck opening is considerable larger than the height, it is not only a bowl but a low bowl. If the height of the container is greater than the neck opening, it is a vase.

One commonality of all ten of the F. Harm Saville Memorial Challenge winners is that they all used the same container. The manufacturer has changed and the color of the plastic has changed but it is the same container. The present manufacturer is the Smithers-Oasis Company and they offer it as part of their Lomey Design Bowl collection. The bowl is made of clear polystyrene; it is 2 3/8 inches high by 4 inches in diameter. It is identified as Item Code 3770. Several years ago the bowls came in white plastic. We have painted our clear bowls to make them look like the original bowls. The bowls can be purchased at a Floral Supply House for under $2.00 apiece. You can also find them on the internet if you google key word “Lomey Design Bowl’.

Our first entry in the F. Harm Saville Memorial Challenge looked more like a Lawton Miniature National trophy entry with eighteen stems rather than an entry in a challenge calling for a low bowl. As mentioned above this class has its roots in the United Kingdom and therefore must conform to their style of presentation. I have been unable to find a description of a low bowl entry but by studying pictures of low bowl entries in Great Britain on the internet as well as studying entries in our shows and photographs of those entries plus discussing the entry with another Carolina District exhibitor, I think I have figured out what is required for the entry.

The presentation has a front from which it is viewed and judged. The stems in the back of the presentation are higher than those in front. In other words it slopes toward the viewer. Viewing from the side there is a perceptible slope. Viewing the entry from the front there is a centerline that comes toward the viewer. Everything is symmetrical about this center line. I have included photographs of entries that have won the F. Harm Saville Memorial Challenge. With a little study you should be able to see the center line and symmetry described above.

We generally pack our miniature roses at a uniform height of 9.5 inches. This height seems to work well in the low bowl. Most exhibitors start placement in the back of the presentation. Some place the perimeter stems in the rear and them fill in and work forward. Another approach is to place the roses on the centerline which sets the slope and than work outward. In either case the first stem in is the top center stem. It will be placed so that it inclines slightly to the rear of vertical. As you come forward the incline comes forward so that the stems down in the front may be closer to horizontal than vertical.

When we pack our roses we have a pretty good idea of the varieties that we would like to use in the entry. As we unpack we try and separate those stems that we feel will work best in the entry. We use the same guidelines on form, size, and color that you would use in any other challenge class that you are staging. The stems have been packed in picks and we leave them in the picks until we are ready build the entry in the bowl. Leaving them in picks gives us the ability to move them around on a foam board until we get the desired combination. The relative location on the foam board is the same as it will be in the bowl. Any last minute grooming is also accomplished while the stems are on the board.

The oasis in the bowl is cut flush with the top of the container. I scribe a center line in the oasis just to give myself a reference. As I come forward I find that my 9.5 inch stems have to be shortened. Do not cut until you hold the stem in position and estimate how much has to come off. If you have never worked with oasis you will want to practice prior to the day of the show. The straighter and cleaner the stem the easier it is to work with. We have assembled more low bowl presentations in our kitchen than we have in show preparation rooms and we feel that the practice pays off. Our best entries have fallen into place easily once the stems have been selected. If you start to struggle with placement in the bowl you might as well take a break and come back and start again.

The F. Harm Saville Memorial Challenge has been offered and won ten times by four different exhibiting teams. Collectively a total of thirty-nine different varieties have been used in the winning entries. Twenty-two of the varieties have only been used one time. One variety, ‘Fairhope’, has been used by all of the winning exhibiting teams in at least one of their entries. ‘Miss Flippins’, ‘Hilde’, and Dancing ‘Flame’ have been used by three of the four exhibiting teams in their winning entries. ‘Miss Flippins’ has been used in nine out of ten of the winning entries followed by ‘Behold’ with seven appearances and ‘Fairhope’ and ‘Glowing Amber’ with six appearances apiece. The class calls for a minimum of six varieties and the winning entries have had six to fifteen varieties. Most of the entries have had eight or nine entries. The old adage of past performance has no bearing on future performance also applies here, but I thought it would be interesting to give an overview of what has worked in the past.

Get yourself a “low bowl”, eighteen perfect stems and give the challenge a try!

Click on the images to see them larger

Center line is well defined here as is the symmetry. The pattern is somewhat different that the other photographs.

The center line in this display is curved. Things most likely moved to the awards table and for photographs. The two yellow roses at the bottom anchor the center line. This is the entry that has 15 different roses in it.

The center line is more clear in this entry although the top rose is cut off in the pix. Symmetry is good about the center line.

Center line and symmetry should be obvious here.