AFTER an 11-year absence, Ann Darke returned in triumph to the Newton Abbot in Bloom Competition, promptly marching off with the Residents' Championship Trophy, having won it in 2001. The retired part-time Tesco supermarket worker was persuaded by friends to enter her garden at 16 Fern Road. 'I have had an 11-year break, but I am retired now so I have had a lot more time to look after the garden,' said Ann, who grows her plants from seed and likes to put in different varieties each year. This time she has a lot of geraniums and believes that despite the poor weather she had been lucky because of her garden's sandy soil.