Woburn Abbey Garden Show 2018

On the 23rd and 24th of June was the wonderful Woburn Abbey Garden Show. A show that is familiar with us, having been to several of its previous editions, we always had a great time, plus it was on our 'neck of the woods' so we were just all too happy to go again.

To quote their press release:

Woburn Abbey is delighted to announce that BBC Gardeners’ World TV presenter Adam Frost and BBC Radio 4 Gardeners’ Question Time panellist Pippa Greenwood are headlining this year’s remastered Woburn Abbey Garden Show on 23rd and 24th June.

Now in its 9th year, the ‘Gardeners’ Garden Show’ attracts around 5,000 visitors and has become an important diary date for gardening enthusiasts. 

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Woburn Abbey Garden Show

Last Saturday we decided to check out the Woburn Abbey Garden Show. It's been three years since we've been and being only twenty minutes drive from ours, a couple of hours spent there sounded really appealing.

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Broken Traditions

We didn't make it to the first RHS plant show of the year which was held last weekend. The second tradition we have broken since we have started this blog. The first one was a yearly spring trip to Cornwall which we didn't do last year and looks like it'll be the case again this year.

RHS Plant and Design Show 2014

Which makes me wonder now, will there be a third tradition that we'll break in the near future? And if so what would it be?

On traditional I don't think we will break will the the annual pruning of the large old sycamore tree at the bottom end of the garden. However I suspect that traditional may in part exist as it gives Gaz a chance to play with various boys toys or garden tools to you and I

Breaking traditions are not always a bad thing. In fact it could be the other way around and be a good thing, breaking monotony and introducing new things into ones system.

Cornwall, when will we see you again?

Going back to the tradition we have just broken, for years that plant show was dubbed as 'RHS London Plant and Design Show'. This year it has become 'RHS London Plant and Potato Fair'. I'm not sure what was the trigger for the change of title apart from the obvious which is the increasing popularity of 'grow you own produce' over or at least equal to ornamental gardening.

The change of the title and focus of the show however had no bearing to our non attendance this year. It was simply because of work which is extra demanding at the moment. We're both managers in our careers which makes taking time off extra tricky. Even when going on holiday. Ironically though we have both gained extra paid days off this year. But time off not taken this time is time off that can be taken later on. So our minds are hovering already on what other new things we can try this year.

Happy memories - our Cottesbrooke plant haul in 2011

and in 2012

Perhaps the Great Dixter Spring Plant Fair, or perhaps the Wisley one. They are both on the same weekend hence it will have to be one over the other. And for the first time Kew Gardens will have a plant fair as they take on the Plant Finders Fair which used to be held at Cottesbrooke for years before moving to Borde Hill last year then to Kew this year. Will it stay in Kew this time and become a tradition there? Who knows, we'll all have to wait and see (personally even this early I'd rather it go back to Cottesbrooke, it was perfect there).

Which reminds me, there is a third tradition (or is that the first?) that we have broken already, and that is going to Kew Gardens on a regular basis. We haven't been for over a year! So if we go to the fair on the last weekend of April we'll be sort of unbreaking a tradition. Or is that we'll be starting a new one?

Time to see Kew again?

It's getting a bit confusing now! Whether breaking old or making new traditions, isn't it nice to know that it simply means there lots of options out there? That choices are there for the picking. And that's a fabulous privilege!

Mark :-)

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RHS Hampton Court Flower Show 2014 - Floral Marquee

Our coverage on this year's Hampton Court Flower Show continues with scenes inside the fabulous Floral Marquee!

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RHS Hampton Court Flower Show 2014 - Show Gardens

We had a fantastic time spent today at the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show, catching up with friends and taking inspiration from the plants and displays at the Floral Marquee and of course the Show Gardens which were divided into different categories.

The weather was sunny and warm, simply perfect which made the day extra enjoyable and very conducive to admiring the exhibits and other features the show had to offer. There was a brief spell of rain showers later on but we were inside the floral marquee when it happened and the rain stopped just before we needed to leave. How's that for perfect timing?

The show was huge as always and there were so much to see but we managed to peruse most of it during our relatively brief stay there. As usual we felt we could do with another day spent there to fully savour this huge show but as most of you would know by now there is another 'event' we will be attending for the rest of this week coinciding with the
remainder of the show

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Grow London - The Contemporary Garden Fair

Today will be the official start of the Grow London - The Contemporary Garden Fair, a three day gardening event in Hampstead Heath, London but last night they held a preview evening for those wanting to have an extra early look on what will be on the fair. The preview evening was also to raise some extra funds in aid of the Garden Museum also in London.

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So What Did We Buy?

I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of interest expressed on what we bought from the recent RHS London Plant and Design Show. We enjoy looking at photos and reading about the plant haul of other plant lovers and vice versa for they give an idea on what's new and what's out there. Especially at this period where it's the tail end of winter and plant buying season is starting to get in gear again.

The plant tag that brings joy to my heart, lol!!

Keeping our plant haul a suspense was unintentional and the reason it wasn't included on our previous post about the event was simply because we forgot. It was a quick post as the show was on for two days and it was best to put some pictures up whilst it was still ongoing which may entice more people to visit the next day.

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Woburn Abbey Plant Fair

We often comment that the best nurseries and plant fairs are all quite some distance from where we live, so it was lovely to discover that some of our favourite nurseries from around the country would be attending the Woburn Abbey Plant Fair. Woburn is about 10 miles from us so quite a short journey. The landscaped grounds of the magnificent Woburn Abbey Stately Home formed a lovely location for this show. It is not as big as some of the others we have been to but that did not detract from the day.

Brits love to queue! Waiting outside for the show to open

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Heather and Conifer

Someone asked me recently if I had bought any plants at the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show last month and I replied I had bought only a few, including a heather and a conifer. He thought I was joking.

I wasn't. I really bought a heather and a conifer (and yes only a few plants, ran out of time to pick up some more). And very nice ones too.

Heather and conifer for an exotic gardening enthusiast? Of course! and why not? Exotic gardening is a broad and relative term (mainly depending where you are in the world, an exotic plant to some may not be to another) and covers all sorts of plants, not just your stereotypical cannas and bananas associated with the humid tropics, nor agaves with the deserts. 

And that includes heathers and conifers, especially if they originate from another part of the world, and a plus point too if they look unusual. 

So what heather and conifer did I buy?

The heather is Erica cerinthoides, the Fire Heath and is a native plant of South Africa. I got a couple of small plants from the sales table of Trewidden Nursery, of which they also had a bigger plant on display at their gold medal winning floral stand. I was instantly attracted to the intense, almost fluorescent orange colour of the flowers, as well as its beautiful and tactile foliage. Loved everything about it really so I thought it's worth a try. I was meaning to plant them in one of the raised beds but I'm not sure if I ought to now. The spot I was intending on putting it is not ready yet and its getting quite late in the season to possibly plant it. I may have to wait till next year.

Erica cerinthoides

Erica cerinthoides

I'm pleased to see though that even as a small plant it's already in bloom!

Erica cerinthoides

The conifer is Sciadopitys verticillata or the Japanese Umbrella Pine which I bought from the stand of Larchfield Trees. It is a native plant of, you guessed it right, Japan! It is also very slow growing, with the one I go already 6 years old, grown from seed. A test of patience if you decide to cultivate one from seed (but neither is it the slowest plant from seed I have ever come across with).

Sciadopitys verticillata

Sciadopitys verticillata - the photo doesn't do it justice and have found it difficult to take photos of, with our camera anyway

It's a conifer with a graceful and elegant habit, and very tactile too with its soft needles which I can't help but caress every time I hold it. And being so slow growing it is a perfect candidate for pot culture.

Sciadopitys verticillata

I think it'll look great in a glazed pot, don't you think so?

Mark :-)

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Not Another Plant Fair!!

Oh no, another plant fair?? Oh yes!!

I did mention on my previous post that last weekend was a free weekend but the Chenies Manor Plant Fair last Sunday was etched on our diary anyway. It is a big fair but the best bit about it for us is that it is within our area and only half an hour drive away. Quite convenient!

So we agreed that if it's nice and sunny we'll stay put and not go but if it's rainy again then we'll pop round for a quick visit. Well, it turned out to be a sunny day anyway and we still went! It is a pleasant fair (we went last year) and thought it would be nice to start the day by visiting and checking out whatever goodies the nurseries have bought with them.

Queue! Ten minutes early...

but twenty minutes to get in!

So off we went, nice and early at the very start of the fair. And of course everyone was thinking the same as there were long queues forming already, and to think we were ten minutes early! I suppose all regular plant fair attendees have the same mental wavelength with regards to arriving early (especially if you're after rarer plants).

Nice!

For a one day fair it is rather large and the nearly all of the nurseries we saw this year were in the exact same spot as they were last year, de ja vu! But at least it made navigation quicker and we went straight to the stands of the nurseries we are likely to buy plants from like Edulis Nursery and Roseland House Nursery (which specialises on Clematis and other climbers).

Kniphofia rufa

Veratrum album - First time I've ever seen some being sold whilst in flower!

I quite like those wooden flowers! Maybe next time

After that special climber? Then this nursery is for you - Roseland House

Love the foliage of this one - Salvia argentea

Fatsia japonica 'Spider's Web' - looks like tissue culture has been very successful!

But saying that we didn't buy any climbers this time and came home with just four select plants. Plant buying for us wanes as the season progresses but possibly peaks again if there are good sales around in the autumn (and then almost none in the winter).

We stayed at the fair for an hour and a half before heading home, back by noon and spent the rest of the day gardening. The highlight of our visit though was this large wooden spider, we had to have this beast the moment we saw it.

This beauty (or should I say beast) came home with us

Now, I wonder if there will be any more fairs we'll go to before the end of the summer?? Maybe...

Mark :-)

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Cottesbrooke Gardeners' Fair 2012

That time of the year has arrived once again for the wonderful Cottesbrooke Gardeners' Fair which is one of the biggest plant fairs in the country, and up there as one of the best. I was really looking forward to this and was rather quietly excited about going again this year, so much so that the predicted adverse weather conditions on the days of the event were not enough to dampen my spirits about this fair.

For our readers outside the country, most of you are aware by now that we are not having the best of weather recently, and the weather on the day we went (Friday) was no exception. In fact it was typical of what we've been having recently. Bearing this in mind we came prepared for the worst, so out were the aspirations of light cotton clothing for promenading at the fair and in were plastic macs and wellington boots!

Fabulous weather....not!

And boy was I glad we wore wellington boots! Mud, glorious mud...it was everywhere! It's not entirely surprising though that this was the case, considering all the rain we've been having and the plant stalls are on the open, grassy grounds. And with the high traffic this fair generates, it was inevitable that mud, lots of it, would turn up.

Seemingly the only patch of green left is the one under the sign!

Mud, mud....

and more mud!

Nevermind, it was all part of the fun and charm of this year's event. Of course I would have preferred if it was sunny and warm, much like last year. If that was the case it would have been a perfect place to have a picnic too, in between plant shopping (which was exactly what we did last year). But to be honest this fair is so good that no rain or mud would be enough to deter any plant lover from attending and browsing at all the nursery stands. 

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April Showers

A Pleione bloom

The weather here last weekend was rather interesting, especially on Sunday. Sun, rain, hail, then sun again and the cycle continued. I have been assured that this is rather normal for the time of the year and it's called 'April Showers'. I knew that anyway, it's just that I can't help but comment about the curious cycle happening in short successions, and also whether I should eat Ice Cream to cool down or have a cup of hot tea to warm up (I opted for the latter but had the former indoors, now that's compromise).

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Chenies Manor Plant Fair

Another day, another plant hunting trip. This time to a fairly local plant fair held at Chenies Manor in South Buckinghamshire a week last Sunday.

Chenies advertise as the largest fair after Chelsea, so with that bold statement in mind we were not entirely sure what to expect. Now whether they are really as big as claimed or not we were still impressed by the size and number of stalls.

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Cottesbrooke Hall Plant Finders Fair

Mark and I had an enjoyable day off work on Friday and drove up into Northamptonshire to the Cottesbrooke Hall Plant Finders Fair, an annual plant fair held in the grounds of a large country manor house. Although we knew of the fair by reputation we hadn't visited before, now we have been I suspect we will be back next year.

The plant fair is laid out in the naturalistic landscaped grounds of the hall, just beyond the formal lawns and gardens, leading down to a lake, complete with picturesque bridge. The attention to detail was exceptional, each stand clearly labeled and rather than a mix of tables and awnings, a consistent set up of tents and large white parasols added to the summer feel. Each stand had tables set up that were wrapped in hessian and turfed on top - a quirky feature we both enjoyed.

Where to start...

On entering we were slightly bewildered at first by the huge number of exhibitors, selling a wide range of plants and other garden accessories. We started out by taking a fairly casual walk round, buying one or two smaller choice plants along the way. After getting our bearings we stopped for some refreshments before exploring in more detail.

As we expected we were drawn to the stand of Crûg Farm, where Sue and Bleddyn had a fantastic selection of plants from their own seed collecting trips in Asia. Hardy scheffleras over 6 feet tall grabbed our attention, and we just had to add a few more gems to our shopping list.

We made a number of trips back to Crûgs stand during the day before finalising our shortlist.

Just across from Crûg was the stand of Edulis, a nursery we had heard about but so far haven't been able to visit yet. They specialise in exotic and unusual plants and we were not to be disappointed, buying a Schefflera macrophylla and Zanthoxylum schinifolium (Szechwan Pepper). When we wandered back later in the day they had sold out of these plants so I'm glad we picked them up when we did.

Edulis also had rather fetching metal seed pods, which we were rather taken by, although we didn't end up buying one - maybe next time!

A new nursery to us and one which we must make the trip to visit this year was Olive Grove Nurseries, who had a fine selection of hardy palms and other big exotics, all at very reasonable prices. Despite being tempted by quite a few plants we chose a very good sized Dasylirion wheeleri that Mark felt would make a great addition to one of the beds being planned by our new Koi pond.

I have always been drawn to alpine plants, such as saxifrage, sedums and sempervivums, and although we do grow a few we have never really explored these plants in much detail. After seeing the plants on offer by Slack Top Alpine Nursery I feel this may change! I was drawn to a number of unusual silver alpines which will also form part of the planting in the new beds with the dasylirion from Olive Grove. These are not just attractive plants, everything on the stand had been though the winter at the nursery (-17C) so should be more than happy in our garden.

As well as plants there were a number of stalls selling various garden accessories, tools, ornaments, furniture and even subscriptions to gardening magazines.

Brooks Furniture from Dorset make unusual garden furniture, gates and even tree houses from English hardwoods such as Oak and Chestnut. But rather than use machine prepared timber, they work with the unusual shapes or lines of the wood and encompass these into the design. Although we didn't come away with any furniture, the examples on display gave us a few ideas for future projects.

The only downside to the whole day was the traffic chaos ahead of entering the grounds, it took nearly an hour to drive the last half mile and get parked up, the problems caused mostly by the organisers taking payment as cars entered the site, rather than by allowing visitors to park up and pay an entrance fee on foot. Having spoken to several of the exhibitors they were well aware of the traffic problems and hopefully more suitable arrangements will be made next year.

The weather at times looked like it might decide to rain, although we were lucky had no rain until we got home, in the end it was quite a warm and sunny day.

No plant buying trip would be complete without a couple of photos of what we came away with, so rather than disappoint here's a selection of our haul!

Planning how to fit it all in.

Success, it all fits in.

Some of the plants once we were back home.

... and a few more.

Gaz

The Cottesbrooke Hall Plant Finders Fair
Crûg Farm
Olive Grove Nurseries
Slack Top Nurseries
Edulis Nursery

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