I left Stevenage on the 0717 train, in fairly steady light rain and arrived at the show slightly less than an hour later. It was still drizzling which wasn't too bad but eased off over the next hour. This enabled me to visit the Artisan gardens in complete peace, with only a few other visitors present. I was able to chat to one or two of the designers as well. Out in his own space, the Japanese designer Mr Ishihara had his usual superb garden, with a dramatic waterfall, his signature use of maples and a lovely garden house. With only a few visitors around I spent a while here studying the details and the overall design.
Out on Main Avenue, a couple of gardens stood out for me. The Savills garden with its sunburst sculpture in a framed vista was good. It was marked down by the planting which was a bit bitty in places but the overall effect was good. The Trailfinders South African Wine Estate was one I was looking forward to as the fynbos plants are a group I am interested in. Shame I cannot grow all that many myself. The combination of proteacea, restios, heathers was quite good, with the burnt areas planted with emergent bulbs contrasting with the intact rocky areas. I also liked the planting in the Cornish garden-tree ferns underplanted with fatsias and gunneras was bold to say the least.
My favourite was the M&G garden. In some ways it was reminiscent of the Maltese garden last year, being a dry garden planted very naturalistically with Mediterranean plants contrasting with the pale red gravel and large walls in the same colour. The stacked tiles creating screens were a nice touch too.
Another good garden and very thought provoking was the Lemon Tree garden based on the concept of a Syrian refugee garden, and this proved very popular with the crowds. More gardens with the intention to challenge and make you think were along the north side, with the backdrop of the Royal Hospital. I had these pretty much to myself for a while when the heavens opened and most of the crowd sought shelter, but the rain soon eased off and it gradually got warmer and sunnier.
The Marquee was tough going though luckily not hot this year, and I spent a good 2-3 hours in it. It took a couple of circuits to ensure that I dint miss anything. Had time to talk to a few of the people I know, met a few new ones (mainly those interested in carnivorous plants and orchids). I came unstuck on the Fernatix stand where a rather nice looking tree fern bought my eye. Unfortunately it was tender, and after 100 years had only produced a one foot trunk. Needless to say there was no pint in asking for a price. I did however come out of there with a couple of impulse buys-two hardy orchids, a Calanthe and a Cypridium, both of which are being micro propogated on a scale sufficient to make them economical. I also came back with various carnivorous plant seeds which could prove interesting if I can get them going.
I left as usual around 2pm having spent six hours at the show, walked almost six miles and was absolutely shattered by the time I got home.
Here are some quick edits of a few of the photos.
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