Kent Spring AGS Show - Saturday 17th March

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Luc  - Do you remember which Pieris that was?

johnw

Sorry John... 

Not many Frits at Kent either Ron, though there were a few.  It's not a favourite genus of mine, so very few pix I'm afraid...

Here we go with more pix - alphabetically

1) Androsace alpina
2) Androsace ochotensis
3) Arenaria alvacariensis
4) Asarum tryginum album
5) Benthamiella patagonica
6) Callianthemum anemonoides  - double form ! 
7) Corydalis curviflora var. rosthornii 'Blue Heron'
8 ) Corydalis curviflora var. rosthornii 'Blue Heron'
9) and 10) Daphne modesta + some information on the genus.

[Maggi Young]

Some absolutely cracking saxifrages  on show there  

Asarum trigynum 'Album' is just super, really attractive colour and great shape to the blooms.

Lovely Farrer plant, looking so fresh.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Talking about Saxifraga's Maggi - here are some better views... and remember that David Hoare told me he was having a bad season... 

1) Saxifraga allendale 'Bravo'
2) Saxifraga cecilia x federici augusti
3) Saxifraga 'Coolock Kate'
4) Saxifraga 'Kampa'
5) Saxifraga 'Sissi'
6 - 7 - Saxifrages - some cracking 3 pan entries.

And now for something completely different...
9) Draba longisiliqua
10) Fritillaria stenanthera (For Ron!)

[ronm]

Great photos again Luc.
Thank You 

[mark smyth]

I would have said there were many Frits at Loughborough

[ranunculus]

Excellent images, Luc ... many thanks for posting.

[Maggi Young]

Be sure to check out Jon Evans' pix on the AGS Site.... and read of the mishap that befell the plants of Paul and Gill Ranson on their way home from the show 

[Dionysia]

Ask any exhibitor what their worst nightmare is, they’ll probably say a catastrophic shift of plants in the car. Yesterday was our turn. On the way back from Kent I had to brake for some traffic lights on a busy dual carriageway. One of the stacking boxes took off, somersaulted and deposited it’s contents (D. bryoides, zetterlundii, gaubae, Inka Gold x 2, Primula bracteata – combined age 20 yrs+) on top of eight of our large pots (combined age 100 years+). Having been up since 3am before the show, Gill and I spent until after midnight trying to salvage what we could including removing thousands of flowers, repotting all the smaller plants and removing the sudden and superfluous topdressing which had been deposited on the larger plants.
My feeling in the initial aftermath was that all the plants were likely to be compost but having spent hours cleaning them up and teasing the rosettes back into place I am more optimistic that most may live to see another show (albeit not this year!!). The worst piece of damage was to the 15 year old Dionysia tapetodes JRDE2 which was the subject of Jon Evans brilliant meerkat photo. I had ironically joked with him about the meerkat burrows he had photo-shopped into the image. Although it has not actually got any holes as a result of the accident it does have a large crescent shaped scar with all the rosettes folded in on themselves. Definitely one for the ‘natural effect cushion’ if it does survive.
I've tried posting some images of the car contents in the morning but being a techno-phobe my posting keeps failing so if anybody wants to see them they're on the AGS site.

[Maggi Young]

Paul, I'm sure most of us have had a similar problem at some point in out showing careers 
Very pleased that you and Gill were none the worse for the incident and you seem to have already done a grand job in repairing the most immediate damage to the plants.  I hope that in a couple of months you won't be able to see where the damage was on the plants and that next year they'll be back to their best again.

[Tim Ingram]

I really enjoyed the Show too (like Chelsea it is always the best ever!). I  think the absence of frits. and many other bulbs resulted from the fact that Bob and Rannveig Wallis were unable to come. Saxifrages abounded, and there seemed lots of these available for sale too, which bodes well for next year.

I, as always, am drawn very strongly to the nurseries and have now begun to convince my wife how important more plants are for the garden (!) and more seriously how many could provide good propagating material. Robin White always reaches the parts that others cannot reach and had a lovely double form of Helleborus torquatus, close to those that Elizabeth Strangman grew on her nursery at Washfield. One of the great plants of Kentish Alpinists, in this case Les Cheeseman who grows it so well, (almost uniquely) is Alkanna aucheriana. Next to Eritrichium this must be one of the bee's knees of the borages, and Robin had a few plants for sale. Well what can one do... I share with Parham Bungalow Plants a great interest in legumes, and they had many species of Oxytropis, as well as an interesting South African genus Lessertia (diffusa). And also a delightful dwarf Matthiola scapifera, which Richard Bird introduced me to many years ago, and has always remained in my memory. Rachel and Keith Lever grow such outstanding plants that the Aberconwy stand is almost a Show in its own right(!). They are an immense inspiration to others like ourselves who would like to propagate and grow plants in a similar way. They grow a beautiful yellow version of Primula 'Garryarde Guinevere', called 'Maisie Michael', much more refined than the (still very good) Wanda type hybrids. For a long time I have been tempted by that whole extraordinary variety of ericaceous shrublets that Barry Starling grows so well and used to bring to Shows, and Aberconwy have many beautiful examples - one in particular we picked out was Vaccinium nummularia. These will be a challege to grow in our dry climate, but we do have a cool and moisture retentive area alongside one greenhouse which has long been earmarked for such plants. Here we used to grow Leucogynes leontopodium, so this also was added to the box...Even more exciting was a chance to grow again Daphne blagayana, in the dwarf form 'Brenda Anderson' (who I met once many years ago and was one of many well known gardeners from the other end of the UK who came to talk to the Mid-Kent AGS and stayed with Mike and Hazel Brett, who have one of the best alpine gardens in the whole of the south in my opinion). Choice Landscapes had some particularly mouthwatering frits., including some strong flowering F. raddeana, a delicate soft-yellow relative of the Crown Imperial.

It is hard to imagine a more exciting range of plants and one reason that I think that the Plant Sales carry an important role in promoting the Shows more. The Show had around 170 visitors, so not bad; but around us in Kent there must be very many more who could become hooked on these exquisite plants.

[Tim Ingram]

A few examples from the Show... Anemone biflora is one of the most stunning of these dryland species and presumably would make a good plant for a bulb frame (another project for the future). Amongst quite a few more tender bulbous species, Geissorhiza inaequalis was particularly striking. The miniature garden, next to one of the tufa plantings that creates such great interest, was very appealing. Eric Jarrett's Trillium nivale has been mentioned elsewhere, one of the most beautiful and extraordinary plants at the Show; Asarum trigynum may not be so beautiful but is certainly extraordinary! Santolina elegans, a very unexpected relative of Cotton Lavender, is a plant I have tried quite a few times and failed with, but would love to grow well. The Show is at a perfect time as spring really wakes up and the overall display gives a good impression - even to a committed gardener like myself who grows few plants in pots, it is hard not to get weak at the knees seeing a display like this. I have to give a picture taken late on in the sales area to show the real powerhouse of gardening, the nursery stands. There were some really fascinating plants available for sale, as mentioned earlier, and this is a picture of Pottertons...

[Tim Ingram]

I missed out the miniature garden...

[SusanS]

Ask any exhibitor what their worst nightmare is, they’ll probably say a catastrophic shift of plants in the car. Yesterday was our turn. On the way back from Kent I had to brake for some traffic lights on a busy dual carriageway. One of the stacking boxes took off, somersaulted and deposited it’s contents (D. bryoides, zetterlundii, gaubae, Inka Gold x 2, Primula bracteata – combined age 20 yrs+) on top of eight of our large pots (combined age 100 years+).

Hi Paul, I am sorry to hear about your mishap, but the important thing is that no one was injured.  It is always a worry about the distances people travel to attend shows, especially as it often means an early start which makes show days, long days.

Hopefully the plants will will recover without to many problems. 

I know when Darren and I attend shows we try to guess how far down the road we will get before we hear the gentle cascade of gravel.