AGS Loughborough 7 March 09

[Peter Maguire]

And finally...

- Dionysia afghanica shown by Derek Pickard
- Ju Bramley's 3 dioynisia entry
- the eighteen (I think) entries in the small Primula allionii class
- an interesting Dionysia hybrid shown by Paul Ranson. The colour under the hall lighting was odd, the nearest I could describe it was similar to coffee icing on a cake. I've balanced the colur here to what I think was correct for natural daylight; it's still an unusual colour, obviously one that will be liked and hated in equal measure.
- Anacamptis papilonacea, another of Richard Manuel's orchids
- I thought I would add something from the artistic section. The best painting in the show was a lovely study of an unfolding fern frond by Anne Wright, but I did not get a photo of this - sorry Anne. However the best photo display was from Jon Evans in the digitally altered class. He showed three composite images inspired by 17th century flower painters such as Jan Brueghel the Elder, and these three composite digital images captured the lighting and essence of the painting style beautifully. I can't begin to imagine how many hours of work went into these three pictures. Enjoy....

[Mick McLoughlin]

Thanks for that Peter, I would be interested what settings you used for the corrections. Again thanks to all the organisers for a great show.

edit by Maggi:  Peter has made some relplies re colour correction and I have moved these to the Photographic thread    http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=54.360     

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Thanks to all our reporters for the pix of this wonderful show !
What a mass of brilliant plants ! 
Special congrats to the forumists who did so well at the show !

Two more weeks until my next "hop" to the Kent show ! 

[ChrisB]

Yikes!  I'll never get to grips with pics at shows if that's what it takes.  Thanks for doing all that, Peter, the photos you have posted look wonderful, and what a great show it must have been.  Some of those pans were amazing.  thanks everyone for taking time to 'take me' to the show.

[johngennard]

Congratulations Peter on mastering the lighting,it was nice to share a coffee and chat with you again following our first meeting at Wisley last year.I join with others in praising Eric and Doreen plus their dedicated helpers for the brilliant organisation of the show.Three shows a year must deserve some special recognition!!!

[Maggi Young]

Three shows a year must deserve some special recognition!!!

 I'll second that! Or, at the very least, help towards counselling! 


Jolly hard work, let no-one tell you  otherwise!!

[Lesley Cox]

My thanks too everyone. Outstanding plants, surely recognised as an overall very high standard.

It's probably blasphemy to say it but after a surfeit of P. allionii form and Dionysias, I enjoyed the Jon Evans photographs perhaps more than anything else.

[ian mcenery]

Here are a few I don't think have been shown. I have colour corrected these as I remember it. Should have taken the SLR it would have been easy to do it on the spot  

Narc Jim Lad one of Anne's

Hepaticas I think at least one of these if not both are John Gennard's
Celmisia longifolia - Brian and Shelagh Smethhurst's plant I think

Saxes and dionysias various

Crocus pelistericus

R calandriniodes

[Lesley Cox]

It'as odd to see Crocus pelistericus with spaghnum moss around it but of course it is appropriate to the species and its natural habitat, which seems to me to amount almost to what we would term "wetlands."

[Martinr]

Lesley, the botanical notes attached to Crocus pelistericus did state that in order to get the plant to thrive well enough to flower the pot had been plunged in the garden pond!

[johngennard]

Ian,I can't take the credit for the wonderful pot of nobilis I'm afraid but the other one is japonica forma magna and is mine.

[Lesley Cox]

Lesley, the botanical notes attached to Crocus pelistericus did state that in order to get the plant to thrive well enough to flower the pot had been plunged in the garden pond!

Gosh, as wet as that. Somewhere, maybe an AGS Bulletin, there's a pic of it with melting snow but where the snow has already melted it looks as if the crocus is growing from what amounts to a lake. I have a similar habitat pictured in a Japanese book, with Lysichiton camschatcense growing in water. Utterly beautiful in both cases.

[Tony Willis]

Lesley, the botanical notes attached to Crocus pelistericus did state that in order to get the plant to thrive well enough to flower the pot had been plunged in the garden pond!

Gosh, as wet as that. Somewhere, maybe an AGS Bulletin, there's a pic of it with melting snow but where the snow has already melted it looks as if the crocus is growing from what amounts to a lake. I have a similar habitat pictured in a Japanese book, with Lysichiton camschatcense growing in water. Utterly beautiful in both cases.

I heard the garden pond story!! It is only necessary to keep them cold,shady and watered all year round,and certainly no spaghnum moss which I think is aritistic license.

Some wonderful pictures of the plants.I heard the show was the most successful ever from a financial point of view which is great for the organisers.

[tonyg]

I concur with Tony W on Crocus pelistericus.  I am enjoying my first ever flower on this one.  It sat in the shady side of an open frame last summer.  Plastic pot on damp sand, our summer was so cool and wet that it still had its old leaves in early September.  In a 'normal summer' it might be hot and dry too long resulting in early leaf loss and no new flower bud.