AGS East Anglian Show - 1st May 2010

[Lesley Cox]

I also love the Cypripedium fargesii, like some small unfledged bird waiting for mum to bring home the worms.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Great work Gail and Brian !
What a wonderful show once again, so many gorgeous plants ! 

I must remember next year... maybe Wymondham is just within "hopping" distance... 

[Brian Ellis]

Lesley, the ones that did it for me it were the Calanthe discolor and Iris acutiloba - incredible markings.  I think the pot may have just been frost damaged, split and then used in this very sensible manner.

Luc there are suppliers of compost nearby too

[Luc Gilgemyn]

so there are really no excuses for not coming Brian... 

[Gail]

I must remember next year... maybe Wymondham is just within "hopping" distance... 

Sort of large kangaroo-type hops Luc  But you could combine with a visit to Bressingham Gardens... www.bressingham.co.uk

[Anthony Darby]

I think the label said Dracunculus muscivorus, it didn't stink but Cecilia said she had not put it in to an earlier show because it would have evacuated the hall   I rather liked the foliage, much nicer than D. vulgaris, anyone know a supplier?

I suspect it was named before it was discovered that the plant doesn't eat blowflies.

[Peter Maguire]

but I was very taken with the beautiful Calanthes and intrigued by the Androsace seedlings in the cutaway pot. I assume the pot was cut with a concrete saw of some kind, some compost put in the base then the slivers of rock, the seeds inserted among them. Perhaps the exhibitor could post a note here about it and why?

Lesley,
I'll reply on Alan's behalf - I know he reads the forum but he just lurks in the dark corners. 
Brian is correct, the pot was split by frost, and there is some compost at the base I believe, with the slate slivers packed hard down into it to retain the compost on the slope. I think I'm correct in saying the seeds wee sown directly into the pot. There were more of them, when he first exhibitied it at Hexham, I think there were five or six smaller plants. The three large surviving specimens do give a certain classic symmetry to the potful (you know how were always suppose to plant in threes, fives, etc).
Peter

[Luc Gilgemyn]

I must remember next year... maybe Wymondham is just within "hopping" distance... 

Sort of large kangaroo-type hops Luc  But you could combine with a visit to Bressingham Gardens... www.bressingham.co.uk

A great idea Gail !!   

[Lesley Cox]

Thank you Peter and Alan, for the information about the wonderful potful of Androsaces. I think it is a living work of art as much as just a potted plant/s. It certainly pays to take advantage of what nature, in the form of a good frost, provides.

[Maggi Young]

Alan Newton has been doing this with broken pots for quite a while... it is a very effective way of growing the plants for an attractive and eyecatching display. Plus, of  course, he's too mean to throw away a pot even if it is broken  

I repeat Gail's pal's photo and also show Alan's pot of Androsace vandellii from the Aberdeen show in 2006; a similar size of pot but with a "W"shape lower front edge.
 
It's about time he was back up to the show again, by the way!
2006 is the year that Luit and Vroni Van Delft visited.... this year we're expecting the Two Lucs and their patient ladies to join us.

[tonyg]

He never told me he'd done it all before!  Still think its a brilliant idea ... off to inspect all those pots under the greenhouse bench now

[Luc Gilgemyn]

... this year we're expecting the Two Lucs and their patient ladies to join us.

Very much looking forward to it Maggi ! 
Will see if the "patience" of the ladies is put to the test... 

[fermi de Sousa]

Alan Newton has been doing this with broken pots for quite a while... it is a very effective way of growing the plants for an attractive and eyecatching display. Plus, of  course, he's too mean to throw away a pot even if it is broken  

Maggi,
I think it just shows you that even a crack(ed) pot can win a first prize!
cheers
fermi