Southport Show 2010

[daveyp1970]

Veteran vet  your iris iberis ssp elegantissima wow wow and wow again can you tell me a little of your cultivation please its a plant i'd love to have a go at but i am afraid of killing it just by me looking at it.

[JohnnyD]

As regards the 'marital tiff' George, you now know why it was a good idea for us to show jointly - at least I don't have to carry the blessed thing on my own!!!!!

Incidentally, if anyone is going to Chelsea this year the garden will be on the AGS stand. Clare & I will be there on Friday.

At Southport there were SIX mini gardens on display - FABULOUS

[Maggi Young]

As regards the 'marital tiff' George, you now know why it was a good idea for us to show jointly - at least I don't have to carry the blessed thing on my own!!!!!

Incidentally, if anyone is going to Chelsea this year the garden will be on the AGS stand. Clare & I will be there on Friday.

At Southport there were SIX mini gardens on display - FABULOUS

Yes indeed.... I'm sorry to say there were none in Aberdeen on Saturday... I was rather surprised.

[Martinr]

Some more pictures from Southport for the addicted! I make no apologies for repeating some of the plants George has already posted, there were some stunning examples on display.

Allium shelkovnikovii (Ivor Betteridge)

Asyneuma limonifolium (Vic Aspland)

Dianthus squarrosus x 2. I think this Farrer winning plant was the example which won last year at East Anglia. (Lee & Julie Martin)

Erigeron Grand Ridge (Lionel Clarkson)

Erigeron scopolinus (Lionel Clarkson)

[Martinr]

Fritillaria biflora (George Young)
Hesperochiron californicum (George Young)
Iris iberica elegantissima (George Young)
George's large 6 pan
Lewisia Carousel hybrid (modesty forbids)
Meconopsis rudis x 2 (John Richards). spines everywhere. A small plant with attitude.

[FrazerHenderson]

Some miniature gardens - I think there were six at the show. These seem to attract the attention of the general public as they believe such creations are well within their compass (and of course they are). John Dower got the first but competition is hot on his heels.

[FrazerHenderson]

Judges, showers and nursery growers

[fermi de Sousa]

Aethionema kotschyi

Thanks, George,
as I suspected we are growing something else under that name!
cheers
fermi

[JohnnyD]

Thanks or the garden pics Frazer - and you are right, the competition is really hotting up!
There will be a new 'How to do it' leaflet from the AGS soon and I hope it will encourage a lot more people to start making it hotter still.
Incidentally, at a recent mini garden workshop in North Wales, it was clear that the prospect of starting small was a lot less daunting than going for the maximum at the outset. So if you fancy giving it a try an eight inch pot would be a good place to begin.

I once saw ELEVEN on display at Hexham. Wouldn't it be nice to see that number again - even if it does give the judges a headache.
JohnnyD

[Maggi Young]

Thanks or the garden pics Frazer - and you are right, the competition is really hotting up!
There will be a new 'How to do it' leaflet from the AGS soon and I hope it will encourage a lot more people to start making it hotter still.
Incidentally, at a recent mini garden workshop in North Wales, it was clear that the prospect of starting small was a lot less daunting than going for the maximum at the outset. So if you fancy giving it a try an eight inch pot would be a good place to begin.

I once saw ELEVEN on display at Hexham. Wouldn't it be nice to see that number again - even if it does give the judges a headache.
JohnnyD

Johnny, there is no doubt that your aesthetic sense serves you very well in this discipline.

As to eleven in  a class.... yes, that would be fantastic.... if the benches were good and strong. eh?!! No worries with giving the judges some extra work.... they must be made to earn their tea and cakes, after all! 

[Ragged Robin]

Thanks for posting photos, George, Martin & Frazer....great looking exhibits and the miniature gardens are really varied and interesting - love the Dianthus squarrosus, Erigeron scopolinus and Rhododendron keiskei 'Yaku Fairy'

[FrazerHenderson]

Took a wander from the show whilst the judging took place and visited the nearby Southport Botanic Gardens where, on the nursery gates, I found daffodils in exquisite wrought ironwork.

I'll write some more about the gardens - which are an excellent example of Victorian pleasure gardens - in a future posting (see http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5493.0  ).

[veteran vet]

Veteran vet  your iris iberis ssp elegantissima wow wow and wow again can you tell me a little of your cultivation please its a plant i'd love to have a go at but i am afraid of killing it just by me looking at it.

Sorry for not replying sooner, been on Skye for 10 days or so
I do not find the iris too difficult to cultivate and it is, for me, one of the easier Oncos to keep and too flower. I now grow it in plastic pots as I noticed that when I grew in a mix of clay and plastics that the ones in plastic stayed green for quite a bit longer meaning that I did not water well enough when they were in clay pots. I repot October/November using JI2, fine grade bark and grit in equal parts and do not water them till March or thereabouts depending on the weather or when I see green shoots appear. At repot I clean up and breack off bits for propagation and you can quickly build up a good stock.
My only problem was that when in flower grown under glass the stems could not support the flower and 'collapsed'. I spoke to the late much missed Jack Brownless on the subject and he said to keep outside as soon as I saw growth starting. The plant at Southport had been kept un plunged but under glass till April (still v cold, snow, frosts etc) when I removed the glass (and all the other offsets)  outside to be exposed to all weather day and night (though if hard frost was forecast I did cover the main plant for the night) Getting them to flower for a particular show is just a fluke, such is showing. The flowers were on short strong stems and did not collapse!

[Diane Clement]

Very helpful on the oncos George, thanks, I've been experimenting with plastic pots and leaving outside and have had better results. 

   been on Skye for 10 days or so 

and how was Skye?  Hope you had the good weather we have had further south. 

[veteran vet]

Diane, Skye did not have the good weather you had down south, was cool to say the least however when it rained it was nearly always over night so it did not interfere with our walking plans and the walks were splendid...not in the Coulins as not quite fit enough but further north in the Quiraing chain which were quite fantastic. Cool but no midges. Skye was v busy with scandinavian holidaymakers, hardly met any British walkers and I can see where all the money allocated by the government for road improvements has gone, Skye roads were nearly all excellent, newly resurfaced or just new and were not a problem to drive on with my motorhome so has much to recommend it.