Blackpool Show 17th March 2007

[Anthony Darby]

Those cyclamen are really stunning. I take my hat off to the growers because it must take years of patience to grow a plant to these standards? I'm certainly nowhere near ready to risk showing any of my plants.

[David Nicholson]

Cracking Primulas as well. Thanks for posting John.

[Lesley Cox]

Real stunners John, both the plants and the pics, especially the CC. rholfsianum and the silver-leaved persicum. And I like P. `Pink Aire' very much. For a moment I thought the colour was reflection from the blue behind it. Must get some decent seed from somewhere.

[Lesley Cox]

And in the larger show report, a great thrill to see Betty's daffs doing well in the wider world.

[John Forrest]

Here are the last of my pics

Not sure that Callianthemum anemonoides is found on the slag heaps of Wales but the coal is a good background top dressing for the flowers.
A few quids worth in this pot of Tecophilea-cyanocrocus.
I'm rather partial to the orchids and the Ophrys need close scrutiny. Here Ophrys bombyliflora.
I haven't come across this little orchid from the Holy lands, Orchis-gallilea.The individual flowers though tiny are rather beautiful.
Finally a beautiful Pulsatilla  halleri slavica was backlit by the light from the window.

[Anthony Darby]

Thank you, thank you, thank you John. I'm partial to Ophrys spp. and Orchis spp. too. The flower of Ophrys bombyliflora looks like something out of Dr Who and Orchis gallilea is very pretty.

[Maggi Young]

 I don't think I have seen Orchis gallilea before. It is charming,  such soft colours and the foliage seems soft and furry. A dainty, yet sturdy little plant. I love it!

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Thanks again John for showing us around.
I find that Pulsatilla halleri absolutely ravishing !

[SueG]

Great to see the pictures, I took my camera but never got round to taking any pics. The little daffs from Jean W were great. Find I can take or leave the big cushion plants - I'm just never certain that underneath all that flower there is a real plant at all!
Sue

[PEAK]

Is it ordinary coal that's used for top dressing at the Callianthemum picture? I were in the believe that it was poisonous for plants! We do have an old heap of it, and if I could use it this way it would be perfect I also think that it looks very nice. As a comment I can say that we have tried to get rid of our coal at the local land fill, but they refused to take it because of possible environmental problems

Cheers

[Lesley Cox]

Another beautiful bunch John, every one a perfect treasure. You are so good at photographing HAIRS.

Per-Ake, without knowing anything about the chemical makeup of coal, and perhaps different types of coal have different chemicals, I have no reason to think coal is poisonous to plants. There is a widely used composty stuff here in NZ traded as "Superdirt" usually and about one third of the content of that is crushed lignite. It isn't very dusty in that even when wet, it doesn't leave one's hands filthy so it must be fine gritty stuff. It's mixed with fine crushed pinebark and a few other less pleasant animal products and though it doesn't SOUND very nice, in fact is a very good growing medium, slightly acid and I use it as the base of all my potting and seed mixes, just adding extra pinebark or grit/sand as required.  Far from being poisonous, it is very good for anything from the cabbage/carrot patch, to high growing alpines and the rarer, more difficult bulbs such as juno irises. It is very free draining too which is a help.

[PEAK]

Thanks for your informative reply Lesley! Coal were used in Sweden I believe during WW2, but after that it were quickly overrunned by oil. Most Swedes would probably don't know what it is. I will give it a try in my compost

Cheers

[Joakim B]

We use char coal and that is much purer and has been used for tropical orchids for a looong time. It is said to help against deseases.
We also had had charcoal at the farmacy against diarea. That was of more controlled origen.
The problem with the "stone coal" = the one on the picture is that it contains more than coal and some of those compounds are not ideal for humans. Thay are of no problems to the plants so the city dump is maybe right in neglecting to take it.
Per Åke I think You can sell it to peole that uses wood for heating if You have a lot and can not use everything for composts.
If using it for bbq as we do with charcoal I would wait extra long before putting the food on the grill.

Good luck
Joakim

[Maggi Young]

More from the Blackpool Show here:

http://www.srgc.org.uk/shows/blackpool/report.html