AGS/SRGC Hexham Show

[Maggi Young]

Too many to share

Ann, seems you enjoyed your birthday outing but "too many to share"? Wash your mouth out! Never too many, we're agog!  By the way, sorry about your virtual birthday cake.... while you were out at the show we ate it!

[Maggi Young]

An Erythronium with a Farrer Medal? Wonderful, the BD is ecstatic !
What a very lovely potful that is!

[mark smyth]

I want the Iris also. Must go and check Susan Tindall's nursery next Friday. She has lots for sale.

[Maggi Young]

Some news filtering  through from Hexham:
That wonderful pot of Erythronium multiscapoideum was grown (from seed sown in 1987) by Della Kerr.
Congratulations, Della, on this fine plant.

You will recall that elsewhere on the forum, Sue Gill told us about the trough she was planting for the display of Troughs to be staged by the North Est England AGS Group at the show? Well all the hard work put in by Mala Janes to plan the display, Alan Newton to prepare about three dozen troughs for planting and Peter Maquire for the display boards, not to mention the other members who contributed their own boxes or planted up Alan's handiwork really paid off when the display created a huge amount of interest from the public and was recognised by the award of an AGS Large Gold Medal. Well done indeed!
The display of troughs, most made from polystyrene boxes, was augmented by some attractive trees, Betula jacquemontii and topiary pieces to great effect. The idea was not just to make an appealing presentation, but to show just how many things can be grown to advantage in such containers, allowing anyone with even a very small space to enjoy alpine plants and to enthuse them sufficiently to have a go themselves.  All sorts of techniques were employed, including a broccoli box, painted bright green from John Richards !
To demonstrate beyond doubt that even the very young can get involved with this type of growing, Marla's little two year old grandson had chosen the plants and stones for the trough that he planted up himself under the gaze of his justifiably proud Granny!

Elsewhere in a crowded show hall, with around 700 plus plants on the benches, there were a good mix of plants to be seen. Goodly numbers of Primula allionii, Narcissus, Ranunculaceae of various types, Trillium, the increasing popular Asarums, all in all a super display.... all I need now is for some more photos to prove it!! Local member  Ian Kidman had a large entry and captured the award for most points.
I'm told it was pleasing to see that the B and C sections were well supported this time... these are sections where falling numbers of entries have been of concern in previous years.
By about ten in the morning the Plant Stalls were doing steady business, so it seems there was quite a bit of shopping going on!
More photos, please!!!!!

[Maggi Young]

These pix will be appearing in the "official" Medal record page of the main site, but I cannot resisit posting them here, too! President Ian the Christie kind sent these:

What a stunning plant this is! Look at the perfect leaves and flowers!



Here is the exhibitor, Della Kerr... welll done, Della!

[Peter Maguire]

Maggi and Alan Newton have been begging me to post pictures from the Hexham show on the forum and I feel that I've recovered sufficiently from the very long day to look at plants again. Show secretaries aren't meant to have time to take pictures, but I managed to get some time to look round the show undisturbed and take some pictures. I haven't posted pictures on the new forum previously so this one is a test.

Hepatica acutiloba (David Boyd)

[Maggi Young]

Thanks, Peter!

We do appreciate it!

[Lesley Cox]

Another wonderful show which I couldn't be at. So yes please Ann, all pictures are welcome. And thanks too, Tom, for the extra pic of the little Iris pumila form. Like Anthony and Mark, I'd love this one so I hope it gets about and whoever owns and showed it, if donating seed somewhere, describes its colouring, rather than just saying "Iris pumila."

Posters often mention the friendliness and generosity of other posters on this Forum, and I endorse every such comment. While in general I'd never dream of asking an unknown person for seed from his/her plant, here, I never hesitate, with wonderful results. Sometimes it bothers me that I can't repay this generosity with something wanted by the donor, but in general I work on the principal that if I can't always give something to the person who gave to me, I ALWAYS can, to someone younger, or with fewer plant resources behind them, so that the cycle continues. Over many years people have been generous to me with plants and advice and it's now part of my role, to hand all of that on.

[Peter Maguire]

A few further photos:

Trillium rivale (Alan Furness)
Primula maginata 'Shipton's Form' (John Richards)
Ian Kidman's AGS medal-winning entry in class 1
A fine, compact form of Corydalis solida (Don Peace)

More to follow tomorrow

[Lesley Cox]

Many thanks for these Peter. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's batch.

[ChrisB]

A few mouth watering specimens I couldn't resist photographing at the Hexham Show on Saturday and my own Trillium rivale, taken last year but is now in full bloom again this year.  I must count the flowers to see if I have more this year... so many things to do this time of year

[Peter Maguire]

Time for a few more photos from Hexham (sorry about the quality, I didn't have a tripod with me and they are all hand-held).

Pictures as follows:
Primula 'Netta Dennis' (Joan Bradbury)
Erythronium mutiscapoideum - the Farrer medal plant (Della Kerr)
Celmisia spedenii (Ian Leslie)
Iris reichenbachii (I think, didn't make a note of the name) - Sandhoe trophy for best plant in 19 cm pan (Darren Sleep)
Townsendia hookeri (John Richards)

More to follow, I'm only trying 5 pictures per posting

Peter

[Susan Band]

nice primula, never seen that one before

[Peter Maguire]

More from Hexham.

Hymenoxys torreyana (Ian Kidman)
Pulsatilla vulgaris - a particularly fine form, I often find that the tips of the petals are rolled back on the red forms (David Boyd)
Hepatica acutiloba - a white form this time (David Boyd)
Cheilanthes wootonii - a great little fern, very neat (Clare Oates)
Haastia pulvinaris - one for the antipodeans! (Alan Newton)

[Peter Maguire]

Susan,

Primula 'Netta Dennis' is, I think, a selection of Primula aureata that was introduced by John Dennis and named after his wife.

Peter