1. A chandelier of floral fun
RHS Malvern Spring Festival’s famous welly boot greets visitors as soon as they step into the Floral Marquee. The colourful, crowning, floral explosion is created by floral artist Jonathan Moseley. Neon macramé hanging baskets filled with British flowers like tulips, hyacinths, peonies and fragrant stocks, float above the boot with flower-print umbrellas and sprays of Gypsophila.
“There’s something for everybody here, it’s a really fun-filled, family show. It’s for plant enthusiasts, but you can also learn from all the experts. You can buy anything at RHS Malvern, from a dinosaur to a digger. It’s all here”
– Jonathan Moseley
2. Master grower
This year’s Master Growers are Grafton Nursery, a family-run grower who specialise in hardy eucalyptus. Their display is one of the highlights of the show, bringing an immersive mini-forest to the Floral Marquee. Alongside are boards telling the story of the history and work of Grafton Nursery in beautiful photographs. The Grafton team are on hand throughout the show to further their mission to rebrand eucaluptus away from its reputation as a potentially invasive garden thug to a versatile and attractive garden do-er.
3. Water world
Lincolnshire Pond Plants have built an entire pond complete with jetty and quiet fishing spot, to show off their range of marginal pond plants. Dawn Fisher explains, “These are all plants that can go within the margins of your pond, so they’ll all cope with about 10-20 cm over the top of the pot. They would also work in a bowl or barrel pond.”
“If your pond is going green, go to the supermarket and get some chopped watercress and float it on top of the water and it’ll keep your water clean.”
– Dawn Fisher, Lincolnshire Pond Plants
4. Hide’m & Sedum
Skerne Alpines Nursery has created a display that shows how alpines are not just for rockery gardens. A wood log store with a green roof filled with sedums and sempervivums and walls housing planting pockets, makes sure that there is planting on every plane. Alpines really do adapt to living roofs and walls, they are low-maintainence and they don’t need a lot of water.”
“My top plant for living walls and roofs are the sedums, they are so adaptable – some clump, some trail, and they are drought tolerant, so you don’t have to worry about them over summer.”
– Mike, Skerne Alpines Nursery
5. Primal Plants
One of the most striking features in the Floral Marquee was from Primal Plants and their ‘Future plants for climate change’ display. Rosettes of succulents planted in shallow round Corten-steel bowls and tall planters topped with the spiked sphere crowns of yucca and palms (which withstand temperatures as low as -20) make the most of the archictectural forms of these low-maintainance plants.
“When they get short of water, they will go summer dormant, so they only grow when the conditions are right and when they’re not, they shut down, we call them climate-smart.”
– Mark Lea, Primal Plants
6. Gardener’s Delight
Getting a Silver-gilt for your first ever RHS Show is quite an impressive feat, but for Gardener’s Delight it was a family effort, as Hannah explains. “It was our daughter Emma who designed it. She’s got the artistic eye, we just grow great plants!” They have been growing peat-free for over five years, but this is the first time the Devon-based nursery have come to an RHS show, to spread the word and help inspire a generation not brought up with gardening. Targeting people in their 20s-40s who are interested in growing but don’t know where to start, the display of container plants shows examples of tough easy-care plants, great for a starter gardener who doesn’t have much space or know-how. The Gardener’s Delight team are on hand to give advice and recommendations to their customers, “We want them to be as passionate about growing as we are” says Hannah.
7. Hampshire Carnivorous plants
Sarracenias are a popular plant at RHS Malvern Spring Festival, popping up in the Marquee, The Festival of Houseplants and Plant Village. Few know more about them than Hampshire Carnivorous Plants who won Gold for their display. Dave Tite has been selling their plants for over 20 years and he has seen how people’s perception of the plant has changed.
“It used to just be seen as a tropical indoor plant, but now people are recognising that some species are wetland plants that can grow outdoors, in pond margins or water features. They’re as tough as old boots and hardy.”
“Carnivorous plants are like dinosaurs, they appeal to kids, that’s why I started growing them!”
– Dave Tite, Hampshire Carnivorous Plants
8. Jurassic plants
This Gold medal-winning display from the nursery that specialises in rare and unusual plants, provided magnifying glasses so visitors can see the seeds upclose and learn about the quirky plants from the blue sausage shrub to the lilly pilly. If you’re after something a little different, come and find Jurassic Plants in the Floral Marquee at RHS Malvern Spring Festival.
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