It was lovely to catch up with so many customers and the hostas were looking lovely, if a little backward after the stop-start spring we experienced this year. We were thrilled to receive a gold award for our display given the fact that our plants were a little on the small side. Definitely the plant of the year was h. 'Fire Island', seen here in our Harrogate Spring display. The leaves emerge fresh yellow and turn lime green during the season on bright red spotted petioles.

H. 'Fire Island'

Malvern Spring Show was where we first noticed a change in the profile of visitors coming to the shows this year. For the first time in a while it seemed that the gardeners were not out in force. The weather was lovely at Malvern, a distinct improvement to the wash-out of the previous year, so we deduced that the gardeners must have been making the most of the fine weather at home.
Both in the floral marquee and on the outside stand we watched a steady stream of visitors wander past eating ice cream with a detached air that suggested they didn't really know why they were there!

H. 'Magic Fire'

On a positive note, we received a Silver-Gilt for our display, which included
h. 'Magic Fire'.

Strangely enough, our best show this year was Gardener's World at the NEC. Our plant mall display came third in the competition for best plant mall spot, which was very gratifying as the light levels in the halls are not the best for showing plants. We still think the NEC is an odd choice of venue for a flower show but it is so easily accessible from all over the UK. The decision to combine shows over the past two years has proved good for us in that it has increased our reach to non-gardeners. We have picked up lots of new customers at this show and we hope other nurseries have also benefitted in the same way.

At the Hampton Court Flower Show this year we were right in the middle of the show ground instead of in area 'D' by the Stud Gate entrance. This year we had our best ever Gala Night in the new location and our customers found us without too much searching. Although plant plots are not judged for awards, they are judged for their displays and whether those displays are kept pristine throughout the show. This is no mean feat when you consider how long the show is and how difficult the weather can be, so we were really pleased to be judged as excellent for the whole show.

Hard on the heals of Hampton Court was the Tatton Park Flower Show. This year the organisers did a fantastic job in keeping the show ground nice in challenging conditions. This is perhaps the toughest show to do from an exhibitors perspective as we cannot store our sales plants anywhere near our marquee stands. We did a circular display this year, which was very well received by our customers and we got a Silver award from the RHS.

Both Hampton Court and Tatton Park Flower shows suffered the same malaise as Malvern Spring. Aside from the members days the visitors seemed mostly disinterested in plants.
Considering the wealth of unusual plants that are available for sale it is a shame that visitors to the show miss out on the opportunity to buy plants they would never find at a typical garden centre.

Our final show of the year was the Harrogate Autumn Show and as usual, it was a treat to do. We rounded off the year with our very first Premier Award for our display.