Events
RHS February London Flower Show
The Lawrence Hall in Westminster was filled with the sights and smells of spring, as the RHS staged its second London Flowes Show this year. This show offered spring bulbs displayed in a riot of colour and fragrance as well as exotic plants like arisaemas and flora displays by NAFAS
Along with the plants there was an exhibition of botanical art which contained some amazing works, and the usual ornamental plant competition.
The Hall was bursting with visitors within the first hour and would have pleased all who attended. The judges were also impressed as they awarded seven Gold Medals.
Seasonal interest included carpets of snowdrops and other spring bulbs from nurseries such as Broadleigh Gardens, Avon Bulbs, Edrom Nursery and Jacques Amand International.
The RHS advisors put on a demonstration and talk on Growing Spring Salads from Seed. There was a 'hands on' display and information for gardeners to find out more about sustainable and alternative materials being developed and trialled as growing media.
The RHS London Flower Shows are renowned for their exhibitions of botanical art and the February show had displays of botanical paintings from artists from as far afield as Japan, France and Australia.
Arisaema nepenthoides (left) one of the more unusual plants from Jacques Amand International
Part of a floral art display entitled The Eye of the Beholder which won NAFAS a Gold Medal (right)
A drift of
Cyclamen coum (left) which along with hepaticas helped Ashwood Nurseries to win a Gold Medal
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise' (right), one of many fragrant cultivars from Broadwater Plants
The Gold Medal winning display of spring bulbs in a woodland setting staged by Broadleigh Gardens (left)
A superb display of conifers by Choice Landscapes who won a Gold Medal (right)
A display of trees shrubs and other ornamental plants (left) which won Burncoose Nurseries a Gold Medal
Edrom Nurseries from Scotland (right) staged a Gold Medal winning display of seasonal flowering bulbs
Here are the winning results
Gold
Ashwood Nurseries: Hepaticas & cyclamen
Broadleigh Gardens: Cyclamen, snowdrops, crocuses & irises in a woodland setting
Burncoose Nurseries: Trees, shrubs & other ornamental plants
Choice Landscapes: Conifers
Edrom Nursery: Seasonal flowering bulbs
NAFAS: 'The Eye of the Beholder'
P W Plants: Hardy bamboo & associated plants
Silver-Gilt Flora
Avon Bulbs Ltd: Early spring flowering bulbs including galanthus
Bluebell Arboretum & Nursery: Trees & shrubs
Dibleys Nurseries: Crystal streptocarpus, foliage begonias, gesneriads & other houseplants
Foxgrove Plants: Hellebores & snowdrops
Harveys Garden Plants: Hellebores
Long Acre Plants: Spring flowering woodland perennials & bulbs
Pembroke Farm Nursery: Succulents & other exotics
Potash Nursery: Primroses
Pottertons Nursery/Peter Orme Landscapes: Early spring bulbs & woodland plants
Southcombe Gardens: Cut willow for stem colour, form & catkins
Trehane Camellia Nursery: Camellias & pieris
Silver-Gilt Lindley
British Iris Society: Irises
Silver Flora
Jacques Amand International: Early flowering spring bulbs
Broadwater Plants Ltd: Hamamelis cultivars
Churchtown Nurseries: South African restios, evergreen grasses, early camellias & perennials
Coghurst Camellias: Flowering camellias
Fibrex Nurseries Ltd: Hellebores, hederas & hardy ferns
Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants: Spring flowering herbaceous perennials
Rougham Hall Nurseries: Spring bulbs & shrubs
Rushfields of Ledbury Ltd: Early perennials, evergreen shrubs & grasses
Brian & Pearl Sulman: Scented leaf pelargoniums
Bronze Flora
The Botanic Nursery: Perennials
Pennard Plants: Foliage effect shrubs with bulbs
Botanical art awards
Gold
Regine Hagedorn: Watercolour paintings of fruits & seeds
Georita Harriott: Watercolours of passiflora
Martha G Kemp: Plants of Northern California in graphite
Rachel Pedder-Smith: Specimens from the Leguminosae family in watercolour
Silver-Gilt Grenfell
Roy Cooney: Copperplate line engravings of plants from Hestercombe Gardens
Patricia Newman: Rosehips in pencil & watercolour
George Olson: Tall grass prairie plants in watercolour & pencil
Jill Townsend: Watercolour paintings of cacti & succulents
Silver-Gilt Lindley
Jill Jones: Old medicinal plants from the hedgerow in graphite
Silver Grenfell
Norma Gregory: Pen & ink drawings of fritillaries
Rosemary Mason: Watercolour paintings of pansies & violets
Akemi Matsui: Watercolour paintings of mutant Japanese morning glory
Ikuko Matsui: Watercolour paintings of trees with yellow flowers
Maryrose Milford Rintoul: Iris species & varieties in watercolour & pencil
Miyako Takahashi: Watercolour paintings of Japanese wild lilies
Bronze Grenfell
Lavinia Learmont: Exotic plants in watercolour, pen & ink
Sudizong Lucksom: Watercolour paintings of fuchsias
Sally Markell: Watercolour paintings of flowering trees & shrubs
Ann Smith