Events

RHS London January Flower Show

All images Tim Sandall & Nigel Colborn/Toplinc Imaging

Enthusiasts queue in the January sunshine, eager to get into the RHS January Show, Lawrence Hall, Westminster.

Visitors to the Society's first show of the year enjoyed a breath of spring air at the Lawrence Hall, Westminster. Star attraction was a superb Gold Medal exhibit of winter flowers by Ashwood Nurseries whose Oriental hellebores keep on getting better every year. These were backed up by
carpets of snowdrops, Cyclamen coum and several varieties of Hamamelis.

The only other Gold Medal went to Lincluden Nurseries for their display of interesting dwarf conifers. Though their display had not a single flower, the rich gold, bronze, blue-grey and green hues of their evergreens looked bright and cheerful in the slanting winter sunshine.

Other displays of special interest included a collection of South African restios, from Sadlers Gardens, and from Rushfields of Ledbury, a delightful collection of plants whose foliage looks attractive outdoors in January. Notable among these were several species of evergreen fern and sedge.

The Society's own exhibit, from Wisley, was a collection of hoop petticoat narcissus (Narcissus bulbocodium). The image shows the RHS Garden Wisley's exhibit of hoop petticoat narcissus, with judging taking place in the background.

Here are the winning results.

Gold

Colourful hellebores on Ashwood's Gold Medal stand. The range now extends to primrose yellow, purple, pink, green and white with both single and double flowers.

Carpets of Cyclamen coum accompany hybrid hellebores on Ashwood Nurseries' Gold Medal exhibit.

A riotous miscellany of winter perennials blooming on Ashwood's stand.

Colourful conifers on Lincluden Nurseries Gold Medal winning stand.

Silver-Gilt Flora

Dibleys Nurseries: Begonias & gesneriads
Heather & Brian Hiley: Fers, tender perennials & grasses
P W Plants: Bamboo, grasses & other hardy plants
Rushfields of Ledbury: Plants for the January garden
Sadlers Gardens: Restios

Silver Flora

Avon Bulbs: Early spring-flowering bulbs (including snowdrops) & hellebores
Bluebell Arboretum & Nursery: Rare trees & shrubs
Fibrex Nurseries: Hederas, hellebores & hardy ferns
Foxgrove Plants: Grasses in terracotta pots
W E Th Ingwersen: Dwarf & slow-growing conifers
Pazuzu Extreme Flora: Carnivorous plants, bromeliads & orchids
Potash Nursery: Primroses
Southcombe Gardens: Willows, evergreen herbaceous, grasses & shrubs in a resting winter garden
Topiary Arts: Topiary

Bronze Flora

The Botanic Nursery: Winter flowering shrubs & foliage perennials
Rougham Hall Nurseries: Primroses
Trehane Nursery: Early spring-flowering camellia cultivars & pieris
Wilford Bulb Co: Hybrid lilies

Botanical Art Awards

Gold

Evelyn Binns Botanical Watercolours: Watercolour paintings of orchids
Marjorie Holmes: Watercolour paintings of wild flowers of Corfu
Elbe Joubert: Watercolour paintings of Cape Fynbos, Veltd & fruit & vegetables
Barbara Oozeerally: Watercolour paintings of pine cones
Rita Parkinson: Gouache paintings of Agavaceae
Susan Sex: Watercolour paintings of native Irish orchids
Amanda Jayne Willoughby: Studies of rare & endangered cornfield flowers at Ryedale Folk Museum

Silver-Gilt Grenfell

Milena Casadei: Watercolour paintings of wild flowers of Monte Baldo
Joanna Craig-McFeely: Watercolour paintings on vellum of fruits of autumn
Angie Girling: Watercolour paintings of Ilex
Jee-Yeon Koo: Watercolour paintings of Korean Winter Orchids
Anna Lu: Watercolour paintings of orchid species & hybrids
Adele Rossetti Morosoni: Plants in Shakespearean texts
The Tuesday Group: Watercolour paintings of plants from Sheffield Botanic Gardens
Pamela Pugh: Watercolour paintings of lichen species

Silver Grenfell

Sheila Clarke: Watercolour paintings of poppies
Barbara Clemence: Watercolour paintings of plants used for dyeing purposes
Anne Dent: Watercolour paintings of parasitic & semi-parasitic plants
Corinne Hills: Coloured pencil drawings of orchids
Judith La Trobe: Watercolour paintings of plants from Chile as seen at Logan Botanic Gardens
Rosemary Mason: Watercolour paintings of pansies & violas
Ronald Oborne: Watercolour paintings of fritillaries

Bronze Grenfell

Annette Firth: Watercolour paintings of seaweeds from Co. Clare, Ireland
Jean Jackson: Watercolour paintings of summer garden blues
Prue Miskin: Watercolour paintings of rhododendrons