Events

RHS London Great Autumn Flower Show

All images Tim Sandall/Toplinc Imaging

Undoubted star of this year's Great Autumn Show, at both RHS Halls, London, this week, was an exhibit by Ashwood Nurseries of tender salvias.

The genus Salvia can be found on almost every continent, but the most diverse range of colourful species grow wild in Central and South America.

Ashwood's display contained species and varieties in all shapes and sizes from the huge, rusty-red flowered S. confertiflora to smaller, lower growing kinds such as the shrubby Salvia greggii and S. buchananii whose wine red flowers are curiously furry.
Though marginally tender, the majority of these salvias are easy to grow, and will root readily from cuttings taken in late summer and overwintered under glass or in a frost-free place. If thickly mulched, and grown in a warm part of the garden, many will survive a mild winter.

Though early for autumn colour, Dickersons nursery staged a delightful exhibit of Japanese maples, just on the turn from green to red and gold, but promising a superb display later.

Of great botanical interest was the exhibit by Sadlers of South African restios. These rush-like, primitive plants are restricted, in their distribution, to the southern extreme of Africa, where they are part of the unique landscape known locally as Fynbos. Proteas and such bulbous or cormous plants as Gladiolus, Ixia or Watsonia would be their natural companions.

	Among more traditional plants, Dahlias were disappointingly thin on the ground, with Tivey the only exhibitor. They were awarded a Gold Medal, as was the Gladiolus specialist Devine Nurseries.
	Dahlia 'Memmories' is a new cultivar from Philip Tivey

Among Alpine exhibitors, a Gold Medal was awarded to Edrom Nursery for a display of autumn-flowering gentians and other rarities. Situated on the Scottish border, reasonably close to the coast, this nursery is ideally placed for raising mountain treasures which require cool, moist growing conditions and lime-free soil.

Here are the winning results.

Gold

Ashwood Nurseries: Half-hardy salvias
Avon Bulbs: Autumn flowers from bulbous plants
Devine Nurseries: Gladioli
M C Dickerson: Japanese maples with an under-planting of foliage plants
Edrom Nurseries: Autumn flowering sino-Himalayan gentians
Hampshire Carnivorous Plants: Carnivorous plants, ferns & exotic foliage plants from around the world, displayed in a natural setting
Jekka's Herb Farm: Medicinal, culinary & aromatic herbs grown to Soil Association standards
Knoll Gardens: Ornamental grasses for late season effect
Sadlers Gardens: Flowering restios
Brian & Pearl Sulman: Scented leaf Pelargoniums
Philip Tivey & Sons: Various types of cut dahlias
Toobees Exotics: Succulent plants from around the world
Trevena Cross Nurseries: Tender & exotic perennials

Silver-Gilt Flora

Steven Bailey Ltd: Alstroemeria & carnations
Broadleigh Gardens: A display of autumn flowering bulbs, especially colchicum, crocosmia & late flowering agapanthus
Burncoose Nurseries: Trees, shrubs & other ornamental plants
Dibleys Nurseries: Foliage begonias & gesneriads
Long Acre Plants: Ferns & woodland perennials
National Collection of Passiflora: A collection of Passiflora species & cultivars
Norfields: Rare trees & bamboos
Oakland Nurseries: Sub-tropical plants, including Coleus, Caladium, Costus, Curcuma & Hedychium
P W Plants: Bamboos, grasses & other hardy plants
Rougham Hall Nurseries: Autumn flowering asters
Rushfields of Ledbury: Late summer perennials
Westdale Nurseries: Bougainvillea in variety

Silver Flora

Bluebell Arboretum & Nursery: Rare trees & shrubs
The Botanic Nursery: Woody plants & perennials for late colour
Peter Christian-Lau: Landscape & penjing bonsai in the Chinese style
Deva Orchids: Orchids
Fibrex Nurseries Ltd: Hederas & hardy ferns
Foxgrove Plants: Mature specimen grasses in terracotta pots
Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants: Autumn flowering herbaceous perennials
Harveys Garden Plants: Autumn flowering perennials
Heather Bank Nursery: Late flowering herbaceous perennials & grasses
Home Meadows Nursery Ltd: Cut flower chrysanthemums & gladioli
Hopleys Plants Ltd: Choice perennials
W E Th Ingwersen Ltd: Alpines, rock garden plants & other hardy perennials
C S Lockyer: Hardy, tender, foliage & rare species of fuchsia
Paradise Centre: Unusual shade plants & bulbs
Pazuzu Extreme Flora: Bromeliads & other plants
Sherston Parva Nursery Ltd: Clematis climbers & wall shrubs
Southcombe Gardens: Grasses, late herbaceous & alpine gentians
Three Counties Nurseries: Sunflowers
Wilford Bulb Co Ltd: A fragrant display of lilies

Silver Grenfell

Somerset Postal Flowers: Freestyle, contemporary & traditional flower arrangements

Silver Knightian

Highdown Nursery: Thymes

Silver Lindley

Chelsea Physic Garden: Educational display

Bronze Flora

Barnsdale Gardens: A planted arrangement of perennials, grasses & shrubs
Celebrations Nursery: Cut flower Dutch irises
Mary Green: A woodland edge display with shade-loving plants
Pennard Plants: A display of ornamental grasses & grass-like perennial plants
Rotherview Nursery: Alpines & smaller perennials
Robin Savill The Clematis Specialist: Clematis in a garden setting


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