Events

RHS London September Flower Show

The Great Autumn Show 14 and 15 September

Capturing the essence of late summer and autumn the halls were packed with seasonal displays from some of the best UK nurseries. RHS London Flower Shows are a wonderful opportunity to meet expert growers, seek advice from the RHS advisory team and buy plants.

Newcomer to the London Flower Shows, Borneo Exotics, made its first London appearance with a display of carnivorous plants including Nepenthes. Several species were on display for the first time anywhere in the world. There is a strong conservation aspect to the work of Borneo Exotics and in the past seven years they have reintroduced many rare and endangered Nepenthes to cultivation, as well as discovering new species.

Another show highlight celebrated a traditional British favourite, the rose. Robert Mattock Roses displayed over 50 different species roses to illustrate the variety of hips and foliage that roses can produce.

Other exhibitors at the show, who have wide ranges of autumn perennials for your garden include Barnsdale Gardens, Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants, Heather Bank Nursery, Harveys Garden Plants and Rushfields of Ledbury. The house and conservatory are well catered for with displays from the African Violet Centre, Oaklands Nursery, Pembroke Farm Nursery and Toobees Exotics.

In celebration of the RHS Bicentenary this London Flower Show featured a special exhibition about the two RHS Horticultural Halls, documenting the history of events that have been held in the halls over the last 100 years. The ‘New Hall’ (now known as the Lindley Hall) was opened by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra on 22 July 1904. Since then both the Lindley and the Lawrence Hall have hosted thousands of events from championship dog shows to suffragette meetings, and of course the RHS London Flower Shows.

Another Bicentenary highlight of the show was an exhibition by the Society of Botanical Artists (SBA). The SBA decided to contribute to the RHS 200th anniversary by inviting its members to contribute up to six paintings of specimens of the Liliaceae family. Over 40 artists from all over the world have contributed and their paintings were exhibited at the Great Autumn Show.

The next RHS London Flower Show is 5 and 6 October 2004.

	A Gold Medal winning exhibit of autumn flowering perennials, ornamental grasses, shrubs and architectural plants displayed by Angarrack Nurseries from Cornwall
	A display of autumn-flowering Cyclamen from Ashwood Nurseries who achieved a Gold Medal
	A Gold Medal winning display of carnivorous plants featuring Nepenthes from Borneo Exotics which had been brought in all the way from Sri Lanka
	Part of the Gold Medal winning display of trees, shrubs and other ornamental plants exhibited by Burncoose Nursery in Cornwall
	A spectacular display of bonsai trees winning Bushukan Bonsai a Gold Medal
	Part of the Gold Medal winning display of conifers by Choice Landscapes, Wisbech, East Anglia
	Gladiolus 'Princess Margaret Rose' which formed part of the Gold Medal winning display by Devine Nurseries
	Aechynanthus 'Hot Flash' was just one of the spectacular houseplants exhibited by Dibleys Nurseries who was awarded a Gold Medal
	A display from the NCCPG National Collection of Sempervivums won a gold medal for Fernwood Nurseries from Devon

Here are the winning results

Gold

Angarrack Nursery: Autumn flowering perennials, ornamental grasses, shrubs & architectural plants
Ashwood Nurseries: Autumn flowering cyclamen species
Borneo Exotics: Carnivorous plants featuring nepenthes
Burncoose Nurseries: Trees, shrubs & other ornamental plants
Bushukan Bonsai: Variety of bonsai trees up to 120 years old
Choice Landscapes: Conifers
Devine Nurseries: Gladioli
Dibleys Nurseries: Streptocarpus, begonias & other houseplants
Fernwood Nursery: Plants from NCCPG National Collections of Sempervivum, Jovibarba & Rosularia

Silver-Gilt Flora

Avon Bulbs Ltd: Autumn flowering bulbs
Barnsdale Gardens: Mixed planting
Bluebell Arboretum & Nursery: Trees & shrubs
Churchtown Nurseries: South African restios, ornamental grasses & herbaceous perennials
D'Arcy & Everest Ltd: Alpines & associated plants in troughs
Foxgrove Plants: Mature grasses in terracotta pots
Harveys Garden Plants: Autumn flowering perennials & grasses
Long Acre Plants: Ferns & woodland perennials
P W Plants: Hardy bamboos, grasses & other associated plants
Pembroke Farm Nursery: Cacti & succulents
Southcombe Gardens: Late herbaceous plants, alpines, grasses & ferns
Brian & Pearl Sulman: Scented leaf pelargoniums
Toobees Exotics: Tropical succulents from around the world
Tynings Nursery - National Collection of Passiflora Cultivars: Passiflora cultivars
Westdale Nurseries: Bougainvillea in variety
Wilford Bulb Co Ltd: Autumnal lilies

Silver-Gilt Grenfell

Somerset Postal Flowers: Temperate & tropical floral arrangements

Silver Flora

Fibrex Nurseries Ltd: Begonias, hederas & hardy ferns
Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants: Autumn flowering herbaceous perennials
Hopleys Plants Ltd: Perennials & shrubs
W E Th Ingwersen Ltd: Autumn flowering & foliage hardy plants
C S Lockyer (Fuchsias): Hardy, tender, foliage & rare species fuchsias
Oakland Nurseries: Cannas & tender perennials
Pennard Plants: Miscanthus cultivars including new & recent introductions
Rotherview Nursery: Alpines & perennials chosen for maximum flower & foliage
Rougham Hall Nurseries: Cut flower asters
Rushfields of Ledbury Ltd: Late summer & autumn perennials

Bronze Flora

The Botanic Nursery: Trees, shrubs & border plants
Heather Bank Nursery: Autumn flowering perennials
The Old Walled Garden: Garden & conservatory plants including Australian flora

Bronze Knightian

Highdown Nursery: Culinary, medicinal & aromatic herbs