Exhibitors
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Floral exhibitors in the Great Pavilion
Images: Martin Mulchinock
A B Longden
Pansies, Violas
Ainsworth Displays
Palm trees
Aldo Ciampittiello
Air plants
Angarrack Nursery
Perennials, shrubs & ornamental grasses
Avon Bulbs - Flowering bulbs & associated plants
Avon Bulbs has a wonderful record at the Chelsea Flower Show with 14 consecutive Gold Medals among a tally of 18 Golds. In 2006 the nursery is trying to provide a more contemporary exhibit than many might expect, not because contemporary is better, but because it might raise a few eyebrows and create a bit of a stir. Using wire gabions it is ‘caging’ bits of Somerset to bring to London. So for those that know anything of rural Somerset there will be recognisable items of horticultural and agricultural use separating the strongly colour-themed exhibit.
The emphasis at the end of a long cool spring will be range of tulips in all their texture and variety, but exhibited to emphasise that they can compliment and combine with other plants rather than simply overpower them in April and May. The fabulous 'Queen of Sheba' will be prominent. Other plants of note should be Paeonia emodi, as well as that old but fleeting favourite P. mlokosewitchii. Avon Bulbs is launching the autumn 2006 catalogue which has been enhanced by even more colour pictures and many new items, as well as an enlarged Historical Narcissus section.
The theme of this exhibit is the World Cup Cricket finals 2007, which will be held in Barbados at The Kensington Oval. All the flowers and foliage have been grown in Barbados.
Blackmore & Langdon - Begonias and Delphiniums
To prepare for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show Blackmore & Langdon take delphinium cuttings 16 months before the show and grow them over the two seasons. The plants are initially grown outside, but spend the final four months under glass. The begonia tubers are planted in December in readiness for May flowering. Cold, dark days are the nursery’s biggest challenge as the plants do not grow when light levels are low.
Bloms Bulbs - Tulips
This year Ronald Blom, something of an heirloom himself, is aiming for his 56th Gold Medal at Chelsea exhibiting 175 cultivars of tulips, totalling more than 25,000 bulbs.
Traditionally a showcase for new varieties and old favourites, this year on display is a special collection of heirloom tulips (broken or English Florist Tulips), supplied by the Hortus Bulborum.
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Blooms of Bressingham
Hardy plants
Borneo Exotics
Little and large! The company is emphasising the amazing diversity of Nepenthes by exhibiting Nepenthes aristolochiodes, for the first time ever in a public exhibition. This is a bizarre miniature Nepenthes and one of the smallest species in the genus. Alongside it will be a black form of the mighty mammal-consuming Nepenthes truncata. This spectacular plant is the only one of its kind in cultivation. The company is launching a newly named cultivar, Nepenthes ‘Lady Pauline’ named after Dame Pauline Harris DL.
Borneo Exotics has brought many rare and endangered species of Nepenthes into cultivation for the first time and is proud of its role in reducing pressures on wild populations by making these plants commercially available. By means of tissue culture, an unlimited number of plants can be produced from a single seed. Prior to the advent of tissue culture techniques, the primary source of these plants for collectors was poaching from their natural habitats. Many of the most spectacular species are on the verge of extinction due to degradation of their natural habitats and poaching, which thankfully is now almost a thing of the past.
All the plants in this exhibit have been propagated from tissue culture in the company's laboratory and then grown on in its Sri Lankan nurseries, for up to 10 years in some cases. They are bare-rooted having been imported into the UK as check-in baggage.
Bournemouth Borough Council - Beautiful & Healthy
This three-dimensional exhibit has been inspired by the Bournemouth motto ‘Beautiful & Healthy’ and it encompasses the healthy lifestyle of Bournemouth residents and visitors. The display features five giant pieces of fruit and vegetables that are made from cut flowers, which are around 3m (10ft) high. The cut flowers are situated within a giant willow basket that is surrounded by fruit and vegetables, which spell out the phrase '5 a day'.
Circling the '5 a day' feature are three sections depicting work, rest and play, which are planted in carpet bedding with points of the compass facing north, south, east and west. The different sections include the classic crest of Bournemouth, a typical beach scene with a giant deck chair and a hand crafted sculpture depicting a surfer riding a wave.
This is Bournemouth’s first time at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and the team working on the display includes representatives from Bournemouth Council’s municipal parks department and also horticultural experts based within Bournemouth, including the floristry department at Bournemouth & Poole College.
Bowden Hostas
Brian & Pearl Sulman - Pelargoniums
This is a colourful exhibit full of flowering pelargoniums in all sizes from miniatures, only a few inches high, to majestic regals several feet high. There are around 70 different cultivars of pelargonium in this display.
Broadleigh Gardens
Spring-flowering bulbs, alliums and irises
Burncoose Nurseries
Ornamental trees and shrubs
Burnham Nurseries - Orchids
This exhibit features hundreds of orchids displayed in sweeping groups. The orchids are displayed in colour blocks. Taller specimens will provide a backdrop to some of the more dainty cultivars in the foreground. Specimens will include cymbidiums.
Bushukan Bonsai
All the trees in this exhibit are at least 50 years old.