An Afternoon Af-Fair

Last Tuesday I had the chance to pop round to the RHS Great London Plant Fair which was being held at the Horticultural Halls in Central London. It was a two day event and fortunately it was open up until 7PM on the first day so I had the chance to go after work. And as if I haven't been visiting plant fairs and nurseries recently, it was time again to check out another plant fair for yet more plant goodies.
My excuse though is that the fair was open till early evening and with it being roughly in the same area where I work I might as well pop round for a quick visit. Even though I didn't have anything in mind to buy it was nice to check out what the stalls had to offer as well as view the displays for this year.



It was an enjoyable visit and a relaxing activity to do after work. Much to my delight it was relatively quiet when I arrived, no hustle and bustle and no elbowing for those few precious plants so I was able to browse through the stalls at a more relaxed pace. It was quite late in the afternoon when I arrived and from what I heard it was manic in the morning where everyone was looking out for the rarer plants on offer often in limited quantities. Perhaps I may have missed out on those rarer plants but it didn't really matter to me, just happy enough that it was quiet and relaxed when I was there.

Trewidden Nursery stand

Leucadendron 'Inca Gold' - one went home with me!

Richard and Sheena Drane's stand

Echeveria x gilva 'Red'

Hardy's Nursery stand

Fibrex Nursery stand

Hedera 'Margino Maculata' - love or loathe? I go for the former!

A fantastic Bromeliad display, probably my favorite of the lot!

Plantagogo stand

Some fantastic Hostas were on display such as these that caught my attention:

Hosta 'White Feather'

Hosta 'Hadspen Samphire' - yep, the spelling is correct!

Hosta 'A Touch of Class' - this hosta rightfully deserves its name

It is spring after all. What would a plant fair be at this time of the year without spring flowering bulbs like these:

Fritillaria imperialis - love 'em!

Jacques Amand stand

Fritillaria meleagris 

And a myriad of other plants and flowers:

Streptocarpus 'Bethan'

Vriesea gigantea 'Nova'

Asarum maximum

One other thing about this event is that apart from the plant stalls and displays by each attending nursery there was also a concurrent plant competition being held, of various spring flowers and other plants, formally displayed then judged with awards given accordingly.

It seems strange to see plants and flowers displayed this way but that's the way it is with plant competitions and fairs. These are the standard ways of displaying them, depending on a particular type of bloom or plant, and it is with this uniformity that makes it easier for the judges to view and assess them objectively and make decisions from there.

Alpine Garden Society

After a good couple of hours browsing through I went home with just four plants; Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset', Leucadendron 'Inca Gold', and the two below: 

Syringa pinnatifolia - a Chinese lilac and is the only one with pinnate leaves

Buddleja glomerata 'Silver Service' - a South African shrub with attractive crinkled and silver coloured leaves

I had to restrain myself and be extra selective on what to buy as I had to hand carry them back home with me via several train journeys and on rush hour too. It was a small, select haul but I was very pleased with them and a nice cap on this brief afternoon af-Fair.
Mark :-)