After an uneventful drive to our first Midland Show for many years, we arrived in the car park to be greeted with what seemed a long distance from the car to the show hall but the show secretary, Christopher Snelson, managed to arrange for some exhibitors (with a large number of plants) to park in a closer space making staging a much easier job.  The hall is a new venue and although brightly lit could have done with the blinds being fully lifted from the windows to encourage some of the flowers to open on what was a rather cloudy day.

This was a rather smaller show than we had seen in the past which is a shame but follows the trend of all the shows in the last few years. Tribute is due to those exhibitors who turn out regularly to put on such wonderful displays such as that exemplified here.  Very few shows can boast 12 plants awarded either “Best plant in….” or Certificate of Merit status as happened here so the quality is still there.

There was no large six pan entry but the small AGS Medal Class was won by a splendid exhibit of Orchids by Steve Clements comprising: two Calanthe hybrids (both C. sieboldii x discolor), two Cypripedium (C. ‘Gisela’ and C. parviflora ssp. parviflora) and two Pleione (P. ‘Fuego’ and P x askia ‘Goldfinch’).

The Midland Jubilee Goblet was awarded for an exhibit of six pans rock plants grown from seed by the exhibitor and this was awarded to Bob & Rannveig Wallis for an exhibit which included the beautiful clove-scented Allium perdulce, the striking oncocyclus Iris (I paradoxa var atrata), two of the smaller Trilliums (T gracile and T lancifolium) and two well flowered Cyclamen.

The Midland Challenge Cup for the Best Plant in a 19cm pan was awarded to John Dixon’s Primula rusbyi.  I hadn’t seen this North American Sierra Nevada endemic for many years so it was a pleasure to remake its acquaintance.  It was also judged to be the best Primula in the show thus carrying off the Midland Primula Bowl.

Of the six Certificate of Merit plants, I particularly liked the rather subdued but intricate British native, Paris quadrifolia grown by David Charlton.  It revels in a slightly alkaline high humus compost where it runs around by underground rhizomes as well as setting good seed, so it is easily propagated and always worth a close look at its four-tepalled flowers.

Perhaps my second favourite was Eric Jarrett’s Helianthemum pannosum with its densely grey-leaved, prostrate stems and deep yellow flowers.  Eric finds this perfectly hardy in his alpine house as long as watering is minimised in the winter.  It is a native of the Sierra Nevada, this time of the Spanish range of the name.  I wonder if it would grow outside in an average British winter.  It was put together in a really striking three pan exhibit with Alkanna aucheriana (Southern Turkey) and Dionysia involucrata (Pamir mountains of Tajikistan).

Other than the award plants, I found several others which are worth commenting on.  For example: Christine Jarvis showed a lovely little Roscoea tibetica which she had raised from seed sown 10 years previously.  She grows it in a mix comprising multipurpose compost, John Innes and grit in a shady place in her Oxfordshire garden but keeps it frost free in winter when it is dormant.  This was only one of her winners in the Novice Section which helped her to take the Perry Cup for the section aggregate.

I was also attracted to a small Geranium, G glaberrimum shown by John Dixon, a Turkish endemic with its pink flowers delicately exhibited over its very congested foliage.

I was completely flummoxed by a plant and its label that meant nothing to me i.e.  Nablonium calyceroides.  On interviewing Alex O’Sullivan, the exhibitor, I ascertained that it was a member of the Asteraceae from Tasmania and New Zealand, that it was quite vigorous in a pot and sported lovely white powder puffs in the summer on 15cm stems.  He keeps it in the greenhouse over winter but otherwise it is quite happy outside in its pot with a compost of John Innes, grit and perlite.  It will be interesting to a keep an eye on this in future shows to see how it performs in flower.  There are some reports that it could be rather invasive.  We shall see how it performs in the UK!

Finally, the Farrer Medal was won by John Dixon’s beautifully flowered Androsace villosa.  This was a huge plant cultivated to perfection by John over many years and fully deserved its accolade.  Congratulations John.

Reporter. Bob Wallis
Photographer. Jon Evans