This was a new venue for the show, and I thought it worked very well.  There were inevitably a few first-time hiccoughs which I am sure will be rectified next time.  There was ample space and there was good and even natural light, particularly important when showing plants.  On entering the marquee you came into a large area full of trade stands selling a huge variety of plants and many other items as well.  There were crowds around each stall, so I hope the nurseries and others did well.

Beyond the trade stands you were greeted by Jon Evans’ exhibit of photos of the Dolomites, which won a Large Gold Award.  Like all Jon’s photos these were high quality and set the scene as you walked through them to the exhibits of plants on the benches.

As ever exhibitors, including this scribe, had complaints about the vagaries of the weather and the longer term after effects of last year’s ‘Beast from the East’frost. Nevertheless there were a lot of very good plants on the benches.

There were numerous good Dionysias on show.  Paul Ranson (minus Gill on the day) brought a lot and duly collected two Certificates of Merit for a D.’ Lycaena’ and D. tapetodes.  They also won the Elliott Bowl for the Open Section aggregate.

The Intermediate and Novice Sections were both well supported with Alex O’Sullivan winning the Epping Trophy for the Intermediate Section aggregate with some very good plants which should do well in the Open Section in due course.

.  Peter Hurren showed a nice pan of Narcissus bulbocodium ‘Oxford Gold’ which duly won the Geoff Smith Salver.

The Essex award for the Novice Section aggregate was won by Christine Jarvis. While I do not claim to be an expert on Hepatica, I thought that her exhibits of these were especially good.

Some very good plants were on display in the Open Section.  Notable among these was the smaller of Peter Hood’s two Corydalis sewerzowii which won the Farrer Medal.  This species comes from dry, mountainous areas of Central Asia and is not the easiest plant to grow.  I understand that unlike, let us say, C. solida where tubers multiply, C. sewerzowii has to be grown from fresh seed sown immediately on collection which grow into perennial tubers which gradually increase in size, but do not multiply.

They need to be planted deep and have lateral root growth restricted (Peter says he uses an inner plastic pot for this, at least that is how I understood it) and are kept outside in the autumn/winter and given high potash fertilizer.  The foliage dies down in May, when they are brought inside and kept dry.  Whatever, some system like this obviously works for Peter, because his larger plant also won a first prize despite its owner reckoning it had passed its best!

The Lingen Trophy for the best plant in a 19cm pot was won by Bob Worsley with a nice pot of a Fritillaria hybrid, F. ariana x F. bucharica.

There were two classes for six small pans of plants. The first for plants grown from seed, the Jane Baldry Memorial Trophy, was won by Bob and Rannveig Wallis.  This entry included a good pan of Corydalis seisumsiana.  The second was the AGS Medal for six small pans of Rock Plants which was won by Don Peace.  The two plants I liked best in this entry were Corydalis kusnetzovii x C. solida ‘Lentune Rouge’ and Iris winogradowii.

The AGS Sewell Medal for six large pans was won by yours truly, who was obviously delighted!  Two plants in it that I liked most were Narcissus ‘Nadder Moon’ and quite a big Cypripedium formosanum.  I think the latter is the most beautiful of all the Cypripediums, both flower and leaf.  Its problem is that the flower is not frost hardy, or so I am told.  Also this plant is always very early, particularly so this year, so I have to grow it frost free.

Five plants received Certificates of Merit. First was the above mentioned Narcissus ‘Nadder Moon’.  There is some doubt as to the pollen parent of this plant.  The seed parent is a white N. alpestris but pale yellow plants do occur in the wild.  However, Nadder Moon tends to be a slightly bigger plant and multiplies more quickly than N. alpestris.  Without DNA testing there is no way of telling. This one has been in the garden for the last two years to no ill effect, so it can be said to be garden hardy.

The second and third Certificates were awarded to Paul and Gill Ranson’s two Dionysia hybrids: 1) D. archibaldii ‘Lycaena’ x D. curviflora and 2) D. tapetodes, the second a very good potful of yellow flowers.

Mark Childerhouse received a Certificate of Merit for his very nicely grown Benthamiella patagonica and Steve Clements received one for his beautifully grown Ophrys tenthredinifera – six good stems of pristine flowers of this attractive species.  Ophrys are not the easiest of plants to grow and this was one of a three-pan exhibit, a joy to behold.

Last, but by no means least, was Anne Vale’s exhibit of Miniature Gardens with Accessories for which she received a Gold Award.  They were really lovely and well worth their award.

Finally, I have to say that I thought this was a very successful show, despite the inclement weather.  I hope that we will be able to have a repeat next year.

Reporter Ian Robertson
Photographer Jon Evans