The drive north before dawn was dark, dank and dreary, but on arrival at the gardens the rain had stopped, the rising sun lighting the tops of the numerous trees and bushes in their autumn colours with a fiery splendour. The sun stayed with us most of the day, although at times wind rattled the sides and roof of the pavilion. RHS Harlow Carr is a pleasure to visit at any time of the year and we are fortunate to have spring and autumn shows, enabling us to experience its delights in two seasons of its cycle.

One of the advantages of holding a show at RHS gardens is the number of visitors who are able to enjoy the display, many of whom perhaps stumble on it by accident. There certainly seemed to be lots of the general public crowding the pavilion right up to the end of the show; the trade stands were busy throughout. Our thanks go to Ian and Georgina Instone and their team of helpers who, despite a computer glitch with one or two with entries, put on a most successful, attractive show. Thanks also to our exhibitors, for without their willingness to travel from afar, and to tend their plants devotedly year after year, there would be no show.

We perhaps expect to see the autumn shows dominated by classes for autumn colour, berried plants, cushions and foliage colour, and these did not disappoint. Yet there were also many plants in flower, with a generous array of Cyclamen to the fore. Various autumn-flowering bulbs filled in around them. Sternbergia, Crocus and Allium were the main genera, with a scattering of Galanthus, Nerine and Narcissus for good measure. Saxifraga fortunei in its various forms and colours added to the spectacle. Having just mentioned nerines, various other southern African plants caught my eye. They are being shown in increasing numbers.

The Farrer Medal was won by a large (for the species concerned), superb Cyclamen intaminatum, its flowers slightly smaller and paler than some selections. Its owner, unsurprisingly, was Cyclamen maestro Ian Robertson. Winner of the North of England Horticultural Society’s Cup for the Open Section aggregate, on the other hand, was a slightly surprised but thoroughly deserving Alan Newton. David Carver received The Carter Shield for the Intermediate aggregate, while Kathryn Hern shone in the Novice Section, awarded the West Riding Plate for the best exhibit therein, a beautifully presented miniature garden.

Bob Worsley won the Mr & Mrs WH Nortcliffe Memorial Trophy for the best plant in a 19cm pan with Cyclamen graecum subsp. candicum. Four Certificates of Merit were awarded, one to Cyclamen rohlfsianum shown by Bob & Rannveig Wallis, another, from the opposite end of Africa, to Jon Evan’s Massonia roggeveldensis. Two saxifrages, one in flower (Saxifraga fortunei ‘Eiga’, shown by Don Peace), one not, Michael Wilson’s S. x lhommei ‘Cecil Davies’, completed the quartet.

Taking the last first, Michael Wilson’s Saxifraga x lhommei ‘Cecil Davies’ won the cushion plant class in the Intermediate Section. A naturally occurring hybrid between S. longifolia and S. paniculata, it has particularly attractive rosettes and is slow to reach a respectable size. The same selection, entered by a different grower and smaller, had drawn attention at the Loughborough Show a fortnight earlier. Michael had obtained his plant from Matthew Childs as a single rosette some years ago. Grown in a mix of John Innes no. 2 and grit with some added chalk, it receives no supplementary feeding. Better outdoors in summer, it was intermittently shaded this year when temperatures peaked. In the winter, it comes indoors.

Also in the Intermediate Section was an attractive Gladiolus that David Carver had purchased as a single corm from Julian & Sarah Sutton a few years ago, under the name ‘Stefanie’. There is a species, G. stefaniae, from wet gullies in the mountains of the Southern Cape, up to 60 cm tall, the flowers red with a median white streak and pollinated by night-flying moths. This, in contrast, was a delicate pink/peach, though other characters match.

After the show, the exhibitor contacted Julian, who replied: ‘Never seen anything like it. We had G. stefaniae as a small batch of seed from Gordon Summerfield in South Africa. Those that have flowered are the typical colour. Presumably there are others… that have haven’t flowered for us, and you have got one of those. A hybrid? But with what?’ Grown in a gritty, John Innes no. 1-based mix under cover in a polytunnel with ample ventilation and good light, it is infrequently watered, although the sand plunge is kept damp until a thorough drying out over the summer months. Given this treatment it has bulked up well.

Another South African bulb, Massonia roggeveldensis (shown by Jon Evans), has fairly recently been raised to species level. In nature it is one of a range of geophytes from desert and dry shrubland. Raised from seed around six years ago, it is kept dry once dormant, until watering recommences in late August, once signs of growth appear. It then needs to be grown in as much light as possible, otherwise the leaves don’t spread. Sparing watering is then given every three to four weeks. After flowering it is kept somewhat dry, water only given at the base. Kept in an alpine house, its spent flowers and seed pods are removed to prevent mould infection. A compost of John Innes no. 2, grit and sand in equal parts is used.

The same exhibitor brought along Narcissus x perezlarae, an attractive, delicate tiny daffodil originally described from Spain in 1882 as a natural wild hybrid between N. serotinus (now known as N. deficiens) and N. cavanillesii (once N. humilis). Very rarely recorded from Portugal, where it classified as endangered, it was first described from Cadiz province in SW Spain, where it inhabits sandy or loamy soils including stabilised inland dunes. In cultivation, it flowers most freely if the bulbs are left undisturbed, their pot top-dressed from time to time. It occupies a sunny greenhouse plunge, where it receives a warm, dry summer.

Back once again to South Africa, where Lachenalia maughanii, once known as Polyxena ensifolia var. maughanii, a member of the Asparagaceae, grows on limestone in the Western Cape. Bob & Rannveig Wallis’s crowded potful could have done with a further week or so to develop btu was a model of good cultivation. Said to come easily from seed and requiring the same treatment as other South African bulbs (‘wake-up’ watering in early autumn; as much light as possible; follow-up light watering through to dormancy), it had been grown in a compost of John Innes no. 2 and fine grit.

The same exhibitors’ fellow SW African Nerine pudica was first described by Joseph Hooker in 1871. An Amaryllid belonging to a genus of 26-36 species (the exact number is under review), it is said to be hardy down to -7C, but if grown outdoors the noses of the bulbs are best covered when dormant with bracken, conifer hedge clippings or similar. Its height varies between 20 and 30cm, as witnessed in the grouping on display. Normally shy flowering, this example drew attention for the number of flowers and their colour, rarely white but here peach. One authority suggests that if fertilisation occurs, the next year leaves are produced at the expense of flowers. It requires a sunny position in a dry to moderately moist soil, the substrate recommended a sandy, gritty loam comprising 30% organic and 70% inorganic material. Bulbs need positioning with their noses above ground. The growers thought that their stock might have been sourced from a plant stall – a reliable source of unusual plants.

There have been a number of liberally berried gaultherias at the autumn shows this year, with showy red berries. Indeed, there was another such in the small Intermediate Section, Gaultheria procumbens ‘Big Berry’, shown by Steve Clements, but my eye was taken by Tom Green’s infrequently seen, more delicate G. itoana. Its small, bell-like flowers are in evidence in summer, but the main attraction is in autumn when clusters of clean white, or pinkish tinged berries hang pendulously from its branches. A resilient, reliable, low growing plant from Taiwan, it benefits from semi-shaded position where the soil never dries out. Sourced from Ardfearn Nursery, this example had been grown in a trough and lifted for exhibition.

There has been a dearth of good autumn-flowering gentians on the show benches in recent years. Perhaps in a genus whose autumn-flowering species benefit from cool, damp conditions, global warming is having an adverse effect. Gratifying therefore to see John Richard’s well filled pot of Gentiana ‘Murrayfield’, one of a series of such cultivars with Scottish names (‘Braemar’, ‘Balmoral’ etc.) raised at Cyril McNaughton’s Ferrybank nursery.  They are shorter stemmed and not as straggly as some other autumn gentians. John’s plant, as with others, inhabits a pot at the base of a terrace where moisture and cool air sink down.

There were numerous attractive pots of Cyclamen on the benches, their hundreds of flowers in different shades and colours, often with varied, attractive leaves, making it difficult to select one to feature here. A number of these won awards, including the Farrer Medal, earlier referenced. Two much smaller specimens also caught my eye. C. confusum comes in a variety of shades, a few garish to some eyes. A cultivar named by Roy Skidmore ‘Raspberry’ was from seed sown in June 2018, with a more subdued, attractive coloration. Its mother plant had been chosen for this attribute and the exhibitor feels that it has further potential as a parent plant. Grown in a clay pot plunged in sand and kept under glass all year round, the plunge is kept damp at all times and the pot is watered copiously when the plant is in growth, this ceasing when the foliage starts to yellow. Annual repotting is the rule, with good ventilation when in growth, together with shading from mid-spring. Dead flowers and foliage are fastidiously removed to prevent Botrytis. A mix of two parts John Innes no. 3 and one of sharp grit is recommended.

Several small examples of C.  hederifolium ‘Stargazer’ were also present. With clean white flowers facing upward to the sky, it is certainly different from any others in the genus. I’m still trying to decide how much this novelty appeals to me!

Author: Dave Mountfort

Show Photographer: Jon Evans