Often, the ‘best plant in show’ (here, under SRGC rules, the Forrest Medal) reveals itself after the most cursory of inspections. It is the sign of a quality show when several candidates raise their heads, and the choice between them becomes something of a lottery. Here, each of the recipients of a Certificate of Merit (Corydalis sewerzowii shown by Peter Hood, Saxifraga ‘Coolock Kate’, Frank and Barbara Hoyle, or Narcissus ‘Giselle’, Anne Wright), or especially the winner of the Clarkson Trophy for best Ranunculaceae (Chris Lilley’s stunning dark blue Hepatica japonica) would have been adjudged deserved recipients of the premier award. Instead the judges chose John Dixon’s magnificent Dionysia tapetodes, of noble proportions and seamless, unbroken flower.

This peerless species was also involved in the parentage of the winner of the Duncan Lowe award for the best ‘small’ pot, Dionysia ‘Inka Gold’ (Mark Childerhouse), a Michael Kammerlander cross which also involved D. odora. This compact hybrid flowers a penetrating golden yellow. On the subject of Dionysia, it was a great pleasure to welcome again the Afghan D. freitagii (Geoff Rollinson). The ‘strawberries and cream’ flowers, resting on the cushion have been seen infrequently at shows in recent years, and I am told only a handful of growers still hold stock of this wonderful species which is particularly unlikely to be reintroduced.

Lest the preceding words give a false impression, I must emphasise the impact that bulbous species had on this show. Blue scillas were much to the fore, notably the excellent Scilla x allenii ‘Fra Angelico’ (Don Peace), such a well-behaved clone on the bench, which cannot be said for all its kin. Two exhibitors have raised many excellent new bulbous hybrids which have performed well at shows and which many other growers are anxious to trial!

I have written before of Don’s splendid hybrids and backcrosses involving Fritillaria pinardii and F. aurea. On this occasion I was particularly taken with Fritillaria ‘Lentune Eyecatcher’, well-named as the flowers have dazzling stripes of chocolate and mustard. Don also won with a superb pan of Fritillaria carica with 35 flowering stems.

Anne Wright’s stable of pedigree dwarf Narcissus hybrids is of even longer standing. She presented an impressive array, including two N. triandrus x N. cantabricus petunioides crosses (AW4216 and 4236), raised in 2014, which particularly took the eye.

Many onlookers mentioned Narcissus ‘Sweet Petite’, well named, a delightful bicolor of truly miniature proportions, resulting from a cross between N. rupicola and N. ‘Second Fiddle’ which appeared in two classes. This dates back to a cross made in 2008. Narcissus ‘Coo’ (N. bulbocodium tenuifolius x N. cyclamineus) was yet another of her noteworthy hybrids.

Two saxifrages particularly caught my eye. I still recall seeing Saxifraga pulchra growing on the vertical limestone cliffs immediately above the upper Gan-ho-ba near Lichiang in northern Yunnan. It has always proved very slow and tricky in cultivation, so it was a great treat to see a small plant just coming into flower (Mark Childerhouse). A very attractive white-flowered Porophyllum saxifrage was labeled ‘S. georgii x’ (Frank and Barbara Hoyle). It seems that this developed from a self-sown seedling found in a purchased pot of Saxifraga georgii. Somewhat resembling Saxifraga ‘Coolock Gem’, but with longer flower stems, this appeared to be a promising new clone which deserves a name.

Show Reporter: John Richards
Show Photographer: Don Peace