Virtual Alpine Flower Show Winners

Many thanks to all those that made the Virtual Alpine Flower Show, run by the Alpine Garden Society, the success that it was. Special thanks go to Razvan Chisu, Rob Amos and David Charlton who ensured the process ran smoothly behind the scenes.

From difficult, tiny, intractable gems, to big, blousey mature clumps, the range of images received show the popularity of this group of plants. The number and quality of these entries made this a very difficult show to judge and highlighted that there are obviously a lot of talented growers out there. Perhaps your fairly new to growing alpine plants and have liked what you have seen. If you want to see more, then there’s no better way of seeing them ‘in the flesh’ at one of our national shows.

And the winners are:

Group of plants entries

Facebook: Cliff Booker – garden view. A lot going on here, a nice mix of colour and structure showing maturity.

Instagram: Celia Sawyer – Featuring Penstemon newberryi and Haberlea rhodopensis. A lovely colour combination, both showing good condition and maturity. Each would have been in with a shout as ‘whole plant’ entries.

Twitter: Glenn Bladon –  is a delightful collection of Lewisia in a trough. Our judge liked the way the back wall had been cleverly softened by using the alpine clematis

close-up entries

In this class, its desirable that the image is sharp and key features are shown, making identification unmistakeable.

Facebook: Philip Duplock – Pulsatilla ‘Budapest Blue seedling’. Photographed at just the right time, the pollen just breaking out, the stamens glistening along with the crystalline petals. Gorgeous.

Instagram: David Carver – Convolvulus boissieri. A nice coloured form of this species, which can be anything from white through pink coloured. The ‘frame’ of shiny, silver leaves around the perfect flower makes this unmistakable.

Twitter @oxalisdot – Oxalis ‘Clarence Knight’. Not sure about the name of this one, Oxalis ‘Clarence Knight’ has a blue hue to it which I can’t see on this. Looks a lot like O.‘Ione Hecker’ but I may be wrong. No matter the name, this was a stand-out entry, worthy of its victory

Whole plant entries

Facebook: John Dower – Saxifraga longifolia hybrid ‘Dumpy’. The pick of the bunch for me, not only in this section but deserving of the title ‘Best in show’. This is an exceptionally evenly, well-flowered example of an easily growable alpine plant, either in a pot or in the open garden.

Instagram @olgasblommor – Iris flavissima. a synonym of Iris humilis, this is a plant from eastern Asia which has a reputation for not being the easiest to grow. Well deserving of its placing.

Twitter: Stephen Shelley – Campanula zanzegura. Can be fairly short lived but produces masses of seed so keeping it going is not a problem. A good image showing it at its best stage, plenty of flowers out, plenty to come.

And the overall winner of this Virtual Alpine Flower Show is John Dower with his Saxifraga longifolia ‘Dumpy’.
He won a copy of the Crevice Garden book, available to buy in our shop.