Spring 2019

Head on over to Veg Plotting for her report of her Return to Malvern and 2019's Spring Festival...

A return to the autumn show

It's a while since I attended the Autumn show and it was well worth the wait until last Saturday as I thoroughly enjoyed my day there. A gin-clear sky and warm sunshine meant the hills made a glorious backdrop to the day's events.

The horticultural content may be lower than the spring show, but there was still more than enough to see. Floral excellence was to the fore in its new dedicated marquee and there were plenty of informative talks in the adjacent tent. I particularly enjoyed the garden version of 'Just a Minute' with subjects supplied by the audience. Much laughter flowed from the ensuing discussion and banter by James Alexander Sinclair, Alys Fowler, Joe Swift and Gyles Brandreth.

Malvern celebrates the harvest, with its own dedicated tent and the world of giant vegetables in particular. Half a dozen world records were broken this year, one twice in the space of 5 minutes. Another was broken by one grower who used the seed given to him by the previous record holder. He looked a little bemused on Sunday's Breakfast News, but that may have been due to the vagaries of live outside broadcasting.

There aren't any show gardens in autumn, though there are permanent gardens at the showground if you need that particular fix. Instead an opportunity is taken to display the fruits of the season, especially as Malvern is at the heart of England's top fruit activities. This was of particular interest as I have a few projects lined up for the coming years and I wanted to talk to the experts about them.

RV Roger deservedly won Best in Show with their exhibit of top fruit. They were also extremely helpful with all my questions about how to grow stepover apples. They highly recommend Lord Lambourne for this technique and so I duly added it to my list of potential varieties to grow.

I also took the opportunity to learn more about perry pears by going on a walk around the wider Three Counties showground. The national collection used to be held there, but has since moved to the aptly named Hartpury (reportedly meaning hard pear). Jim Chapman displayed 90 varieties from the new national collection and I giggled when I saw one is called 'Gin'.

There are still some perry trees to be seen in the grounds and I found I'd actually parked my car under one of them. We also tried one of the pears picked from a tree on our walk... rather hard and bitter tasting at first, with the familiar pear taste to finish. Back in the Orchard tent, the local perries tasted much finer!

I also took the opportunity to conquer a long held fear, but that story deserves a post of its own...

Help create a show garden

Usually the only chance we get to interact with show gardens and their makers is by admiring them at the shows. This year is different as we are all invited to make a knitted contribution to one of the most intriguing and heart warming displays set fair for this year's RHS Malvern Spring Festival.

There's going to be a knitted garden, created to raise awareness of and funds for the Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice in Gloucestershire. Clare Young - the garden's creator - took up knitting to manage her own grief after losing her husband Ken, who was cared for at the hospice. The items she created raised funds, and then after she and a group of friends yarnbombed a thank you to the hospice, she was invited to create a garden for Malvern.

Clare aims to raise £50,000 from her garden and to help her do so, she is asking for contributions of knitted and crocheted hearts. Take the link to find out more about her Work of Heart Garden, plus further links to the pattern.

I'll be making a heart or two and I look forward to seeing the completed piece at the show!

Wordless Wednesday: Paeonia lactiflora 'Avalanche'

From Primrose Hall Nursery

Spring 2016

I loved the presentation of these contrasting auriculas, courtesy of Drointon Nurseries 

Once again the RHS Malvern Spring Festival has excelled itself this year, topped by the best weather in my 10+ years of visiting the show.

There are plenty of delights - too many for one blog post - so Meet at Malvern presents... a round up of all the ones I've found so far. Let me know if you find any others.

• Grandma's Eco Gardening Notes - To the Hills Again - show preview
• Jack's Blog - Photos from RHS Malvern Spring Festival
• Meet at Malvern - Wordless Wednesday: Paeonia lactiflora 'Avalanche'
• Patient Gardener - RHS Malvern Spring Show 2016
• Sign of the Times - Friday Bench: Graduate Gardeners
• The Chatty Gardener - RHS Malvern Spring Festival - show preview... and Reflections on RHS Malvern Spring Festival and RHS Malvern in Pictures - the aspects which caught Mandy's eye
• The Cynical Gardener - Plant buying and fake fungi
• The English Garden - 5 Things we love from RHS Malvern Spring Festival
• Veg Plotting - In Praise of the Festival Theatre - an aspect of the show which is often overlooked (except when Arabella Sock and Happy Mouffetard are there)
• Veg Plotting - The Lost World of Capability Brown - some research surprises unearthed as part of this year's Capability Brown 300 celebrations
• Vergette Gardens - Malvern Spring 2016 - fantastic pictures of the show gardens, proving it's worth getting up early to take them

See you in the autumn? Show dates are 24th and 25th September.

Spring 2015

Constraining Nature by Kate Durr - Best in Show in the Festival Gardens category

Malvern gets better each year and this weekend's spring show was no exception. There were more gold medals than ever, including this amazing garden by show garden first-timer and trainee garden designer Kate Durr.

The pink tulips are 'Caresse' which has been adopted by the charity Ucare. Kate chose to support this Oxfordshire based cancer charity which raises funds to support urology research and raise awareness of urological cancers.

As usual I'm using this post to gather those blog posts I find about this year's show:

• Blackberry Garden - Preview of RHS Malvern Spring Show, plus news of her visit to the show - Part 1 and Part 2
• Patient Gardener - Show Gardens - Some Highlights
• Sign of the Times - Grow and Friday Bench: The Perfect Commute 
• Stephen Studd Photography - Are You Sitting Comfortably?
• Sue's Bluebell Cottage Gardens and Nursery Blog - Plant List for Malvern Show
• Tales from Awkward Hill - RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2015
• The Enduring Gardener - The Marvels of Malvern
• The Room Outside - Malvern Spring Festival 2015 and The Main Show Gardens
• Veg Plotting - Mediterranean Malvern
• Vergette Gardens - Looking at Malvern 2015

The Autumn show is on September 26 and 27th - see you there?

Wordless Wednesday: I See You Baby