Exhibitors' Essentials #5

Innovation and new twists to traditional ideas. Auriculas are always popular at the shows and an Auricula Theatre is the oft used way of displaying them. Here, Pop's Plants of Wiltshire has taken this display form and given it a fresh twist by marrying it with the show's Silver Anniversary celebrations.

As a result, the display was chosen most days (if not all) as the winner for the People's Choice awards in the Floral Marquee category.

Exhibitors with all of my 5 essentials stand a very good chance of achieving #6: a gold medal. Here is Meet @ Malvern's as awarded by the multiple gold medal winning designer, Cleve West on our last day at the show :)

Exhibitors' Essentials #2

Attention to detail, dedication and infinite patience: here's just three of the hundreds of daisies Alex (one of the team of three designers) added to the Anniversary show garden's pristine turf by hand last week. Apparently one of the RHS judges tried his hardest to tug some of them out of the turf, failed and so declared they must be natural.

On Thursday the garden was open for vistors to stroll around and Alex had to cheerfully stand by as his two young children merrily ran and crawled all over the turf, picking many of the lovingly applied daisies as they went.

Update: Claire has written a piece on her blog about putting the show garden together with lots of great photos of the finished result :)

Site and specifications…

The observant of you would have already seen little snippets of information on our garden from as far back as February. This is extremely unusual for a show garden (even for the likes of Chelsea) which spring up and disappear in the period of a month, or less.

So, what on earth was Jim and his crew doing digging up the showground in the still snowy depths of winter?

This garden is a whopper – around 650 or so square meters. To put it into context, around double even the largest of plots at Chelsea. Large areas of the scheme were to be dedicated to turf, but even still, the footprint is immense.

Construction is always a bit of a bone of contention for show garden exhibitors. There is definitely something to be said for ‘temporary structures’ and frugal construction methods, but there is a fine line between building something economical and using a material to the best of it’s advantages and simply ‘mocking up’ too much and hoping it lasts even the five or so days of a show.

But this garden was to be a little different. This garden was to be built for public access and to survive not only the Malvern Spring Gardening Show but also the Three Counties Show and possible visits in between.

This garden will be alive and kicking from May until the end of June.

This is positively light years in the world of show gardens, and the construction has to be robust enough to cope with its long life, so Jim and his team began the initial construction in February, working odd hours around the wintry weather to get the garden on its way.

Back in the warmth of the offices, we were also looking at materials, albeit on screens and in catalogues. I cannot stress enough how important it is to request samples of materials before you specify them – something that looks lush on the pages could be rank in real life, and so a few little bits of paving were posted to us for approval.

The selection was made and the order placed.

Plants, done. Materials, done. Just got to build the thing now.

If only it was this simple…

Thanks for your latest Claire - not long until we see this for real folks!

Blankets…

Show gardens are hugely dependant on plants – this goes without saying really. Early shows (such as Malvern) are linked closely with what good old Mother Nature is doing in the first quarter of the year and plants you thought would be fine could easily be over in a warm spring or nowhere near in a cold one.

Snow? Then you really have to worry.

Longer dormancy periods, frost damage, even death. Spring show garden plants are not pals with old Jack Frost and his mate Frosty the Snowman, so you can imagine our despair as we gazed out of our windows onto blanket upon blanket of clean and crisp snow.

But there was still time to go. The snow would clear (eventually) and we would be able to assess some of the damage.

I tend to shut myself into a semi state of dormancy over the winter, and I could see no real reason why any of our selected plants would ever want to wake up at all, let alone for the beginning of May.

Would we have any plants at all?

This is the second of Claire's latest about the development of the Anniversary Show Garden. Tune in tomorrow for part 3...

Like kids in a sweet shop…

Claire has sent in 3 quick updates to her Anniversary Show Garden blogging. Here's the first and the rest will follow over the next couple of days...

Starting a planting plan is like collecting together a really nice set of friends for a lengthy chat or maybe even a dinner party. WE have our favourite people, but there are other things that need consideration. Who will sit best next door to another? How can we get interesting conversations going? A large character may not be best next to a delicate soul, but would this combination be an unusual one which could work?

And so it goes on.

But what makes it even harder, is that Alex has his preferred plant friends, as does Jim and as do I. Our palettes say as much about where we work and how we work as our individual styles. Yet again, we were faced with the design team challenge – could we combine all of our loves (and indeed, dislikes) into one cohesive planting list?

I made a list and trundled up to see Alex. He had also made a list. Some mutual friends were kept immediately, others were sent packing with their tails between their legs. An hour of ticks and strikes and the list was a little shorter, but nowhere near the neat and tidy planting scheme our modern and conceptual design demanded.

A telephone conference to Jim and more were added and discarded. A pattern was emerging and after another ruthless cull, we were all happy with the way the scheme was progressing.

But it is all well and good having a wish list – it is a completely different matter which will be wanting to do their thang like well behaved school children at the time of the show.

And with a cold winter on the cards, how would our selection fare?

Concepts and Scribbles…

The build phase for the show gardens officially started yesterday, so Claire Potter's latest installment about the Anniversary Show Garden is timely indeed...

The meeting went well. We had formulated a small brief, a large wish list, bantered about some ideas and eaten some very tasty sandwiches and mini cakes. Meetings are always better when taste buds are stimulated.

It was decided by the collective that Alex and I would begin the design process as we represented two thirds of the design team and both lived on the borders of East and West Sussex.

The drive back from that first meeting was fantastic – three hours of chatting and discussing the possibilities in more detail and by the time Alex and I reached the familiar sight of the South Downs, we were both confident that we knew where we were going.

But every designer is different. Even having similar thoughts might not translate into similar concepts, and our designs were always destined to be completely separate entities. How could we, and would we be able to combine both of our ideas into one design? And then what would happen when everyone else added their input?

Back at the studio I sat in front of my drawing board, fully equipped with a brain full of ideas, some pens, tracing paper and far too many biscuits. A few hours and a small pile of crumbs later, my blank sheets had been converted into a map like jumble, showing trains of thought, sketches, web links, key words and patterns. I was quite happy with the brain pouring, but how was Alex’s brain pouring going?

The next meeting was arranged and (quite nervously) I drove up country to Alex’s studio to discuss the ideas.

Tea was made and I seem to remember that biscuits and cupcakes made an appearance. We both sat down and spread our scribbles onto the table.

Similarities could be seen, sketches followed the same brain trail as the next and full of relief, we both realised that the joint design process might actually work quite well.

More scribbling, tea and discussions followed, and after a couple of hours I drove home to rejig the design, ready to combine my concept with Alex’s rejigged space in the wonder that is Computer Aided Design.

The bones were there, but what would the rest of the team think of our efforts?
The first concept design was sent to the whole design team, and Alex and I waited for the comments. Were we on the right track?

Marvellous stuff Claire, thank you. If you missed her first installment, then here it is...

The setting of the scene…

Show gardens are very funny creatures. They take enormous amounts of energy and attention to the smallest detail. You have to be able to speak to landscaping contractors, schedule deliveries, source both plants and the most random of items and still be able to pull it all together at the end to enthral the public at an event which passes in the blink of an eye. And don’t get me started on the stress that is the judging.

So with all that to deal with, why do designers subject themselves to the ordeal?

Sometimes it is because you have a spectacular idea you cannot allow to sit and fester on the desk any longer. Sometimes you have a bee in your bonnet about a subject and want to educate through design.

Sometimes you have such a wonderful team to work with that you cannot pass up the opportunity. And so it is with us and the collective brought together for the Malvern Spring Gardening Show 2010.

The Three Counties Agricultural Society are wonderful people to work with – highly passionate about what they and others do – the ideal clients. They understand what it takes to put on the show, the importance of excellent horticulture and they are open to new ideas. Very rarely do you have such an open client team who really want to challenge both your own design skills and the boundaries that have been seen in past years.

And the rest of the design team, well, we sort of know each other from past shows, and being such diverse designers and characters, we were confident that each of us could bring a different viewpoint to the table.

And so the scene was set. Alex Bell Garden Design, James Steed of Outdoor Living Space and myself from Claire Potter Design as the central design team, supported other Malvern devotees such as Martin Clark Trees and Chris Greenwood from Poultry Park.

But would so many heads be better than one, or would too many designers spoil the broth?

To be continued... [Well, it is according to Claire's email when she sent this: it's entitled Guest Post 1 - Ed :)]

Donate to NGS and Win a Yellow Book!

It's Malvern Show's Silver Jubilee this year and as part of their celebrations they're supporting the marvellous National Gardens Scheme (NGS). There'll be fundraising events such as an auction during the show and I thought it would be great if we here at Meet @ Malvern also supported their efforts. Anna is working out how a plant/seed/book swap can be fitted into our get together and I've put up a Just Giving button up on the sidebar for anyone who'd like to donate to the cause. If you can't make Malvern this time, it would be a good way of wishing us well.

Joe Swift (whom many of you know already as one of the Three Men Went to Mow) is NGS President and has kindly sent us this message explaining what it's all about:

The National Garden scheme is simply the most wonderful charity for garden lovers. It's so simple - The NGS annual publication 'The Yellow book' contains around 3,600 gardens up and down the country which open when they are at their peak. The average price is £3 for a garden visit, which I think is extremely good value and most of them also put on fabulous teas with home made cake, adding possibly the most important element to the days experience! The NGS is the biggest single fundraiser for MacMillan and Marie Curie [2 of our major cancer support charities - Ed] and it just goes to shows what can be achieved when garden lovers pulls together.

As you all know blogging is an immediate and extensive form of communication so I want all you garden bloggers out there to do your bit and spread the word of the NGS. Try and get all your readers to visit at least one yellow book this year and hopefully we can raise more than the staggering £2.5 million which was raised last year.

Blogtastic.

Thanks so much

Joe Swift (NGS President)

NB Anne and Victoria who will be joining us at Meet @ Malvern are opening their gardens under the Scheme in July and August respectively. Two perfect excuses for us to take Joe up on his challenge of visiting at least one NGS garden this year. I'll put up details of those near Malvern open around the Spring Show weekend in a later post.

Joe has also kindly donated a couple of Yellow Books (as shown above) - I'll enter all of you making a donation into a prize draw to win a copy. Gardenersclick have also given us some T-shirts, which you could opt to have instead: an excellent alternative for those of you unable to make use of the book.

So don't delay - click on the button in the sidebar and make your donation!

[Seriously cropped - Ed] photo of Joe Swift courtesy of James Alexander Sinclair.

Showtime: A Sneak Preview

We've still to clarify a couple of details with the ticket deal, so until Helen is able to announce everything ASAP, I thought you'd like a sneak preview of the Anniversary show garden which Claire has been collaborating on with 2 other designers. The turf was broken a couple of days before our visit last Thursday and the first foundations laid. Claire will be guest posting later to tell us more about the garden and how a collaborative project works, but in the meantime you might like to have a look at this design drawing from the Malvern Show website.

It was quite strange to be at the showground and not surrounded by stalls and various marquees and tents and to realise just how vast the site actually is. This is the view to the Malvern hills from outside the main office on a cold, drizzly February day. There's still some snow left on them thar hills.

And this is the view from the show garden across to the entrance through which I usually come into the show. The green buildings to the centre right are some of the cattle sheds Edith mentioned in her guest post. Click to enlarge the picture if needed. It'll be sooooo different when you're there in May :)

Update 04/03: Claire has started her diary about the show garden's progress over at her blog :)

Malvern Memories: All the Fun of a Country Fair

This is a real blogging discovery! When Victoria wrote about coming to Malvern a couple of weeks ago, little did she know her post would be read by someone who'd visited the first ever show 25 years ago. As a result of this marvellous coincidence, Edith Hope has kindly agreed to write a guest post for Meet @ Malvern about her memories of that time...

Aunt Winifred lived on Jubilee Drive in Upper Colwall, near Malvern. She later died an untimely death in Italy, but that is another story. What matters here is that she gardened, and gardened with a passion, and that it was through her that I came to know so many of the small nurseries and open gardens in and around that lovely Elgar countryside.

In the spring of 1985 I was with her, as was usual, for my annual visit. What was different was that that year saw the first Malvern Garden Show held on the site of the Three Counties Showground, a flat expanse of land lying in the shadow of the Malvern hills.

We went on the Friday which, I think, was then the first day. Certainly Aunt Winifred would not have countenanced the weekend crowds. Car parking was, I am fairly sure, free, cars being parked in random fashion in adjacent fields. I wish that I could recall what we paid for our entrance tickets [no pre-booking, no on-line then], but time eludes me now.

In that first year there was little to be seen outside, the majority of the stall holders housed within the gaunt cattle sheds with their huge sliding doors open to whatever the weather. Inside, ranged all around the outer walls, was a plantsperson's paradise. Local, and not so local nurseries were well represented, each one highly individual in both its display and stock. For, it should be remembered here, that in those days this was a provincial show, unheard of nationally and not yet affiliated to The Royal Horticultural Society.

But what treasures. Here was Rushfields of Ledbury*, an immaculate stand, beautifully presented, and displaying and selling [for unlike Chelsea, this was, and is, a selling show] all manner of rare and unusual perennials. And for me this was the start of a long and happy association with that nursery right up until the retirement of JH, its redoubtable owner, a few years ago. Then there was KD of Lingen Nursery**, an alpine specialist, whose tiny gems were as alluring as sweets in a sweet shop to a young child. From Derbyshire came Bluebell Nursery with a dazzling array of uncommon trees, shrubs and climbers. Are they still in business today, I wonder?

Show gardens were non-existent. In a more permanent building, a short walk away over rough terrain, we came upon the Floral Hall, although I think the title is mine, where the local Women's Institutes had put on an exhibition of flower arrangements, fruit, vegetables and jam. All very homely. I do recall in this building some refreshments but possibly little more than a cup of tea or instant coffee taken with a bun. We did, though, as most years subsequently, purchase a cheesecake, in the 1980s very fashionable, from the Dairy House of Herefordshire.

And so it was. The local town show. Unhurried, uncrowded, uncommercial. But that was all in another lifetime, now a quarter of a century ago.

Editor's notes:

* = Rushfields may still be trading. It's listed in a number of business directories for Ledbury, but doesn't have web presence of its own. Graham Rice lists it as a purveyor of choice perennials, particularly Hellebores derived from stock bred by Helen Ballard. It so happens that the north border of the accommodation where myself, Victoria, Yolanda, Gail and Frances are staying is where Helen Ballard developed her renowned H. orientalis strains.

** = Lingen Nursery in Herefordshire has ceased trading and the property is now up for sale. It's a rather attractive red brick house with a good portion of land. It looks like the nursery buildings - polytunnels, cold frames and raised beds - are still intact, so perhaps it's the ideal property for a wannabe nursery owner?