Thunder, rain, plants, bargains AND a marriage proposal on stage!
Harrogate Spring Flower Show 2019 was notorious for its ‘lively’ weather, with torrential showers and a thunderstorm on the first day. However, the Harrogate crowd are a hardy lot. The weather didn’t stop anyone from snapping up must-have plants or bargains. I’ll be compiling slideshows of the Show Gardens, Plant Pavilion, Floral Pavilion and the outside stalls and shopping.
Floral Pavilion stars
To avoid the first showers, everyone flocked to the Floral Pavilion to admire the work of the talented regional and local NAFAS groups, clubs, colleges and floristry students.
My favourites this year were the large-scale displays of the colleges, based around album covers. Well done to Tyne Met College for winning Best in Show for their version of Muse’s The Resistance. Special mentions must go to East Durham College for The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine and Askham Bryan College’s Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd.
Also in this pavilion are the plant societies (where I added to my collection from the Yorkshire Geranium Society). In the spring flower competitions was this stunning white daffodil, Astrid Memory, grown by Geoff Gardener (main image).
Harrogate Spring Flower Show 2019 – Show Gardens results
Harrogate show gardens are lovely and not intimidating like the big RHS set pieces – they are translatable to ordinary plots. Top honours went to the charity Perennial. It won Premier Gold and Best In Show with a design celebrating its 180th anniversary. The Perennial Legacy Garden, designed by David Lewis, represented the organisation’s work in supporting people working in horticulture.
Gold Awards
- The Mental Health Garden by Jo Manfredi-Hamer Garden Design: Supported by LeedsMIND, this garden reflects mental health suffering and recovery.
- Urban Sprawl by Nicholas Edward Gardens: Designed in response to the pressures of urban development on green spaces.
- In Sight of the Minster by Askham Bryan College: A garden reflecting York. Box hedging represented the city’s walls, and a living wall depicted the Minster.
- The Shire by Horticap: Famed for their papier-mache models, the students, staff and volunteers tackle Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Watch out for Gandalf, who isn’t made of papier-mache!
Silver-gilt Award
- A Moment for You by KG Cooke and Dashiel Rowan: A simple, tranquil garden designed to demonstrate that even small spaces can be beautiful.
Silver Award
- The tranquillity of Bauhaus by Hadean-Creation: A tribute to Germany’s Bauhaus School of Architecture, including interlocking framed views to augment the light.
Harrogate Spring Flower Show 2019 – #kerbcouture Square Yards competition
Premier Gold and The Small Space Award
- Kerbal Remedy by Rachel Forbes Landscape Design: A flexible, moveable urban oasis in a basement courtyard at the foot of a fire escape or pavement frontage.
Gold Awards
- Pallet to Palette to Palate by Craven College and Ripon Walled Garden: The ultimate in recycled gardens, this space brings together more than 10 square yards for a movable feast.
- Down 2 Earth by Take Some Thyme: An urban refuge in a typical city back yard with pots and raised beds that can be changed to reflect the season.
Silver-gilt Awards
- Carnivorous Waterfall by Wacks Wicked Plants and NicePonds: Water flows down over natural sandstone boulders into a basin of rocks and pebbles in a garden that is also home to carnivores.
- Santi by Morgan’s Estate Management: A garden designed to create calm and tranquillity even in the smallest of spaces.
Harrogate Spring Flower Show 2019 – Plant Nursery Pavilion and Gardening Hall
The Plant Nursery Pavilion is always the place to admire how the professionals do it and get the chance to buy rare and unusual plants from the experts. There was a good turnout this year, and I added to my (unintentional) old school purchases, buying four hardy fuchsias from Potash Nursery – well, one was called Star Wars!
For the second year running, Kevock Garden Plants won the Horticultural Trade Displays Best in Show for a display of alpine, bog and woodland plants. The National Vegetable Society won Best in Show in the Special Educational or Scientific Interest Displays.
The Gardening Hall was home to the show’s theme, #kerbcouture, and very impressive it was too. Good to hear other visitors thought it looked the business, with decorated and planted up oil drums and even a car.
The Blank Wall Project
Askham Bryan College students, Craft Aid International and Yorkshire Garden Designs created tiny vertical gardens. Great ideas for those who don’t even have a back yard.
For more information about the latest spring or autumn shows and how to buy tickets, visit www.flowershow.org.uk.
