On Show - On Stage ....

The Malvern Hills provide the perfect backdrop
to the Malvern Spring Gardening Show

Theatre is very much in evidence at the Malvern Spring Gardening Show. Look around you, and you will see how carefully and lovingly everything is staged. Nothing haphazard, nothing left to chance. From the backdrop of the stunning hills, to the immaculate presentation of nursery displays in the Floral Marquee to the innovative and inspiring Show Gardens. Even to the way tools and gardening equipment and sundries are displayed, everything is all so very carefully stage-managed. Breathtaking. 

If it weren't for all the visitors, you would think you were in an alpine rock garden

Regular visitors will know that expert advice is always available from stall holders, whether it is how to grow a specific plant to perfection, or how to nurture edible crops. For general advice, RHS staff on the Royal Horticultural Society stand are a mine of information on both mundane and esoteric topics; pick their brains; their help is invaluable, as I have discovered personally more than once. The enjoyment factor is much in evidence with knowledgeable experts to inform and entertain. Scheduled talks and question and answer sessions will feature throughout the fours days within TWO theatres – both with alluring ‘sets’ to beguile you - created by established garden designers. As I write, the designs are still under wraps but are sure to be as amazing as ever. 

Mark Walker (left) alongside his 'Somerset Pride' show garden, 
for which he received a 'Best Edible Garden' award in 2011 
- presented to him by Mike Warner, TCAS Chairman of the Board
and Elizabeth Banks, RHS President

A facelift is being given this year to the ‘Allotment Theatre’ in the Gardeners’ Shopping Pavilion  (on Row 2), with a theme of ‘Dig for Prosperity’ and a garden to match, designed by Mark Walker of Walker's Garden Retreats. Mark is no stranger to Malvern - his ‘Dig for Victory’ garden at the 2012 Autumn Show was a show-stopper, as was his 'Somerset Pride' (above) in 2011, for which he was awarded 'Best Edible Garden' and an RHS Silver-Gilt medal. Both gardens were overwhelmingly nostalgic, with such attention to detail, that I just wanted to stand and stare and drink it all in. 'Somerset Pride' depicted a rural farmyard setting with the use of authentic rustic materials - a trade-mark of Mark's garden designs. As a sneak preview for his 2013 theatre design, Mark says, “Grange Cottage is closely based on my mum’s childhood home in Oddingley, near Droitwich, where they grew veg, had chickens and worked the local land. We believe every garden has a story to tell, and its purpose for the allotment theatre is for talks on all things veggie, chickens and horticulture in general.”

Mark Diacono last Autumn, 
discussing culinary herbs 
with Kim Hurst of
The Cottage Herbery

Hosting all the entertainment in the ‘Allotment Theatre’ will be Reg Moule, gardening guru for BBC Hereford & Worcester. Reg comes from a family that has been involved in horticulture for several generations, and before this they were all farmers, back to the 1740s. So he knows his stuff. As does Mark Diacono who will be joining him at specified times every day. Mark D. says, “I am lucky enough to spend most of my time eating, growing, writing and talking about food. At my smallholding, Otter Farm in Devon, I grow unusual and forgotten food along with the best of the more familiar.” 

James Alexander-Sinclair (left, nearest camera) hosts
a question-and-answer session in 2012 in the 
'Plants & People Theatre'

As for the spectacular and tented ‘Plants & People Theatre', this is where you can listen to, and meet, more celebrities, each with a widespread knowledge on a number of subjects. The theatre seats fill fast, so check your show guide when you arrive for exact times, and grab a coveted front-row spot for some fantastic live entertainment. Your compères during the four days will be the elegant and amusing James Alexander-Sinclair, an established garden and landscape designer, writer, television presenter and speaker.

Katie Johnson in the 
P&P theatre

And when James is not on stage, sit back and enjoy the friendly interviews conducted by Katie Johnson, a farmer turned broadcaster and writer, and also a presenter at food, drink, and gardening events. 

Carol Klein, 
vivacious and ebullient

Specific and more general topics have yet to be announced, but you won’t want to miss either Chris Beardshaw on Thursday and Friday or Carol Klein on Friday and Saturday. Both are highly entertaining and of course, expert. Carol works as a television presenter and newspaper columnist and will be familiar to TV viewers of Gardeners’ World and Life in a Cottage Garden (her own).

Chris Beardshaw talking to a group of schoolchildren

Chris Beardshaw is also well-known to TV viewers, with a pedigree that includes BBC Two’s Hidden Gardens and The Flying Gardener, amongst many others. (Remember him leaping in and out of a helicopter?) He is also a regular voice on the weekly Radio 4 Gardeners' Question Time panel and will be joining the team at Scotland’s Beechgrove this Spring,  putting his unique horticultural mark on the garden. But Chris is also passionate about passing on his love of horticulture to youngsters, and at the Show on Thursday he will be involved in the theatre with a children’s presentation.

“All the World’s a Stage,” wrote Shakespeare in 'As You Like It' in 1599, “and all the men and women merely players”. Mere players? Everyone involved with the Malvern Spring Gardening Show is dedicated to staging an event ‘par excellence’. 

Don’t miss it. 

Why not book your tickets now?

AND PLEASE ‘KEEP VISITING’: I’ll be blogging again in two weeks time, but meanwhile, I recommend regular clicks onto the Spring Gardening Show website for regular updates and more breaking news.

WHY NOT ALSO TAKE A LOOK AT THESE PAGES, TOO?  (Just click on the links)


Malvern Spring Gardening Show
Love our Shows, Like our Page - Facebook.com/threecounties
Malvern Autumn Show

A Show with Feeling

Quintessentially English is the wild foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), which this year symbolises the Malvern Spring Gardening Show – and the Malvern Hills themselves. Come the actual Show (from 9th to 12th May) they will be flowering on the steep slopes, and down sequestered lanes of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Displayed on Show posters and leaflets, their presence speaks of late-Spring, and Summer-to-come; and on the Showground, too, their pink spires will remind us of lazy days cycling in rural places, as I did as a child.

Foxgloves in a
Malvern  showgarden

Their flowers beguiled me (and still do) – as a little girl, I would collect the fallen tubular blossoms, each speckled in their throat, and place them upside down on my fingertips. A handful of the countryside, and many childhood memories; and, without realising it, a life-long love of plants. So often, what you learn as a child stays with you forever.

The new Three Counties Agricultural Society chief uses pedal power

Pedalling allows one to absorb so much more of one’s surroundings, and by now, the new Three Counties Agricultural Society chief, Ken Nottage, is proving that pedal power is just the ticket, when it comes to circumnavigating his new working domain. Ken, who officially took the helm at the Society’s Three Counties Showground  on December 1st, is not fazed by the 90 acre perimeter site at the foot of the Malvern Hills, and is literally getting on his bike – astride a fully restored 1957 Royal Enfield. He said: “I was reading a copy of  ‘Three Into One’ – John Lewis’s excellent chronicle of the Society - and was amused to read that years ago, a former company secretary carried out his ground inspections astride a pony! I was inspired to follow suit, but with no equine prowess to my name, opted for an arguably safer, and definitely less temperamental, mode of transport. This is a beautiful place to work, but it’s also a large area to cover on foot, so a bike is a great way of getting from A to B quickly, without polluting the fresh air.”

It's easy to find your way around

How I wish I could give all first-timers to the Spring Gardening Show a quick guided tour by bike, a leisurely and gentle introduction to all that you will find once you arrive; but instead will outline what I term the four main ‘quadrants’, each with a distinct characteristic. The Showground is divided by hard-surfaced roadways – Rows and Avenues, and all sections are clearly signposted with large-scale maps at most intersections. Avenues run north to south, parallel with the Malvern Hills (good for orienting yourself), and Rows run from east to west. Stand in your imagination (map in hand) at the junction of Avenue 5 and Row 5 (Elgar Avenue) facing the hills:

Bikes are 'in' this year!

The quandrant to your right is ‘home’ to the RHS/TCAS Members’ Pavilion, The Severn Hall and the new Three Counties Centre, the RHS Botanical Art Exhibition), the Bandstand, Show Office, Artisan Food Market, excellent trade stands, and lots of catering venues.

Ahead of you will be the magnificent ‘Malvern Floral Marquee’ and to your left, Plant Pavilions galore (many are specialist nurseries); undercover, the Avon Hall (floral art`), the Gardeners’ Shopping Pavilion and Allotment Theatre, the Wye Hall – home to plant societies, food and wine stalls, and the Three Counties Guild of Craftsmen’. Plus the Eco Art & Garden area and innumerable trade stands related to horticulture.

The Plants & People Theatre always draws a large audience

Swivel on the spot with the Hills at your back and walk slowly away from then down Row 5. To your immediate right is the ‘Country Living magazine Pavilion’ and lots more useful trade stands.

One of many excellent School Gardens:  the children are so knowledgeable, and keen to talk to visitors

Whilst to your left (with your back to the Hills) are the eclectic School Gardens, the Learning Garden and Discovery Zone and Spring Gardens Coffee Court and then – across Row 7 the Show Gardens (including the Themed Garden category inspired by the Tour de France), RHS Life, an Art Market and the Plants and People Theatre. So much to absorb, so many activities, and in my next posts (during March), I will be describing some of these in more detail as news emerges. Click on all the links to keep up-to-date with all that is happening. 

Hello!

On the road to the Malvern Spring Gardening Show

What could be more exciting than setting out for Malvern, early on a Spring morning, the trees newly-budded and bluebells in the hedgerow verges? The buzz of excitement as you approach the busy Showground, wondering what the day will bring. Knowing that so much awaits you, no matter what your field of interest.

"We've each just bought the perfect plant!"

Is it that ‘must-have’ plant that you haven’t even seen yet? (It happens to us all, and many of us arrive with collapsible trolleys at the ready.) Or maybe some of the stunning collection of glorious Show Gardens – watch out for bicycles, for the theme this year, amongst others, is the ‘Tour de France’. How will talented designers interpret this cycling theme?  Or would you prefer sitting in the Show Garden Theatre listening to talks from celebrity specialists such as Carol Klein, Chris Beardshaw or Mark Diacono? Or searching for garden sundries, ornaments, a new greenhouse – or a rotavator to dig the allotment! Elegant clothes, perhaps, or just a wonderful day in the open air, away from it all. There’s so much crammed into this beautiful showground, and no matter what the weather, the hills cast their spell every time. Sit in the sunshine or stroll through the huge floral plant marquee. Whether you visit in a ‘garden club’ group, as a family, alone, or with a partner or friend, be assured that you’ll want to return. 

Now, the purpose of this blog is to bring you regular updates on what is planned, how the various aspects are progressing, and tips for making the most of your day’s visit.  A copy of the catalogue is sent a week before the Spring Show to anyone who has booked advance tickets, allowing you to plan your visit at leisure. Click HERE for ticket sales. But before you do, why not consider a complete break and plan to come every day: book into a local B&B, or local campsite if you are a caravan or motorhome owner. You can really cover all aspects of the Show and the whole Showground if you do so at you leisure.

The Plant Pavilions are always doing a roaring trade
 - and deservedly so

If you are a regular visitor, you will already be aware of what to expect, and where to seek what you are looking for; but ‘newcomers’ might find it all a bit bewildering. As I did on my first visit. I have it down to a fine art now: with catalogue in hand, I make for one of the eating areas, or the theatre, somewhere to sit and thumb through the catalogue to prioritise what I want to do. I suggest you do likewise; it's time well spent.

An award-winning show garden from 2011 where all materials 
and plants were sourced by the designer travelling around 
the local countryside on her bike 

From plants to gazebos - there is so
much to discover at the Show

To whet your appetite: In forthcoming posts, I’ll be introducing you to the Three Counties Agricultural Society’s new Chief Executive, and over the coming weeks will also be telling you more about some of the Showground areas – and highlights to expect in what has become known as ‘the plants and people show’.

So please ‘KEEP VISITING’: I’ll be blogging again in two weeks time, but meanwhile, I recommend regular clicks onto the Spring Gardening Show website for regular updates and more breaking news.