Cookery to the fore - an experience not to be missed

The Wot's Cooking purpose-built Cookery Theatre

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin. If you have never experienced a cookery demonstration organised and presented by the Wot’s Cooking team, then you have missed a truly memorable experience. For a start, husband and wife team Katie & Glyn Johnson have their own fully-equipped mobile demo kitchen: all mod cons and purpose-built to allow everyone in the audience to see and experience what is happening live, on stage. Whilst Katie ‘presents’, Glyn is  behind the scenes taking care of the ‘technicals’. Last Autumn, I was so captivated, I could have spent the entire Show watching and thinking food.

Presenter and compere,
Katie Johnson of Wot's Cooking

This year sees an even more eclectic programme - with the Wot’s Cooking theatre at the heart of the ‘Taste It’ section of the Show. Featuring a range of knowledgeable practising chefs (some appearing at Malvern for the first time), who could fail to be inspired by the delectable selection of specialties they will be showcasing?  You will need to check your Show Guide for exact times. Bookmark any of the following …

Watch bread being made in the Cookery Theatre, 
and then buy something fresh and tasty - 
there's such a selection from which to choose

Appearing twice on Saturday (27th) is Rob Swift of Swift’s Bakery from Clee Hill, whose family have been baking artisanal and speciality breads since 1863. Rob is fifth generation and passionate about the bread-making process and their wide range of finished products: white, wholemeal and brown, French, international, speciality, and a particularly tasty-sounding ‘healthy eating’ range. Rob’s demos are always fun, and afterwards you can visit their stall to stock up on whatever takes your fancy.

Liz Knight at last year's Show

Also twice on Saturday’s bill of fare is Liz Knight of Forage Fine Foods. She uses ingredients plucked from her garden and local Herefordshire hedgerows. What a pleasure to discover that you don’t necessarily require expensive ingredients to create a feast when what you need is right there on your doorstep. Liz makes flavours and special seasonal treats, loving the taste of wild ingredients and the thrill of discovering new combinations of flavours - her products are a celebration of the best of the wild, adding a new, wildly irresistible dimension to home cooking.

Always popular - take your seats in good time, ladies and gentlemen

Whilst compiling this preview, I learned from Katie Johnson that Chris von Landkammer - head chef at The Elms in Worcester, is the most widely travelled chef that she has ever engaged to work with. Not in terms of Malvern to Worcester (a mere hop) but from as far afield as New Zealand. If the hotel website is anything to go by, you’ll be in for a treat, for he infuses many of their delectable dishes with touches of Asian cuisine garnered from his experience in the Far East.  Using the freshest of ingredients, and fruit, herbs and vegetables from The Elms’ extensive kitchen garden, he conjures up a daily smorgasbord of fabulous meals. What will he offer us in the Wot’s Cooking kitchen?

Calling all vegetarians - oh so tasty (pumpkins to the fore)

For the vegetarians amongst you, Lizzy Hughes of  Our Lizzy Cooking - a Malvern-based vegetarian cookery school - will be there to entertain you on both Saturday AND Sunday. She enjoys using a wide range of locally grown seasonal produce and loves exploring new ingredients whilst developing new recipes. She says, “Autumn is my favourite time of year. I especially love trying out different pumpkins and squash as they work so well in vegetarian dishes.” At the show she’ll be demonstrating a three course Autumnal feast will a warming Roasted Pumpkin and Chilli Soup, Squash and Spelt Risotto, Hubbard Squash and Fava Bean Casserole. (Lizzy also loves using fruit and will show the traditional Malvern Pudding using apples from her own tree.)

Fish - a refreshing change?

Tom Court of Sticky Fig Catering will be appearing twice on Sunday (28th). Established in 2013, their services have grown to include event catering, from intimate dinners to large celebrations, to weddings and parties in the privacy of home. Their aim is to provide the best quality food and service at all events, creating memorable experiences for guests. Sticky Fig is committed to sourcing the best local and sustainable produce from local suppliers whist being mindful of budget. There are bound to be plenty of useful tips from this midlands-based chef who is used to cooking for clients or with them in their home kitchen.

From seed to plate: metres rather than food miles

Andy Link - the award winning head chef, gardener and bee keeper at The Riverside Inn, Amestery (a rural Herefordshire restaurant) - aims to create a true hub for local seasonal produce, showcasing the best the area has to offer. As part of this the chefs have developed over an acre of land to create traditional and experimental vegetable, fruit and herb gardens - which even include their own bee hive. These working kitchen gardens are an essential part of their facilities, offering chefs the opportunity to experiment with different ingredients and plant types, whilst introducing new flavours alongside a great level of freshness, The result?  Some dishes travel only metres, not miles.  Andy says that during the Malvern Autumn Show, he will be “discussing the sustainable way in which the restaurant uses this seed-to-plate approach to create a few seasonal, home grown plates of food using only ingredients from the restaurant grounds."

Oh the shame of it!
 Even journalists have to eat!

Watching food demos is hungry work, or at least one craves food afterwards, or at any time of the day. There are plenty of refreshments on offer around the Showground, clearly marked on the map that accompanies your Showguide. As these are all conveniently located, there’s no excuse for not stopping for a bite and a cuppa – indeed, your visit may well benefit from so doing when you arrive, allowing you time to glance through the Show Guide and formulate a plan of what you most want to do; Cookery Theatre timetable included. Familiarisation can save time and possible frustration, allowing you to pack far more into your day out.

All images are copyright - with thanks to all the photographers who have co-operated with me to produce this cookery preview.


Just to remind you: Show opening times on both days are 9.00am to 6.00pm and there’s a free shuttle bus from Great Malvern rail station. There's also no charge for standard car parking.  Book your Show tickets online, or phone the ticket hotline (01684 584924). More next week - so do bookmark this page.

Snapshots of the Royal - day one

Packed with visitors - and how marvellous to see so many 
school children - some may be inspired to work in farming

The former Three Counties Show - just granted the Royal seal of approval, and thus now known as the Royal Three Counties Show - has kicked off to a fantastic start. Royal status will almost certainly affirm its place as one of the top agricultural shows in Britain; the venue has in fact been a favourite with the Royal family since the early days on its permanent site at Malvern, with HM The Queen Mother visiting the first showground show in 1981. The Show’s new title acknowledges its contribution over two centuries to the promotion of breed development, commercial farming and food production, together with its efforts to create opportunities for “educational interface between farmers and consumers”.

The RBST has joined forces at the Show with NFU Countryside

Additionally, it is a grand day out for families from all over the region, and beyond, and allows those seeking to support rural endeavours the chance to do so. I have selected six organisations offering family-friendly advice and activities related to farming and the country side, and all of whom welcome the public’s interest. Starting with the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) – the leading national charity working to preserve the UK’s rare native breeds of farm animals and poultry from extinction. Become a member and you will be helping to support a vital genetic resource. Stand OS608

Farmers helping the countryside

The RBST have teamed up for this Show with NFU Countryside (also on Stand OS608) – a membership organisation for people who are passionate about rural life. The NFU supports farmers professionally of course, but the NFU also realised the tremendous appetite of consumers for farming news, and created a separate division, and magazine, specifically for those interested in food and farming, wildlife and gardening; plus country homes, dogs and horses. Reconnecting with a rural lifestyle and keeping rural traditions alive is top of the agenda for many Show visitors, so do take advantage of reduced membership fees when joining both organisations, an opportunity only available when subscribing over this weekend.

The CRT are establishing a network of demonstration farms

To my shame, I had not heard of the CRT – The Countryside Restoration Trust (and I had though I was completely au fait with most initiatives connected with farming and agriculture). The Trust is committed to promoting the importance of a living and working countryside through education, demonstration and community involvement. As such, it is establishing a network of demonstration farms across Britain, which, using sensitive farming methods, will show how to protect wildlife whilst producing good quality food and preserving our countryside for future generations. Launched 20 years ago in response to fears about over-intensified and industrialised farming, it now manages over 1,000 acres of land with properties throughout various counties. Become a friend of the Trust, to receive special invitations and details of guided farm walks, talks and other events.

Each of the above national organisations provide regular magazines as part of your membership fee.

Enjoying birdwatching at the RSPB's Lock Garten reserve

All visitors to the Show must surely be familiar with the RSPB – Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. As well as their many reserves open to the public,  they provide detailed information on planting gardens for birds and other wildlife. As urbanisation creeps into more and more gardens, those sympathetic to maintaining a viable eco-system, can help enormously; counteract the

And finally, the Malvern Hills Conservators are caretakers of over 3,000 acres of hills and commons and manage them for public benefit.  Directly relevant to the Showground as it sits below part of this magnificence and created a stunning and theatrical backdrop for any show. A distinctive range of peaks and gullies, the Malvern Hills (an AONB, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) comprise a number of diverse landscapes, rich in wildlife, flora and fauna – and with easy access. The aim of the Hills Conservators is to keep the land as close to nature as possible whilst keeping it as open space for public recreation and enjoyment.

Now to explore the rest of the Show - only two more days - today and Sunday 16th June - to do so.

Discover more at the exhibitor websites:

RBST: Rare Breed Survival Trust 

NFU: NFU Countryside 

CRT: The Countryside Restoration Trust

RSPB: Royal Society for the Protectionof Birds 

The Malvern Conservators:  www.malvernhills.org.uk

Spring Gardening Show Scrapbook - day one (Thursday)

What a setting - the Malvern Hills are a backdrop 
to this Show Garden

Scrapbooking a day late - by the time we had downloaded and sorted all the images we had taken, struggled with the wind and the rain and generally decided how I would create today's post, the light had gone. Today is calmer, and now bright and sunny.

Such a surprise !

I find it impossible to visit all areas of the Showground in one day - had I been solely visiting for my personal delight, I would have done as I advised in an earlier post and concentrated on a specific area. Fortunately, I am here for all four days so can pace my areas of enjoyment. (Today was actually my 'shopping fix'! But more of that tomorrow.)

Collage of some of today's photo-shoot

Show Gardens: seeing them actually finished, as opposed to watching how the various plots emerge from a piece of bare turf, was a revelation. I am not going to cover them all, but have picked our my favourites - your choice might be entirely different. I am personally not concerned about medals but look at any garden as a source of inspiration. Inspiration for more than our own acre, but for my sketchbooks and hand-made journals.

The BBC were filming in the rain yesterday

I have to admit to three favourites, each quite different in style and planting and each lovely to me for various reasons. It's surprising what will trigger a response when viewing any garden - here at Malvern, or at Shows large and small around the country. And as a visitor it often has nothing to do with evaluation, or size, or the amount of work that must have gone into the design, creation and build, but something that sparks the imagination, evokes a memory.

Nostalgia

Mark Eveleigh's 'Boathouse No.9' (page 24) has such a gentle simplicity about it, as Mark's gardens always have. A garden with atmosphere that grows out if its surroundings; as near to nature as a patch of ground can possibly be, with hedgerow shrubs, nettles and wild flowers; a clinker-built wooden dinghy gradually decaying. A haven for wildlife, and for me reminiscent of the walks I took as a young child with my grandmother in the early 1940s. Mark's boathouse has been created from an old gardener's shed that has stood overlooking the River Severn for the last 65 years. Props complete the feeling of a bygone age.

Back in Cornwall (via Malvern)

And then my teenage years and visits to Cornwall, continued in early married life, when my new husband and I visited so many gardens and drove around the countryside in an old Austin Seven. Such different scenery, so lush, and plants I had never then heard of. Paul Taylor of Alchemy Gardens sourced materials from Cornwall for his 'Room with a View' (page 27) which was inspired by the gardens at Trebah nestling within a valley near Falmouth. Both the 'real' Trebah and this recreation have a subtropical feel - indeed the contractors were so determined to feature the correct plants, they visited the gardens to check authenticity. The colours of the stone imported by the ton used are subtly beautiful, just as is the stone found on the Lizard. It's doubly poignant for me to feel I am back in Cornwall, as I am currently re-reading 'All the Day Long' by Howard Spring, set in a landscape so near to Trebah.

And so to France (also via Malvern)

And so to southern France and camping trips in olive groves, picnics down little side roads - a memory that instantly came to mind when I saw the build-up - and now the finished garden - of 'Reposer Vos Roues' (Rest your Wheels) which Villaggio Verde has created: a rustic cafe which has played host to professional cyclists for more that 100 years. Now an important  refreshment stop along the route of the Tour de France for riders and their teams. There's an interesting story to the age-old olive trees used to create this garden: they are re-cycled. Greek farmers are offered a subsidy to grub them up and replant with young, more productive stock - ordinarily they would be burned, but their reprieve means they have a further life, bringing joy to lovers of the Meditarranean, and to show garden visitors.

A glorious Spring arrangement

I have been back to all the 2013 Show Gardens many times since we arrived on Wednesday, but had not realised that in fact these three, coming together as they do this year, encapsulated three ages in my life - and I am almost back to my theatrical scenario, and Shakespeare's "seven ages of man". Tomorrow, my 'Shopping Fix around the Showground' (WiFi permitting).

Spring Gardening Show Preview - Reprise and Welcome

Sunny and breezy and marvellous to be  here again

Everyone and everything is ready, awaiting all the Show visitors who, in less than a fifteen minutes will be streaming through the gates, heading towards Show Gardens, Floral Marquee, the Plants & People theatre and trade stands galore.

Scrapbook collage of my first build-up visit

The build-up is over, the judging done. Wraps are removed from exhibits, the final tweak to plants and people; everyone is waiting to greet you. And oh, what a transformation, not only to the Show Gardens but all around the showground. I have just walked up to the Press Centre past rows of artisan local food producers (made my mouth water!); the hills are bathed in sunshine, and all is looking glorious.

More buildup images from the last two weeks ago

Here to delight those are visiting this blog for the first time is a Reprise - the four collages I posted on Facebook, brought together as an online scrapbook of the Show build-up period, or at least of the two days I visited the Showground.

And more ....

I hope my collage scrapbook will equally delight those who have kindly been following this blog - it has been a fascinating experience pulling it all together. 

And not forgetting the children who create 
the most amazing gardens, too
(these images are from last year; shortly awards will be presented
to the 2013 winning schools)

And now, as I start to blog live actually from the Showground, I have a dilemma: am I seeing it all through my authoring eyes, or as a visitor, perhaps someone here for the first time. Am I audience or backstage crew? (And I have my notebook and tiny sketchbook all ready, and a raincoat, just in case ....) I'll be back 'on stage' every day of the Show, with images of finished gardens, activities, and more of all that goes into making The Malvern Spring Gardening Show a wonderful experience.

Curtain Up (almost!)

Show Gardens in the making in the lee of the Malvern Hills
(all images were taken on Wednesday 1st May during
the build-up to the Malvern Spring Gardening Show)

As the final touches are put to show gardens and stands around the Three Counties Showground, I come to the end of my Spring Gardening Show previews. Thankyou for joining me on this journey, particularly if you have been with me from the beginning, back in the cold days of February; you’ve been a marvellous audience, if blog visitor numbers are anything to go by. Producing these posts has been a challenging experience;  and a real joy and privilege to have been leading you scene by scene through the various stages from imagination to reality.

Nostalgia appears in many forms

It’s been a strange adventure, too. Although I have posted so many times on various other blogs since I first discovered Malvern shows (in 2005), I have always felt on the outside, looking in; gradually, over the last twelve weeks, I have come to realise I am now on the inside, looking out. It has certainly changed my perception of what makes the Showground tick.

A long way to go yet -- but it will be ready on time

I walked around for quite a while on Wednesday (1st May), soaking it all in; the atmosphere, the busyness, the building of stands and show gardens, the camaraderie of everyone working together to bring you a magnificent Show. For first-time visitors it may appear bewildering as you walk through the gate; others may know exactly the direction in which they are heading, but you? I won’t take you by the metaphorical hand, but suggest instead that you head for one of the many coffee courts, relax for ten minutes or so and take a look at the show guide to get your bearings. With the spectacular hills behind you, orientate yourself … time well spent towards an enjoyable day.

This really IS - or will be - a Show Garden

Children participate as well

Waiting in the wings is this enormous cast of experienced and dedicated people, each with their own story to tell. There isn’t space to list them all, but the main features, with Show Guide pages to help you plan in advance, now follow:

Plants are delivered by the lorry load

* Show Gardens p22-37 (RHS awards and medals explained on page 123)
* Plants and People Theatre and programme of events (p47), highlights of which are outlined every day (Fri to Sun) at 10.30am by host James Alexander-Sinclair. (Thursday at 11.00am are the Malvern Young Gardener Awards)
* School Gardens and Education including the Discovery Zone and Theatreworks Arts Lab (p38-45)
* Malvern Spring Sportive Cycling Challenge - Sunday only (p49)
* Floral Marquee (7,000 square meters with more than 100 of the best nurseries from the UK and abroad (p53-61)

Just one section of the Floral Marquee - by 9th May it will be
crammed full of plant displays, plants for sale - and people
(don't forget your trolley, or buy one on site)

Indoor Halls & Pavilions:
* Wye Hall (p62-79) - Crafts and Craftsmen’s Guild displays; Garden Societies and Food Hall
* Gardeners’ Shopping Pavilion (p80-84)  - numerous stands PLUS ‘Dig for Prosperity’ (a new feature for 2013 highlighting the importance of creating a sustainable future for the countryside).
* Allotment Theatre (p86-87) located in the Shopping Pavilion and featuring an excellent programme of talks and demonstrations alongside ‘Grange Cottage’, a stage / garden.
* Avon Hall (p88) Floral Art.
* Three Counties Centre, Linden Suite (p89) – RHS Botanical Art Exhibition.
* Country Living Magazine Pavilion (p117-120) – an eclectic selection of stylish products from British independent designers, artisans and craftspeople.
* The RHS Stand (p50-51) – discover what the RHS can do for you: sharing knowledge and expertise, information on the various RHS initiatives such as Campaign for School Gardening; plus books and gifts.

Plants are appearing in the Show Gardens; soon all of them
will be planted to perfection

Outdoor Stands:
* ‘The Open’ (p93-115) – a huge variety of horticultural equipment, sundries and activities, plus nurseries (Plant Pavilions), plant crèche and porter service.
* Elgar Avenue (p106) – high-class shopping, alongside the RHS/TCAS members’ pavilion.
* Plaza Bandstand, by the Three Counties Centre, Row 7/Avenue F (p131) with performances by the seven-piece band Indigo Blues of vintage-style tunes inspired by jazz, blues and swing beats of yesteryear: each day between 1.30pm and 4.00pm. Sunday only (at 11..00am and 12.30pm), students from the Elgar School of Music will be playing their own blend of folk, jazz and world music.
* Catering facilities (p130) – are available throughout the Showground (indoors and outside).

Maybe you will spot me
around the Showground,
notebook in hand
scribbling or sketching.

As I write, the Show is still building. I will continue blogging during all four Show days, offering a kaleidoscopic scrapbook of Show news, activities and images. “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players, they have their exits and their entrances …..” (from As You Like It, Act II Scene VII). Hackneyed through over-use but still so very true, and nowhere more so than at The Malvern Spring Gardening Show. Everyone here, or visiting, is a part of it. We all hope you will enjoy your day in this most lovely of settings.

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

Love our Shows, Like our Facebook Page - Facebook.com/threecounties
The International Orchid Show

Malvern Autumn Show

"Overture and Beginners"

This is how most Show Gardens look when work starts
(all the images in this post were taken on Mon 22nd April)

My theatrical analogy used throughout many of these posts is apposite, and will perhaps be apparent to anyone who has been involved in stage or concert hall. In the gardening fraternity, too, here at Malvern, even though the performance is on such a large scale and, basically, an outdoor event. You have the Hills as a backdrop and the Showground as the stage, with so much action taking place simultaneously that you, the Theatregoer / Show Visitor, will be hard-pressed to organise your day. What you do will depend to a large extent not so much on what is put before you, but on what you most want see; and on the Programme in your show guide.

Another 'beginning' - a bare plot of ground from which a 
spacious garden is being created

Outside there are the immaculate Show Gardens and ingenious School Gardens, each and every one telling their own story. And under cover two Theatres: the Allotment Theatre in the Gardeners’ Shopping Pavilion, and the Plants & People Theatre in a large and spacious marquee. The scene will have been set; you will wait in eager anticipation for the show to begin – will there be music? Visuals? There is no script and you, the visitor, are not just audience, but vital participants.

A garden takes shape - buildings and 'props' are moved into place

Special effects are called for by many a playwright or composer - Shakespeare's Prospero initiates a tempest, in The Tempest: (ACT I SCENE I: a tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning heard)! Or the atmospheric music depicting a storm in the last of four Sea Interludes composed by Benjamin Britten in his opera, Peter Grimes. At Malvern, whatever weather the Showground is blessed with will be entirely natural, not conjured out of the imagination. Everyone concerned in any way, exhibitor or visitor alike, hopes and prays for sunshine and perfect temperatures.

Think sunshine and hot weather - these olive trees create a
restful atmosphere

There: after all these posts, I have at last alluded to it: WEATHER. I am not being pessimistic; but this is England, in Spring. Forecasts need not deter you (did you know you can obtain a Met Office  forecast specifically for the showground?) Gardeners are used to weather! Come prepared - sensible shoes anyway (ladies) for there is a lot of walking, a lightweight raincoat and maybe a brolly. None of these precautions may be needed and there are plenty of under-cover activities should the heavens open. I am of the opinion that it is better to be prepared than disappointed. I have visited the Spring Gardening Show on all four days for the last seven years and nothing would stop me from continuing to do so; the weather is a part of it, but in the immortal words of Morecombe and Wise, "Bring me sunshine."

All hands as the Show approaches: the Showground is kept in immaculate condition

'Overture and Beginners': the call to actors or musicians to make their way to the stage or orchestra pit. Some will be waiting in the wings, some will be backstage staff, some ‘front of house’; and innumerable others going unnoticed, yet without whom the Show could not go on. It is a huge logistical event when everyone and everything dovetails to bring delight, fun and happiness, to make you smile as you joyfully fill your trolley with plants, plants, plants, gardening sundries, art, elegant clothes, local food, anything and everything connected with a splendid day out in the Malvern countryside. And perhaps, first and foremost for you, listening to expert advice in the two theatres, chatting to experts - don't forget the helpful and knowledgeable RHS staff in the RHS / TCAS members' pavilion.

Gardens ARE finished on time -
though this is one of the permanent
gardens through which I love
to wander.

I, too, am waiting in the wings and one more pre-Show visit before writing the final pre-Show post – and then 'Curtain Up' on 9th May: the most magnificent occasion, long anticipated, months in preparation and production. Keep up-to-date by visiting the Show Website. I look forward to saying hello again in my final pre-Show post next week, and then I will be blogging live throughout all four days at the Show.

I'm contemplating the
theatrical feel I want
to convey, and how to pull
it all together

Helpful Informtion: Opening times - 9am - 6pm; FREE Car parking.Children go FREE (0-15yrs) – it is recommended that children aged 12 and under are accompanied by a responsible adult. FREE Shuttle bus from Great Malvern Station to the Show on Friday, Saturday and Sunday runs continuously from 9am - 6pm. Bus stop just outside station entrance. Show bus stop is by Red Gate. SatNav Postcode: WR13 6NW.

WHY NOT ALSO TAKE A LOOK AT THESE PAGES, TOO?  (Just click on the links):
Love our Shows, Like our Facebook Page - Facebook.com/threecounties
Malvern Autumn Show

Behind the Scenes

Build-up to a Show Garden begins here

It’s all happening. I’ve blogged already in various posts about the 2013 Malvern Spring Gardening ‘Show Gardens’ and a couple of days ago had the privilege of being on site and watching some of the build-up. I’ve been to build-ups of previous shows, but this was something like no other year; the gardens will truly WOW you when they are landscaped and planted, with every last detail according to each designer’s submitted brief.

Giant-sized stone slabs remind me of clapper-bridges

The garden themes this year are so diverse it is hard to imagine just how much work is going into their creation. On Monday the ‘Show Garden’ area by the ‘Plants & People Theatre' truly looked as if you were on a very large building site! Each garden was already pegged out (work began last week) and designers, their teams and contractors were excavating soil, sculpting the flat ground into hillocks and paths, levering stone or gigantic slabs of rock into place, creating pools and streams, planting an olive grove and carefully manoeuvring into place the remains of a once river-worthy rowing boat. And more.

Summer house in the Caves Folly
Nursery's permanent garden

Not to be forgotten or missed are the two ‘Permanent Gardens’ situated near the West (Brown) Gate. Now, with all this talk of build-up, seems a good time to mention them; a Spring re-fettling is taking place. Caves Folly Nurseries maintain a modest-sized triangular area with a whalebone archway made from English oak, a summer house, a small pool and raised alpine bed. Caves Folly’s interest in environmental care and organic gardening is reflected in their design and construction of the garden, which uses reclaimed materials such as brick paths and stone edging.

Where is she?

Very different is the somewhat larger space utilised by Alchemy Gardens who have created an atmospheric series of inter-connecting ‘rooms’ through which visitors can wander. Native planting has been used throughout to attract beneficial insects, yet there’s a hot-Summer patio-feel to one side of the garden, entered through an archway and stone moon gate. Then you amble along a winding path through mature trees where shade-loving plants thrive in crevices at the side of a stream. Rustic materials and tumble-down stone is used to create gothic-follies reminiscent of many literary works. And can you spot their latest acquisition – the mythological Gorgon Medusa, with snakes for her hair?

Working with Chestnut

A brand new feature at this year’s Show is the ‘Garden Crafts Demonstration Area’, just near the permanent gardens, where visitors can enjoy demonstrations of garden-related crafts and skills. You can watch garden art being created by professional blacksmiths, see traditional woodcraft in action and learn about the latest arboricultural issues.

Also in this area, as in previous years, is the Caves Folly marquee in which you will find a number of exhibitors, including Caves Folly Nurseries with their locally grown herbaceous perennials, alpines and grasses, and The Cottage Herbery whose herb varieties are hard to find elsewhere.

Just arrived on site - start of the School Garden build-up

Latest information on the 2013 Malvern ‘School Gardens’ is surprising. Children always have their own interpretation of any theme or topic, and despite the theme for the 2013 gardens being books, all 16 of the participating schools feature edible plants within their design. (Well, designers whether adults or children have to eat!) And edible plants seem set to become a recurring phenomenon in gardens of the future, both front and back, for there is evidently more interest in grow-your-own amongst children than adults.

Setting to work immediately - no messing about!

Recycled materials and environmental concerns also recur throughout the pupils’ literary-inspired gardens focusing on issues that affect everyone, with a desire to make the world a better place to live. And even better news is that Horticulture is to become a part of the national curriculum from September 2014; a timely introduction and a move welcomed by the RHS.

Staircase to the stars, or a
bird's-eye-view (note-taking actually)

My whole day was all so fascinating (and educational) that my photographer took well over 100 images for me to remind me of my visit and to add to my Malvern Scrapbook.

The Marquees are going up already, and I will be returning next week to report on progress on the Show Gardens and the Showground in general. There are only two more posts before the Show opens on 9th May, so do return for ‘Overture & Beginners’ and ‘Curtain Up’ and as much news as I have space for. Oh, and have you booked your tickets yet?

WHY NOT ALSO TAKE A LOOK AT THESE PAGES, TOO?  (Just click on the links):
Love our Shows, Like our Facebook Page - Facebook.com/threecounties
Malvern Autumn Show

IS THS YOUR FIRST VISIT to Ann's Malvern Jotter? May I suggest you begin at the beginning and read all the blog posts to obtain a better picture of all that I have been writing about over recent weeks. I also recommend regular clicks onto the Spring Gardening Show website for regular updates and more breaking news.