Gardeners World Live 2010 part 3

Another of my favourite flowers is Foxgloves. This display of them was lovely and caught my eye.

The Pink Lilys looked like my Oriental Stargazer. They smell heady and so thickly scented. It is a plant you either love or hate. I love them. These were in displays all around the NEC.

A plant related to the one that is at the top of my blogs page. This was a lovely Pink Atrantia. I bought one that has slightly more white in the flower. Alan Titchmarsh talked about these flowers in his weather proof garden.

Dibleys were there selling their Begonias and Streptocarpus. I only have two Streptocarpus left now as the cold killed all mine off. They are lovely flowers and quite easy to grow.

A plant stall was selling aquatic plants. This gorgeous Water Lily was floating on the top. A few exhibitors of aquatic plants are regularly attending gardening shows. This is beautiful.

An Iris Pseudocorus with exotic tiger stripes on purple and white petals. These were like watercolours in their depth of colour. I only have my Yellow Flag Iris here in this garden.

The displays in the flower hall were very tall. Some reached almost all the way to the ceiling like these Lilys.

I dont know what this flower was, but I loved the intricate shape of it, and the contrast of its pale petals against the background.

There were a series of smaller gardens called Border Ones. These were grouped together on a grass slope. I liked the planting arrangement of this one, and the colours.

This humerous garden was entitled "Wheres Grandad?". It is a representation of his garden complete with Chair, Hat, and gloves. Where he would have spent his free time.

The sun was blazing down on us on wednesday. The outside gardens were extremely exposed. People tried sheltering under Trees and by fences wherever there was some shade.

The last thing we saw on Wednesday was a Demonstration at the Guide Dogs Garden. It was a garden designed for a Couple, one sighted, and one blind. The planting was in raised beds, at hand height with aromatic plants at various area of the garden. The scents were useful in knowing where you were in a garden. Along with a variety of different surfaces to make different noises to tell you where you were.
The volunteer showed a guide dog walking around the garden avoiding obstacles, stopping when there was a danger, and being the blind persons eyes. It was amazing how clever the dog was.
He was a pet out of harness, but once he was harnessed he became a working dog protecting the blind owner. Everyday obstacles like wheely bins, parked cars, or even trailing Roses at face height can become a lethal hazard to somebody who cannot see them.
All in all it was a brilliant day. Very long and tiring because of the two hour train trip to get there. I saw Celebrities, watched Guide Dogs, ate and drank well, bought things, and photographed beautiful plants and gardens. Maybe I will be back next year. I hope you have all enjoyed my blog posts..
PS there are two days left if you near to the NEC.

Gardeners World Live 2010 part 2

Away from the Cathedral spaces of the great halls there were a small selection of Show Gardens and Border gardens. This was a keen eco version of Alice In Wanderland. I loved this Teapot fountain pouring into a cup with a giant Teaspoon next to it.

The BBC had comissioned a mini version of Greenacres where the BBC films Gardeners World every week. This was a small representation of this. The Grow Your Own campaign was being launched from here. The presenters were here through the week for Grown Your Own, and for the Plant Swap. They wanted unusual plants in exchange for Greenacres plants.

This show garden was called Help For Heroes, a charity run for British Armed Forces personnel who have been injured in action serving their country. The White Picket fence enclosed a lushly planted garden. The RAF helicopter model hovers above the White House.

The Garden that won a Gold and Best In Show was this Girl Guides 2010 one. It has these lovely Blue/yellow poles and sumptuous planting of wild flowers. I wander if they sowed many trays then put them all together to form a wild flower medal. The Reds and Blues are blooming throughout the garden. The view is restricted to where the poles were.

This garden won me over with its simplicity, and the limited amount of colours. I love how the cushions mirror the wall paintings. The cool water from the feature splashes down under the decking.

People were able to vote for their plant of the show. Ten plants were nominated by judges and the visiting public vote for their best flower. I liked the Princess Anne Rose by David Austin. This flower was a Geranium.

An explosion of pastel colours. These flowers are Larkspurs I think.

For me the flowers are always the stars of the shows. Their textures, shapes, or colours always amaze me, and make me think thats a nice photo for the blog.

The grasses are always arranged beautifully. They keep leaving notices saying do not touch. I just love stroking grasses. They are the most tactile of plants.

David Austin Roses had a display in the Floral marquis. These all smelt lovely. They are my favourite Roses. If you have to have a Rose make sure its one of these.

Another flower I saw in the flower hall was this orange Alstromeria. Peruvian Lilys are always so exotic looking, and have gorgeous markings on their petals.

The Orchids I love to photograph the most are the Ladys Slippers. This was the most striking one that I saw. These photos are just a representation of a fabulous day.
(This is the Second part of three)

Gardeners World Live 2010 part 1

Its been a few days now since I went with Cat to the Birmingham NEC to see the BBC Gardeners World Live, and the Good Food Show. These were running side by side in the cavernous space of four halls. We had got up at five thirty am to catch a train to Birmingham New Street. A ten minute train ride from BNS brought us to Birmingham International. Home of the airport on one side, and the Exhibition Centre on the other. There were various fair ride attractions around the halls decorated with flowers. This Tea cup ride had an Alice in Wonderlands theme.

This ride had lights on, and was equally planted out. I think there was a Carousel one somewhere but we never saw it.

The entrance we used had these triangular displays planted. I never realised until the end of the day that these were related to plant stalls behind them. Everything had labels because it was for sale. I love Hostas almost as much as Cat.

This is 21st century floristry. The people who led the demonstrations guided people through the process complete with microphones and headsets. Two Cameras were pointed at the main table so they could be seen on screens. I loved the purple orchid decoration on the wall behind the tables. As we had coffee they layed out everything that people needed to make their own floral table display.

After a two hour journey these Danish Pastries and Coffee were a welcome pick me up. It gave me time to peruse the Show guide which was over a hundred pages long.

One of the main things for going to the GWL show was to see the Gardening Celebrities speaking live, and in some cases signing books. At ten am on Wednesday the guest speaker was Alan Titchmarsh, talking about weather proof gardens. He was as funny and warm in real life as he is on his talk show. The Ilkley Bard he was described as.. (Ilkley is where in Yorkshire he is from). I have watched him for years on Gardeners World on Fridays when he was the presenter, through to his teatime Chat show, and recently as the affable host of the BBC's coverage of the RHS Chelsea flower show. I have also read his columns in Gardeners World magazine. He is a true legend of gardening in the UK.

The majority of people paid three pounds to sit in this auditorium. I stood outside with Cat watching and listening. The other days (the show runs from 16th to 2oth June) there were other speakers. I wanted to see Monty Don but he was not there on the day we went.I will have to wait for another opportunity to see him speak. Carol Klein, Joe Swift, Toby Buckland, and Alys Fowler were all due to do talks throughout the show. BBC radio 4 did Gardeners Question Time from there also when we were there.

There were all manner of plant stalls at the NEC. This was a gorgeous Pink and White Peony for sale. Look how gorgeous the flower was.

The stalls were all very inventive about displaying their plants to best effect. These Lily's were extremely fragrant. I loved them.

Cheeky Monkey and me. This stall had an African flavour. I loved this Monkey which i posed next to.

There were groups of plant enthusiasts there. This was the Streptocarpus Societys little display plant by their counter.

The Birmingham Orchid society made this wonderful prehistoric display and won a gold medal for it. The RHS was at the show awarding its medals for displays and the show and border gardens.

The sunlight was streaming through the skylights illuminating the displays of plants and all the visitors. It was a stunningly hot day, but as the majority of the show was indoors we did not feel it. There is some enonrmous air conditioning inside the NEC on the cealing high above the floor.

The Gardening Organic stand had these lovely deep burgundy splotched Foxgloves growing. I got their leaflets, and a vegetable growing calender.

I loved this telephone box which was decorated with flowers. The Exhibition halls were full of these inventive displays. The red telephone box is a much loved British symbol.

The other stars of these shows for me is always the flowers. Beautifully grown and displayed to fully emphasise their charms. This Echinacea caught my eye with its pink petals and holographic cone like centre.

These Chrysanthenums look like flying saucers hovering over their leaves. The light of the hall cast them in a ethereal way.

The most popular flowers we saw were these lemon yellow Aquilegias. They had beautiful long spurs and delicate cup like petals. They were nodding at me all around the NEC in plastic bags.

The other show that was running was the BBC's good food show. The Master Chef experience let people buy an hours cooking under the guidance of professional Chefs. The compere was Andi Peters (from childrens Tv) who had everybody in fits of laughter. I hoped to see the presenters of Masterchef (Greg Wallace, and John Torode). They were not there on Wednesday. The invention test where the Chefs have to make a meal from random ingredients would be a draw later during the week. The kitchen was sponsored by Miele, and Bounty. It was free to sit and watch these shows.

One of the highlights for Cat was seeing James Martin from Saturday Kitchen. He cooks quick and easy food every saturday morning and has a layed back demenour. He was in the Sainsburies kitchen. He made three courses in thirty minutes. A crowd of people watched him on a TV screen.
The Food show had so many exhibitors selling everything from Wine to Knives to Cookers etc.
I bought some frozen Pina Colada mix from a New Zealand company. I ate some Whitby Scampi and then had a Buffalo Burger.I drank a Hot Chocolate with Chilli.

(This is part one of three posts...)

Nature Trail And Birmingham Bound

We went for a walk the other day along a nice woodland trail that runs behind the houses across the road from us. I had my camera with me ready to take some photos. The path runs alongside a beck (Yorkshire for Stream) and is quite wild. The flowers that we saw were blooming in a sea of serene green leaves. This umbrella like plant had this insect climbing into its fragrant white flowers to drink the nectar. He is quite striking with his orange and black body against the pale petals.

A humble Buttercup looks stunning at close range. The yellow petals look like shimmering butter. The green centre looks like a Virus RNA model. They are beautiful, simple, but very elegant. They are extremly successfull in propogating themselves with runners and seeds.

Flowering in the hedgerow was this beautiful Dog Rose. Rosa Canina. Pink petals over the intricate stamen in the centre. It smelt faintly Rose like. I love how this Rose clambers through hedges and up Trees and flowers in early June. The flowers disappear soon afterwards for the rest of the year. It a traditional sign of early Summer. The flowers are like pink Ghost Orchids. They make sweet Rose Hips after they have finished flowering.

The pink buds here show more Rose like Structure than the Flower. I love how these everyday Hedgerow/pathway plants and flowers look. I enjoy being outside listening to the birds sing, seeing insects flying around, and admiring the beauty of nature.
We walked softly taking it all in. Bee's drink nectar and we drink natural beauty. I never tire of seeing these things with fresh eyes. Photographing it and writing about it gives other people pleasure too.
I got an email from a lovely lady called Emma who then sent me two free tickets for the Gardeners World Live (GWL) and BBC Good Food Show at the Birmingham NEC which runs from 16th-20th of June.
I never expected to be going to that Flower/Food show so its a bonus. I have bought more rechargeable batteries today ready to power up the camera. I hope to see some gardening celebrities at the NEC and some beautiful flowers.
http://www.bbcgardenersworldlive.com/
I will be getting up very early on Wednesday with Cat to get the train to Birmingham. The weather forecast is sunshine. The Saturday Kitchen chef James Martin will be at the Good Food Show too which runs concurrently with the GWL show. Buy a ticket for one and you can gain entry into the other.
It should be fabulous and I will blog about it here.