I had a sneak preview of the Malvern Midsummer Garden Life Festival which opens today.
June may be more grey than flaming this week but there’s no shortage of colour at the Malvern Summer Garden Life Festival. From holiday scenes to rainbow nursery displays, the event seems determined to shake off any midsummer blues.
In a nod to the staycations many will be taking this year, the festival at the Three Counties Showground has three themed zones.
Leaf Creative has transformed one area into a taste of Barbados with a rum shack, tropical planting and a beach made of 90 tonnes of sand.
This sandy expanse is shared by olive specialists Villaggio Verde who have created a Mediterranean coastline in their area, complete with deckchairs and a plant-filled boat.
The sense of being somewhere else is reinforced by the layout of the festival, which uses a different area both to last autumn’s Malvern Plant and Garden Fair and the usual RHS Malvern Spring Gardening Festival. It gives the very familiar showground a completely different feel.
Designer Ruth Gwynn takes visitors on a trip through the Three Counties countryside with installations that reflect English gardens, local business and the farming of the area.
I particularly liked the pig sty with its colourful alstromeria in old sacks.
The English theme is continued in a ‘photo opportunity’ installation by designer Martyn Wilson who has created a space for selfies.
He describes it as a ‘chintzy, flowery take on an English tea room’ and it is worth looking at closely as there’s lots of detail.
Naturally, there are plants at the Malvern Midsummer Garden Life Festival and I found lots to see on the 30 nursery stalls. These are laid out in a similar way to the autumn fair with each nursery in an individual ‘tent’ with a small display in front and lots of plants for sale.
Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants have brought along their new Thalictrum ‘Chantilly Lace’ and it seems set to be popular.
Harts Nursery have lots of lily bulbs for sale and told me that they will flower in about 12 weeks’ time if planted now.
“Put them in a pot and get them growing,” said Lorraine Hart. “Then bring them inside to finish, if the weather turns too cold.”
The Kitchen Garden Plant Centre has some great herbs. This thyme caught my eye and there was more lupin envy on the Proctor’s Nursery stand.
It may be mid-June but you wouldn’t know it on the HW Hyde and Son display. Careful chilling of bulbs means they’ve got muscari, iris reticulata and tulips on display.
This Penstemon ‘Fujiyama’ (Volcano series) stood out for me on Green Jjam Nurseries’ stand and I was rather tempted by the collection of succulents on W & S Lockyer’s display. There was also the usual great display of heucheras by Plantagogo.
The D’Arcy & Everest troughs are also living up to the colourful theme of the festival.
And if that isn’t enough colour, I would recommend dropping into artist Kate Rees’ pop-up gallery. Now, that really is an explosion of colour.
The Malvern Midsummer Garden Life Festival is at the Three Counties Showground from June 23-25. Special guests in the Happiness Theatre include Carol Klein, and Ann-Marie Powell, who will be talking about the My Real Garden book. Tickets are available online and on the gate, subject to availability. For more information, visit the website.
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