While I love looking at show gardens, for me, the RHS Malvern flowers are the stars of the show. I spent a happy morning, sheltering from the rain, and watching the nurseries put together their displays.
New to RHS Malvern this year are some stunning ranunculus. They’ve been bred by horticulturist John Fielding, who told me it’s taken 25 years to get the industry interested in them.
“It’s taken forever to get them noticed,” he said.
He’s showing four varieties at RHS Malvern under the tradename of Rococo. There’s an orange, a pink, peach and yellow, all of them with different qualities. The orange and peach have beautiful flecking on the petals, the yellow has chocolate-coloured markings and the pink is almost rose-shaped.
The plants are tuberous and dormant over summer, bursting into flower in spring. They like a well-drained but rich soil and are hardy to -10 degrees.
So far, they are being stocked by Sarah Raven and come as plug plants or tubers.
Meanwhile, a new perennial foxglove bred by John, who is also an RHS judge, will be launched at RHS Chelsea. Digitalis x valinii has a pink flower with dark orange inside.
“The bees go bonkers for it,” said John.
Also new to RHS Malvern this year are The Gobbett Nursery from near Kidderminster, with a mix of shrubs, perennials and bulbs.
These camassia caught my eye. Not too tall and a fabulous colour.
Among the Malvern flowers is a new chrysanthemum from Chrysanthemums Direct and named for the new royal baby. C. ‘Archie Harrison’ is a soft yellow, a shade that was chosen deliberately
“We’ve had one in the pipeline intending to name it for the Royal baby and yellow meant it did not matter whether it was a boy or a girl,” said Chrysanthemum Direct’s manager Martyn Flint.
Avon Bulbs has the usual blast of colour on its stand. I loved these tulips.
The lunaria is rather good too.
The master grower for this year’s festival is Mendip Bonsai Studio from Somerset. Looking at the display of tiny trees it’s easy to see why John Trott who runs the studio has 88 RHS gold medals.
It was good to see Newent Plant Centre in the floral marquee celebrating their 10th anniversary. The nursery moved from Newent to Ledbury four years ago but kept the name. A couple of their plants followed me home.
Another Malvern favourite is Fibrex Nurseries and their display of pelargoniums was as stunning as ever.
And Green Jjam Nurseries are delighted to have a few of their penstemon in flower thanks to the warm weather. Usually, gardeners have to wait until RHS Hampton to see them in bloom on the display.
More Malvern flowers
Cotswold-based designer and RHS judge Paul Hervey-Brookes mentored the new Growing Rooms feature.
Gardeners, interior designers and plant-lovers were asked to create a room using art and houseplants.
The three designs are very different.
Houseplants are also a main feature in the Floral Marquee where the entrance has ‘room sets’, created and dressed with plants by Louise Gill of Cheltenham’s Folia Planting. Louise has worked with nurseryman Jon Wheatley to show how houseplants can be incorporated into homes.
Leading florist Jonathan Moseley is heading up a team creating a floral installation based on this year’s Malvern theme of ‘Through the Lens’.
‘Cameras’ are trained on models dressed in flowers.
The Great Pavilion of Art and Flowers also has X-ray terrariums by Hugh Turvey, Artist in Residence at the British Institute of Radiology.
You can read about the show gardens at RHS Malvern 2019 here.
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