RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2018 – flying cars and goats

Flying cars, knitted flowers, a garden in an egg and goats, the RHS Spring Festival 2018 certainly has everything.

The Festival opens tomorrow but I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview and there’s plenty to see. Here’s just a few of the not-to-be-missed things I spotted.

The Gardens

If show gardens are your thing, this year’s event has more than ever with 14, if you include the four judged areas of the new Green Spaces Living contest.

This new feature is a winner. Set around a ‘house’, it shows just how you can pack plants into even the tiniest of spaces, using containers and just a little imagination.

Howle Hill Nursery have once again produced a garden that combines water, rock and their trademark acers to great effect, winning gold and the Best Construction Award.

Take the time to walk around this garden and spot the sculptures by Simon Gudgeon that are framed within it and notice the way the planting picks up the dusky pink of the main piece.

I also love Graduate Gardener’s ‘Urban Oasis’ for injecting some vibrancy into the show garden mix. Again, it’s a garden that repays close inspection with a complex mix of planting around the dark zig-zag deck.

The decision to award it silver-gilt rather than gold has surprised many and for me, it is a winner.

Topping the medals table is The Perfumer’s Garden by Ruth Gwynn and Alan Williams, which got gold and the coveted Best in Show.

It’s a garden that is full of detail from the clever use of a metal grid as a way of displaying scented-leaf pelargoniums, and the tiny touches inside the perfumer’s shop to the quirky and definitely tongue-in-cheek copper scent collectors.

Do make sure you hunt out Martyn Wilson’s garden celebrating the RAF’s centenary. As it’s going to be a permanent feature at The Three Counties Showground, it’s set slightly to one side of the main show gardens and could be easily missed.

The RAF and flying theme runs through the garden with a propeller-shaped path and aircraft detailing in steel panels on the boundaries.

There’s a tranquil air to Olivia Kirk’s garden for the Royal Porcelain Works. Soft colours, water and clean lines make it very restful on the eye.

For something very different, hunt out the The Garden in the Egg by Jonas Egger. Inspired by a Faberge egg, it is encased in a rusted metal egg and opens on a timer to reveal the plants inside.

And don’t miss the goats, part of Villaggio Verde’s recreation of a slice of Portugal, or the Work of Heart knitted garden that’s raising money for the Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice in Cheltenham.

Flowers galore

Thankfully, the much-improved shape of the Floral Marquee that was introduced last year has been kept and, despite a difficult start to the growing season, the nurseries still have plenty to offer.

One of the main displays belongs to this year’s RHS Master Grower, Avon Bulbs with a vibrant array of flowers.

Floristry used to be in the Wye Hall, much criticised for its low light levels and general gloom. Festival organisers have taken note and installed a new marquee, The Great Pavilion of Art and Flowers, for British flower growers and the floral art contest. It is a vast improvement and, hopefully, will attract more exhibitors in future years.

At its heart is a display by Jonathan Moseley with a flower-filled Morgan car, while smaller cars fly through the pavilion.

On top of all that there are school gardens, talks by experts, workshops, displays by specialist plant societies and giant terrariums dotted around the showground. Plenty to keep you occupied for several days.

The RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2018 runs from Thursday May 10 to Sunday May 13. For more details, visit the website.

• Read about the show garden results here.