Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
SRGC Shows and Events => Events => Topic started by: David Nicholson on March 29, 2014, 08:35:05 PM
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Fine day in the old SW for a change. Good Show taking all things into account and a good attendance.
Farrer awarded to Lee and Julie Martin for a large pot of Narcissus obesus 'Lee Martin'. I think I'm right in saying this form has been around for a few years now in a number of different guises (indeed my friend Mike Quest was on the 'shortlist' for a Farrer at Exeter a couple of years ago) when it was called 'Lee Martin Form', well Lee told me that it has now been officially named.
More pics to follow when I can get them re-sized and Mrs N doesn't shout up the stairs for me to talk to her since I haven't seen her since 0600 this morning.
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Lee and Julie's form of that charming wee narcissus has indeed been around for a good while. I think the Martin's still grow it as well or better than anyone else though - must be a 'parental care' thing ;)
I think the fact the flowers are well above the foliage make it so pretty and while this is a big potful, you can still see and appreciate the individual blossoms. (Unlike the squashed flowers one sees on some large pots of bulbs in particular)
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Long trip for Lee and Julie to Exeter for the show - worth it for a Farrer though!
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....... a large pot of Narcissus obesus 'Lee Martin'. I think I'm right in saying this form has been around for a few years now in a number of different guises ..........
You are right David. Rannveig Wallis listed it in 2000 (& possibly earlier) as N. bulbocodium ssp. obesus with a reference to Lee Martin & the Farrer Medal. While it is a good form, to my eyes it is no better than the form collected by Mike Salmon at Cape St Vincent (MS451) so I don't understand why it is considered worthy of a name. But then I don't understand the whole business of cultivar names.
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Long trip for Lee and Julie to Exeter for the show - worth it for a Farrer though!
about 200 miles, downhill though! ;D
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You are right David. Rannveig Wallis listed it in 2000 (& possibly earlier) as N. bulbocodium ssp. obesus with a reference to Lee Martin & the Farrer Medal. While it is a good form, to my eyes it is no better than the form collected by Mike Salmon at Cape St Vincent (MS451) so I don't understand why it is considered worthy of a name. But then I don't understand the whole business of cultivar names.
Gerry, I have it my mind that Tony Goode introduced this form quite a few years ago. I'm sure it's been referred to on the Forum?
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First few from Exeter.
A winning three pan from Lee and Julie Martin again. Primula allionii 'Eureka'; Primula x meridiana 'Miniera' the true form I'm told and nothing like either of my two plants of it, one of which I was told was the true form. C'est la vie!; and Cyclamen pseudibiricum.[attach=1][attach=2][attach=3]
Primula 'Gordon'. If there aren't ten plants in that pot I'm a Dutchman (with apologies to friends in Holland)[attach=4]
Paul and Gill Ranson's winning 3 pan in Class 9[attach=5]
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More from Exeter:
From Paul and Gill Ranson a winner in Class 10 with Dionysia sp. aff. gaube[attach=1]
A beautiful winner from Eric Jarrett and I didn't get it's name.[attach=2]
Jean Morris's winners in Class 15 and I didn't get the names of any of them. Sorry.[attach=3]
From Cyril Dart Frit. graeca ssp. thessala. A lovely plant
Lee and Julie Martin again with Grevillia lanigara Mnt. Tamboritha
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You are right David. Rannveig Wallis listed it in 2000 (& possibly earlier) as N. bulbocodium ssp. obesus with a reference to Lee Martin & the Farrer Medal. While it is a good form, to my eyes it is no better than the form collected by Mike Salmon at Cape St Vincent (MS451) so I don't understand why it is considered worthy of a name. But then I don't understand the whole business of cultivar names.
If this was the form brought before the Joint Rock Plant Committee, Gerry, then an award will have been made subject to it being given a cultivar name - it's how the JRPC works.
This is often a bit on the odd side, when a species that is quite stable is awarded and has to get a cultivar name when all "forms" are worthy plants.
It's another of life's oddities.
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Some more from Exeter:-
Had I been a judge (but I didn't have the Latin)[one for the Peter Cook fans out there!] this would have got the Farrer-Barry Starlings wonderful pot of Cassiope 'Muirhead'[attach=1]
Anacampsis papilionacea 'Heroica' that got a first for peter Summers in Class 59[attach=2]
again from Peter Summers a lovely Primula three pan that got a first in Class 84[attach=3]
Hepatica 'Millstream Merlin' a first for Audrey Dart in Class 99[attach=4]
Peter Summers again with a lovely pot of Primula 'Aire Mist', a first in Class 101[attach=5]
More later.
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A nice Primula marginata 'Dwarf Form' from Duncan Bennett that got a first in Class 113[attach=1]
Cyclamen persicum from Alan and Janet Cook, a first in Class 51[attach=2]
A first for Paul and Gill Ransom in Class 52 for 3 pan Dionysia. From the front D. cristat-galli; D. bryoides and last D. 'Selene'[attach=3]
Cyril Dart's winner in Class 48 with Primula 'Tony'[attach=4]
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A lovely 3 pan from George Elder gaining a first in Class 60 with Geissorhiza inaequalis-sown September 2005; Romulea requenii and Trillium rivale.
[attach=1] [attach=2] [attach=3]
A Dionysia that won a first for Paul and Gill Ranson in Class 76. This one sown November 2011.
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and finally:-
From Paul and Gill Ranson in 3 pan class 75 Dionysia diapensifolia; D. bryoides and D. 'Chris Grey-Wilson'. Together with some Dionysia information.[attach=1][attach=2][attach=3][attach=4]
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Well, it was a good Show but some of the "giants" of the showing world were conspicuous by their absence and the "senior growers" classes seemed to me a bit thin in quantity. I did wonder if perhaps this was because the trip down to Exeter, near the last precipice of the known World, was a step to far but they have always managed it before. Someone suggested to me that it because there was no Joint Rock. This I found difficult to understand since I share the same problem as 99.99% of the nation by not knowing what that is, does, and why it's necessary. Whatever, an awful lot of work done by a small and ever decreasing number of people goes into mounting shows and maybe it's reached the stage where consideration needs to be given to circumstances that are important to the first class growers as well as attractive to those taking their first step towards the benches.
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The Grevillia you showed is stunning. I first saw this plant at the Nottingham Meeting and thought it beautiful.
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The Grevillia you showed is stunning. I first saw this plant at the Nottingham Meeting and thought it beautiful.
hi Anne,
I have a couple of forms of Grevillea lanigera in the garden - in fact one has self seeded in a couple of places and I was too much of a chicken to try to move them! The Mt Tamboritha Form is excellent - much tighter compact foliage. It takes the 40oC heat and -7oC winters without a problem at our place,
cheers
fermi
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A similar plant took my eye at our Hexham Show yesterday too Fermi. It's a real sweetheart of a plant! Well done Mr N for your report nice to see what's going on at t'other end of this island...
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David - Thanks for the posts. Superb Cassiope from Barry Starling and some wonderful Primulas there. No Ericaceous entries?
johnw - +1c, iffy rain.
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David - Thanks for the posts. Superb Cassiope from Barry Starling and some wonderful Primulas there. No Ericaceous entries?
johnw - +1c, iffy rain.
There were John but I didn't get them. Jon Evans will probably have pics on the AGS site shortly. Barry's plant was absolutely beautiful.
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A similar plant took my eye at our Hexham Show yesterday too Fermi. It's a real sweetheart of a plant! Well done Mr N for your report nice to see what's going on at t'other end of this island...
Thanks Chris.
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Previously when talking about the nurseries attending the Exeter Show mention was made of Choice Landscapes - though their website (http://www.choicelandscapes.org/) still talks of Michael and Jill Agg as the proprietors, it is my sad duty to tell forumists that Michael passed away late last year. Jill is continuing to run the nursery and attend shows herself.
It must be difficult for Mrs Agg to be facing so much and still manage to be working so hard and I am sure we all wish her well in this and send our condolences on the loss of her husband.
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Well, it was a good Show but some of the "giants" of the showing world were conspicuous by their absence and the "senior growers" classes seemed to me a bit thin in quantity. I did wonder if perhaps this was because the trip down to Exeter, near the last precipice of the known World, was a step to far but they have always managed it before. Someone suggested to me that it because there was no Joint Rock. This I found difficult to understand since I share the same problem as 99.99% of the nation by not knowing what that is, does, and why it's necessary. Whatever, an awful lot of work done by a small and ever decreasing number of people goes into mounting shows and maybe it's reached the stage where consideration needs to be given to circumstances that are important to the first class growers as well as attractive to their first step towards the benches.
Do you always share a date with another show? Here in E Anglia we used to to have same date as E Cheshire show and felt we were the poor relations, being so far from .... well anywhere really. (Closer to Holland than Birmingham) Now we have a date to ourselves the benches are heaving with plants, a much improved show. Still fighting the problem of an aging workforce though :(
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Hi
I have added a few pictures from the show to the AGS website here:
http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/discussion/atshows/AGS+South+West+Show+Exeter+th+March+/18502/ (http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/discussion/atshows/AGS+South+West+Show+Exeter+th+March+/18502/)
I hope they do the plants justice.
I don't think that the shortage of exhibitors was down to the clash of dates with other shows; it was more of a 'perfect storm' where several major exhibitors had prior commitments of various sorts, and a long list of them couldn't make it. This is normally a strong and flourishing show, and the double-date hasn't affected it before.
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I certainly hope we might get to Exeter next year - I always remember it as a most enjoyable show and it shares with E. Anglia a sort of far flung appeal! (Perhaps also Kent too).
There are some stunning plants there and I have been trying to choose which I might pick out to award as a Farrer medal to the photographer! For me its a choice between Scilla peruviana 'Paul Voelcker', Epimedium wushanense Spiny leaved form, and Petrocosmea iodioides. Something to do with form and symmetry. Two plants I would love to grow in the garden are Hepatica 'Millstream Merlin' and Primula marginata 'Gordon' (lovely deep coloured flowers). I remember the former at the small Essex Group Show last year, and as well as being a stunning colour it holds that link with two very great American gardeners and their garden.
It strikes me that the pictures of plants in the novice section have equal aesthetic appeal as those of many plants in the more advanced sections - the difference being the great character and history of many of the latter (viz: that wonderful Cassiope and Peter Erskine's Fritillaria - and that comes across so nicely in Jon's descriptions and photographs. Is this the reason why so many more people discuss the Shows here on the SRGC site than they do on the AGS one? I think that last line in Katie Price's article in the March AGS Journal where she comments on Valerie Finnis and 'plants' and 'people' sums this up well. The medals promote excellence but how much do they actually teach to new gardeners visiting the Shows? And how many new gardeners visiting the Shows would be thoroughly captivated if they actually were to discover them in the first place? The Shows should be advertised and written up in the 'Times' like they were in a past age! (They are so good).
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hi Anne,
I have a couple of forms of Grevillea lanigera in the garden - in fact one has self seeded in a couple of places and I was too much of a chicken to try to move them! The Mt Tamboritha Form is excellent - much tighter compact foliage. It takes the 40oC heat and -7oC winters without a problem at our place,
cheers
fermi
Lucky you! I don't know how they would cope with -20 F or less here. How wonderful to have them self-seed.