Talk: Behind the scenes at Chelsea by Pat Inman
Dynamic Pat is Secretary of
the Hardy Plant Society and has been involved with horticulture for 30 years,
leading teams to winning medals at Chelsea.
Their first stand, True Yorkshire Grit – hardy plants for tough
places, consisted
of strong vertical and horizontal lines symbolising the skyline of contemporary
Leeds. A wide variety of plants were displayed to demonstrate some of the
challenging situations that hardy plants are capable of thriving in such as Hot, Dry and Stony, Dry and Shady and Wet
and Boggy.
We learned how, after 18 months of sourcing funds, submitting the brief and design, they had to loan a huge polytunnel for all the plants (some loaned from gardens of members), cope with the harsh winter of 2009 and transport a load of plants down to Norfolk to get them into flower in time for the show. Form filling was demanding, a rota system had to be devised for passes into the grounds and every item they would be needing including compost had to be brought with them. The team overcame problems such as having to work through the night and the heat and humidity causing the verbascum to lose its colour.
Once there, the team had to
adhere to all the regulations of the showground from the precise dimensions of
the stand, hi viz clothing not to mention having to dissemble the whole display
and leave it as they began. Plants were sold
off in the final frenzy but those on loan had to be returned to their owners.
It was a wonderful experience which paid off as the stand was awarded a silver medal.
The team entered again in 2013
when they could draw on past experience and brought along loads of plants to
sell off on the final day which made a significant contribution to the
expenses.
Hardy Plants attained Silver
Gilt for the Bridge of Time
Thank you Pat for a wonderful
insight into what goes on behind the scenes at Chelsea.
Display
Table
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| Brian’s chrysanthemum balou |
 |
| Cineraria to brighten up the garden |
 |
Gill brought examples of plants still flowering in her garden in mid-November including
Primrose,
redhornet crab apple, fatsia, saxifraga
fortune, Osteospermum,
corydalis, hesperentha and viburnum
|
 |
Ann’s Fascicularia Bicolor, a Bromeliad from Chile which has
pale blue flowers, attracted a lot of interest from members.
Notice
Board
Norma brought her ceramic
poppy from the display at the Tower of London.
Carl requested the green tops
from plastic milk containers of semi-skimmed milk for charity.
The cleaning blitz of Paxton Hall
was effective and the Bring and Buy sale was a financial success which will be repeated
next year.
Subscriptions
for 2015 has been increased by £1 and can be paid from now.Friends of Paxton meet regularly on the first Monday of the month from Midday. An hour or two or your time to help maintain the premises are always welcome. If another date is more suitable for you, please let us know.
Dates
for your Diary
Next
Meeting: 5th December – Yorkshire Wildlife
Christmas Party: 19th December. This year we will again be taking part in James'
Xmas Quiz and we will be making festive displays.
