So What Did We Buy?

I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of interest expressed on what we bought from the recent RHS London Plant and Design Show. We enjoy looking at photos and reading about the plant haul of other plant lovers and vice versa for they give an idea on what's new and what's out there. Especially at this period where it's the tail end of winter and plant buying season is starting to get in gear again.

The plant tag that brings joy to my heart, lol!!

Keeping our plant haul a suspense was unintentional and the reason it wasn't included on our previous post about the event was simply because we forgot. It was a quick post as the show was on for two days and it was best to put some pictures up whilst it was still ongoing which may entice more people to visit the next day.

Anyway, before we go on to our plant haul, a few more musings about the event...

As previously mentioned this plant fair has become sort of a tradition for us as a reason to bravely drive down towards the centre of London so we can load up the car with plant goodies. Taking public transportation would put serious limitation on what we can bring home hence the leeway afforded by having a car was felt necessary (a good excuse!). 

The show was busy busy!

Car parking is limited to six hours before the fee increases to go on a twenty four hour rate so the moment we arrive time starts ticking. On the satnav it says that it only takes an hour to drive down to the venue from where we live but based on our experience this can be very erratic, taking into account the potential traffic within London. So we set off just under two hours before the opening. I remember there was one year (2012 I think) where the traffic was so bad that despite leaving well early we still arrived one hour late!

But no traffic this time, the journey was almost bang on 45 minutes! For the first time in apparently seventeen (?) years they have moved the days of the show to Friday and Saturday instead of the usual Tuesday and Wednesday. It was also school break that week which we suspect was the main reason why the traffic was relatively light. 

Crug Farm Plants

Dibleys Nurseries

Caths Garden Plants

Fibrex Nurseries

The show on Friday seemed very busy with many more visitors compared to previous years. And apparently for most of the Saturday it was the same as well. Perhaps shifting the days was a good move, more conducive to having attracting visitors which is good for the participating nurseries and exhibitors. We don't have any figures if this was indeed the case but we just all have to wait and see if this Friday/Saturday thing will stick or it will revert back to how it was before.

Oreopanax xalapensis now available for sale from Crug Farm

Oreopanax xalapensis

and Schefflera delavayi

With the seeming increase in visitors there also seemed to be slightly less nurseries participating this year. The quality was still very much there though and there were plenty enough variety of plants to choose from to satisfy those who wished to plant shop. One of the halls (where the 'design' bit usually is) was noticeably looking underused with lots of space available especially in the centre. The conceptual greenhouse occupied prime space and at the back was interesting focus on potatoes. We may not grow potatoes but the potato pastries and other cakes did look very yummy!

Look at all that space....

Potato Mosaic (or patio)

Yummy!

We met up with our lovely fellow blogger Clive, did some browsing and shopping with him and nipped out for some lunch before he headed back to work (another tradition!). From there we went back to the show and finalised our plant shopping. Time was running out (we arrived early so the time we spent having hot cocoa at a nearby cafe pre show was accounted for the six hour slot) so it was a bit of a mad dash at the end as we needed to add to that the time needed to load up the car. We pretty much managed to buy what we wanted to buy but inevitably a few purchases were missed (there's always another time).

We forgot to pick this oddity up! Daviesia pectinata from Plantbase Nursery

Aloe striata and Aloe reitzii from Trewidden

And this beauty - Helleborus x orientalis 'Slate'

So what did we buy? Most of our purchases were predictably from Crug Farm but it might also surprise you that most of the ones we bought were actually repeats, ones we have already or at least had before the fire took it's toll. There were new ones too of course which you will see later on.

Our Crug Farm plant haul

They bought several larger specimens to the show which were perfect sizes for replacing the gaps we have now in the garden. No Scheffleras and Oreopanax went home with us this time around, a break from tradition! 

Now a little note about taking pictures: if the weather is good and conducive to taking photos, and you have the chance to then do so, don't procrastinate like I did! You never know what's going to happen the next day weatherwise especially in the UK. Saturday was gloriously sunny and dry but left it till Sunday to take these photos....

Pachysandra axillaris 'Crug Cover'

Aspidistra aff. daibuensis 'Tidy Trim'

A selection of smaller plants from other nurseries like...

Hedera helix 'Midas Touch' - will be perfect to brighten up a very shady spot in our garden

Hedera helix 'Cecilia' - both from Fibrex Nurseries

I have very big expectations of this one - Euphorbia 'Roundway Titan'

Illicium aff. majus - the second one in our garden

Tetradium fraxinifolium - a new one for us but is the third Tetradium in our garden

It will be perfect for our middle patio, shrubby and growing only over a metre tall - Daphniphyllum macropudum var. humile

Beautiful, glossy, and rather large foliage that looks so exotic and yet we've found this tough and hardy in our garden. It even flowered for us last spring. Alas it was not fire resistant so this is a replacement for a much beloved and missed plant - Illicium aff. griffithii

Another Illicium that has performed well in our garden through the past few years. So why not get another one? - Illicium simonsii - also notice the stick behind it??

That is the beautiful Aesculus wangii that is still dormant. To see it in leaf here's a photo we took from the garden of our friend Don who has a fabulous exotic garden Up North

We had a fantastic time in the show and we got home tired but also feeling satisfied. And wanting more! I found myself scouring the web for the next plant fair on the horizon (I found one in late March) that will be easy for us to get to. After that there will be more, lots more!

Mark :-)

Posted in: exotic , exotic blog , exotic garden , Plant fair , RHS
Location: Vincent Square, Westminster, London, UK