Latest news with #RHSMalvernSpringFestival
Powys County Times
13-05-2025
- Powys County Times
Llanidloes gardening club visit RHS Malvern Spring Festival
Members of the Llanidloes and District Gardening Club enjoyed a day out at the RHS Malvern Spring Festival. The group, who were among the first to attend one of the UK's major flower shows of the season, explored the festival under the sun, despite a chilly start. The event, set against the backdrop of the Malvern Hills, featured a variety of creative show gardens, highlighting a trend towards naturalised planting. A bustling floral marquee, filled with blooms in every shade, was a standout attraction. Visitors had the opportunity to purchase rare and unusual plants, filling their cars for the journey home. A particular highlight for the Llanidloes visitors was the range of gardens designed by pupils from local primary and secondary schools. These projects demonstrated a commitment to sustainability and innovation, earning a place among the main exhibits. The trip was not only enjoyable but also inspirational, providing club members with fresh ideas for their own gardens in Mid Wales. For those interested in joining the Llanidloes and District Gardening Club, more information can be found on their Facebook page, 'Llanidloes and District Gardening Club'.
BBC News
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Preparations under way for 'special' RHS Malvern Spring Festival
The organiser of the RHS Malvern Spring Festival has spoken of how it feels like "a home from home" as preparations for the event near their Dufton, show lead, said gardens were "absolutely flying up" at the Three Counties Showground, where the Worcestershire festival begins on 8 of the UK's first flower shows of the year, the event will see more than 100,000 people flock to the site to view gardeners' creations of all shapes, sizes and Dufton told BBC Hereford and Worcester the annual event felt like "one big family" and its welcoming nature encouraged people to return year after year. "It holds a special place in a lot of people's hearts and feels like a home from home," she for this year started the day after the 2024 show finished, with Ms Dufton describing it as a "365-day process". She said timing and planning were key in setting up the show, along with keeping an eye on the weather forecast."It's having a plan A, B and potentially C in your back pocket but experience teaches you that," she 2025 festival marks Ms Dufton's third year as its lead organiser and she said it was among the best events she had ever worked on, despite it being "quite a weight" on her shoulders."You have a blank canvas and off you go - you can imagine what you want and work out how you want to create it and bring things to life," she RHS Malvern Spring Festival beings on 8 May and will run until 11 May. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Business Mayor
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Mayor
Alan Titchmarsh on being a garden TikTok influencer aged 75
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Gardening legend Alan Titchmarsh chuckles at the thought that at the age of 75 he's become an influencer giving out horticultural advice. He's just launched his own YouTube channel, Gardening With Alan Titchmarsh, featuring 'how to' videos, tips and advice, in the hope of attracting a new generation of gardeners. The videos simultaneously appear on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook accounts, although Titchmarsh himself is only active on Instagram, steering clear of other social media outlets. 'Are you allowed to be a trendsetter when you've been doing it this long?' he asks, chuckling. 'I'd like to think I've been an influencer for a long time, but maybe not on TikTok.' Alan Titchmarsh after being made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (PA Wire) He's also currently presenting the second series of Alan Titchmarsh's Gardening Club on ITV, the Ask Alan podcast and will be appearing at the forthcoming RHS Malvern Spring Festival in May, giving a talk on what being a good gardener means to him. A trend he would like to start is encouraging people to rely more heavily on plant material rather than hard landscaping, he says. 'Making a garden is the opposite to painting a picture, in that you paint a picture and then you find a suitable frame for it. When you're making a garden, you build the frame and then put the picture inside the frame. 'When you're making a garden, you build the frame, whether it's paving structures, buildings or whatever, and then you put the plants in which softens them and gives them a sense of perspective in the garden. The picture must always be more important.' Did he ever envisage becoming an influencer? 'It's an intriguing term. Social media didn't exist when I started writing and broadcasting about gardening back in the mid and late Seventies. 'I love it when people say, 'I'm an influencer'. Well, how do you know? You've got a million followers but it doesn't mean anybody's actually doing what you tell them to do. It just means they are clicking on the button. All I can do is hope that people are inspired by what I demonstrate.' What does being a good gardener mean to him? 'It's being aware of your part in the bigger picture and gardening responsibly and sustainably in a way that respects the soil and encourages the creatures on it and within it and being a good custodian of a little piece of land that's in your care.' Titchmarsh, who was recently awarded a CBE for services to horticulture and charity, lives with his wife Alison live in a gorgeous Grade-II listed Georgian farmhouse in Hampshire, where he has lovingly transformed his garden into a glorious space over the years. They celebrate their Golden Wedding Anniversary this year. He says he is a more responsible gardener now than he was 40 years ago. 'When I was an apprentice and student during the Sixties and Seventies we had spray programmes for orchards and tar oil and winter washes to ensure that the crop we were growing was blemish-free and pest free, with not much thought given to the rest of the garden. Read More London house prices rise for first time in 12 months 'I'm organic, I don't use any kind of sprays, insecticides, pesticides or herbicides. The important thing is that you keep improving your soil, not with organic fertilisers but with food like blood, fish and bone, which will feed your plants and encourage soil bacteria to break it down before plants can feed on it.' From his early days of TV garden makeovers with Ground Force, he says he doesn't look back and cringe at some of the trends that show set, with him at the presenting helm. 'I get teased about decking,' he admits, 'but it opened up gardens to a lot of people who couldn't possibly afford paving. Remember that before decking it was crazy paving, right the way through a century before that which was hideous. 'Decking allowed people to have somewhere to sit and if they slipped and fell over they were bruised rather than breaking their hip, which they did on crazy paving. I'm not apologetic about decking at all.' Does he have any thoughts of slowing down? 'I take Fridays off now and try to work a four-day week. I write in the morning and I'm pretty spent by about 1pm, have a bite to eat and then garden.' He has help in his four-acre garden and hopes he won't have to downsize, even though his daughters have long flown the nest. 'By virtue of gardening I get a bit of cardio, I do Pilates once a week. I don't run anymore, I don't want to ruin my knees. I walk and try to do 10,000 steps a day, but as long as I keep moving, that's the main thing.' Read More The gardener's guide to Spring chores to tackle now RHS Malvern Spring Festival runs from May 8-11.
The Independent
15-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- The Independent
How the humble tulip could be the key to elevating your garden
Early spring bulbs in your garden might well be fading by now. Yet, it is still quite some before the vibrant hues of summer plants may emerge. Therefore, budding gardeners might be facing a potential lull in garden colour in the next few weeks. However, according to TV gardener and BBC Gardeners' World regular Rachel de Thame, this period between seasons needn't be a barren landscape. De Thame, who will also be appearing at the RHS Malvern Spring Festival in May, says there is an array of colourful options available to bridge the gap. 'Although you can get a desert in terms of flowering a bit later on in mid to late summer, the merging of late spring into early summer is seamless because a lot of the things that come into flower in late spring flower for quite a long time and some cultivars flower a bit later on,' says the plantswoman and author of A Flower Garden For Pollinators. 'You can bridge that gap between the daffodils and the roses. With a bit of clever planting you can make sure you have that lovely seamless colour. You've had crocuses, irises and blossom, but spring blossom can carry on into the latter part of May.' Her favourite spring-to-summer plants include: 'I grow a lot of aquilegia. They started out as named cultivars and now they're quite promiscuous. 'They like to interbreed and have a party and you get all sorts of seedlings popping up. I like to see what comes through. If they are very ordinary I pull some of them out, but on the whole I love them. And you get some ruffly ones which almost look like a frilly Elizabethan collar. 'There's a pretty one called Aquilegia 'Pink Petticoat', but I also love some of the darker, sultry ones. 'William Guiness' is a real favourite. It's good for pollinators, with a more open flower shape and a lovely dark plummy purple with inner petals edged with white.' 'The foliage on aquilegias is so lacy and delicate,' she continues. 'They do very well in dappled shade in the garden.' 'There are brilliant euphorbias at that time of year. I really love that acid green colour of the bracts, while the flowers themselves are tiny. There are so many great cultivars, but Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae (also known as Mrs Robb's Bonnet) is a good stalwart. 'They are perennials, really easy and will take dry shade and are good for pollinators. The only downside is that they ooze milky sap which can be a skin irritant, so wear gloves if you are handling them.' You can put them in the borders with alliums and late tulips. Another good plant partner for euphorbia is the ballerina tulip (Tulipa 'Ballerina'), which is orange, with a pointed flower shape, contrasting with the lime green of euphorbias, she suggests. Geum 'I would choose Geum 'Totally Tangerine'. It's the perfect bridging plant because it comes up in late spring. I've already got lovely leaves on mine, so it's already adding something to the garden and you get those very slender stems with little orange flowers on the tips. 'The foliage is attractive but it's also well behaved, forming a ring around the base. They send up these long flowering stems high above the leaves which dance in the wind. They are great for softening a planting scheme and contrast well with purples.' If you cut back the flowered stems when they've finished, you get another flush, and they flower on and off pretty much all the way through the summer. Grow them in a mixed border, she suggests, as they have an informal look about them which makes them good companions for many other border plants. Hardy geranium 'This is the perennial that has everything. They work so well with everything from other perennials to roses, used to disguise some of the barer unsightly bits at the base of a rose, and are a great weed suppressor.' They come in a wide range of colours from white, through pale pinks, mauves, magenta and purple. 'One of my all time favourites is Geranium var. phaeum 'Samobor' which tolerates more shade. I used to grow these a lot when I was in London because they were happy getting sun for half the day and shade for the other half. 'The foliage has a maroon-coloured blotch, so even when it's not in flower the leaves look really pretty. The flowers are very small but are a really dark rich burgundy colour, on needle-like stems.' When flowering is over, you can cut back the plant to its base and should get new fresh leaves to take you through the rest of the summer. Tulips Later tulips are a good bridge between spring and summer, she suggests. 'A lot of people think tulips just flower in April but a lot of late flowering cultivars go well through May, depending on the weather conditions year to year. I love 'Queen of Night', which is tall, late, with strong stems and a gorgeous rich dark chocolatey colour, contrasting well against the acid green of euphorbias. ''Carnaval de Nice' is a double, white streaked with dark maroon pink. It looks like a raspberry ripple ice-cream, but is really full of petals, a peony-type which is later flowering.' You can plant tulips in pots (in late autumn), layering early types with later-flowering ones, giving you colour throughout spring and into May, she suggests.
