Chelsea exhibitors have given the millennium show the thumbs-up after booming sales and orders.
Cottage Garden Plants of Cuckfield, West Sussex, staged a display of herbaceous plants, shrubs and grasses, which really caught the eye of a Scottish visitor - he loved the display so much that he bought half of it!
The man, from the Isle of Harris in Scotland, had sent his secretary to the show who said he wanted part of the display replicated over an 80ft stretch next to a stream. It included massive leafed gunneras and many different grasses.
Nursery owner David Clark said, "This has never happened at Chelsea for us before. It really surprised us, but it made our show."
Many people had complained that overseas visitors were not ordering plants at the show, but Avon Bulbs at South Petherton, Devon had a different story to tell. Nursery manager Alan Street said, "We’ve done pretty well and have had a huge order from Japan that’s worth several thousand pounds. Unusual bulbs have proved popular, like a white tulip we’ve got. It’s something that people haven’t seen before."
He said the cold and rainy weather over the week had helped sales, driving people to take cover in the marquees.
Equally happy with the show was Mike Clare at fuchsia specialist Potash Nursery at Stowmarket, Suffolk. "Our best selling plant has been ‘Rolt’s Ruby’. We’ve taken quite a lot of orders, I think people like the fact that we’re supplying young plants in pots, rather than plugs," he said.
And Matthew Soper at South West Carnivorous Plants said: "It’s been busy and we’ve sold out of catalogues on Thursday. Most people are ordering sarracenias or the pitcher plant."
However, it wasn’t all good news for exhibitors; Christina Shaw at Lancashire-based Craig House Cacti said: "Financially this show has not been as good as previous years, because people have just not been spending. But people have been showing great enthusiasm for the plants". |
Cottage Garden Plants sold half their display to just one visitor to the Show. Photo copyright judywhite/GardenPhotos.com
Avon Bulbs found that unusual bulbs sold well at this year's Show. Photo copyright Graham Rice/GardenPhotos.com
'Rolt's Ruby' fuschsia was the top-seller for Potash Nursery . Photo copyright judywhite/GardenPhotos.com
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