Cardiff Flower Show 2015

Hippeastrum Red Lion with crown imperial fritillaries at Cardiff RHS Show, 2015

The Royal Horticultural Society’s Cardiff Show in Bute Park was better than ever this year. We went on the Sunday, which was a sunny but cool day, and here are a few things that took my fancy…

Of course, as it is Wales, there was a dragon…

The dragon was made from scrap metal by Dorset Forge and Fabrication, based in Sherborne (http://dorsetforgeandfabrication.co.uk)

Into the floral marquees…

Officially the best exhibit in the floral marquees was this wonderful display of daffodils from R and A Scamp Quality Daffodils, based in Falmouth, Cornwall (http://qualitydaffodils.com)

This is just one tiny multi-headed daffodil, called Pacific Coast

I love a good Heuchera – this is Southern Comfort on the Plantagogo stand (http://www.plantagogo.com)

Out to the trade stands…

A splendid gorilla – yours for £599.99 from the Garden Furniture Centre (http://www.gardenfurniturecentre.co.uk)

…a handsome beast!

A hippo made of green serpentine…

…in a small bird-bath at £180 by Nyasha Mabtka on the Mara Sculpture stand (http://www.marasculpture.com)

£330 will buy you Together Forever in green opal by Victor Matafi

Then there were the show gardens…

Middleton – Paradise Regained, a show garden from the National Botanic Garden of Wales to highlight the upcoming Heritage Lottery funded restoration of the Middleton estate on which the garden is located (http://www.gardenofwales.org.uk)

Office Box by Robert Hughes Garden Design (http://www.roberthughesgardendesign.co.uk

Alfresco by Victoria Wade Landscapes (http://www.victoriawade.co.uk)

Alfresco was named the best show garden

This show garden was Nurture in Nature by Shani Lawrence Garden Designs (http://www.shanilawrence.co.uk)

A hedgehog home

The husband of course liked this garden – which was an advert for the new Mazda2 car!

Back to the floral marquees…

Exotic white Mandevilla from Mandy Plants (http://www.mandyplants.com)

…and red Mandevilla

Helleborus Double Queen

Bleeding hearts – I bought a big one in a pot – although I see they are now called Lamprocapnos spectabilis and not Dicentra spectabilis, which was a blow to the plant knowledge I thought I had!

Chrysanthemum called Lollipop from Chrysanthemums Direct (http://www.chrysanthemumsdirect.co.uk)

I love Hostas – this one is called Patriot (http://www.brookfieldplants.com)

A huge Hosta called Sum and Substance

A pale Hosta called White Feather

A box of tiny Hostas, clockwise from top left, Teenie Weenie Bikini, Iced Lemon, Hydon Sunset, Lime Fizz, Cracker Crumb and Dragon Tails

There were also colourful root vegetables – these are Chioggia beetroots

Advice on Dianthus in pots from the RHS Potting Bench

Back outside for some more trade stands…

Metal mesh owl on the Brodco modern sheds stand (http://www.brodco.co.uk)

Metal cockerels (roosters) at £20 each from Patio and Terrace (http://www.patioandterrace.co.uk)

Metal ladybirds (ladybugs)

I think these rusty metal flowers are by Tom Critchley

Time for something to eat – lamb burgers. There was nowhere to sit, so we ate under a big old chestnut tree. It’s funny that the show takes place in Bute Park, not far from the Paulownia tree I am following this year.

We ate our snack lunch under this old chestnut tree

The horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) will soon be in flower – many others in the city are further on than this one

After we left the show, the trees kept coming as we walked into the Edwardian Cathays area of the city centre…

I hadn’t noticed before that this is a row of tulip trees (Liriodendron tulipifera)

You can see why one common name for the tree is the saddle-leaf tree

Some kind of maple (Acer) in flower

Some kind of oak (Quercus) in flower

On the grassy verge by the university were dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) like miniature chrysanthemums and daisies (Bellis perennis)

And finally…

A heart-shaped ball of cherry blossom…