It was a dull, grey and gloomy start to the day this morning with the temperature hovering around 5c and a bitterly cold South Easterly breeze. Today was our annual visit to the Harrogate Spring Flower Show at the Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate. The Show opens today and runs through till Sunday 26th April. I have to say it only seems five minutes ago that we were walking around the Autumn flower show at Newby Hall!

It was just after 9.30am as we left the car in the car park for the short walk along the ‘Main Avenue’ to the ‘Food and Drink Hall’ for coffee and bacon sandwich. Throngs of visitors were streaming through the main gate and making their way along the Main Avenue stopping to browse at the stalls which lined both sides of the road, the stalls were selling all kinds of gardening paraphernalia, from ornamental wooden duck to large Hot tubs, the variety of shopping choices was mind boggling. 

Suitably refreshed we wandered through in to the adjoining Grand Floral Hall, a breathtaking showcase of everything horticultural with stands and displays from plant nurseries and societies from around the county and beyond. The displays were quite eye catching, with displays of Tulips, Acers, Fuchsias, Acers, Hellebores and Bonsai to name just a few. Specialist Plant Societies and Plant Nurseries from around the country had created some stunning displays of plants and features in the Hall, with the horticulturalists and nurseries selling many of their products to the eager visitors. There was also a live stage where experts were parting their knowledge to members of the public as well as answering their questions and gardening queries. Several floristry workshop sessions were held throughout the day where members of the public could attend a masterclass in flower arranging from the experts. By mid-morning the hall was getting a little crowded with visitors so we headed outside to have a look at several of the Show Gardens. One of the most popular gardens (in my opinion) was designed by ‘Horticap’ (Horticap is a Harrogate‑based charity that provides horticultural training, education, and work experience for adults with learning and other disabilities) with a garden called "The Things That Make Me Different, Make Me” it was a garden that draws from the world of A.A Milne’s Winnie the Pooh series of books. One of the designers was telling me that its aim was to bring the themes of inclusion, individuality and shared experience into a horticultural setting with a playful setting. The wooden bridge that spans a stream was designed for the game of pooh sticks, with the much-loved characters all represented in the space too. What was incredible was that all the work done in creating this garden was carried out by ‘Horticap’s’ students that have embraced gardening to develop their social and communicative skills in a working environment that caters for learning disabilities and challenges, it was good to intermingle with the student who were all very pleased and enthusiastic about all their hard work. 

After admiring this and the other gardens we continued our walk around the show and headed into the ‘Floral Art Pavilion’. I have to admit that I was amazed by all the floral arrangements, be it a table top arrangement to a large display, there was something here for everyone to admire, all of them a work of art. Themes ranged from ‘All the fun of the fair’ to the elegance of ‘Inspired by Versailles’, then there was rustic charm of ‘The Potager’ to the vibrant ‘Rio Calling’. As well as the beautiful displays to admire there was the opportunity to listen to and watch several lectures and presentations in floristry by guest presenters throughout the day. 

Heading back outside we headed to one of the refreshment tents for coffee and cake and a welcome sit down for a few minutes, by now (lunchtime) the sun had managed to break through the low cloud from earlier in the morning and it turned out to be a very pleasant afternoon. Suitably refreshed we continued browsing amongst the stalls before heading back to the floral hall and plant creche to collect our several bags of plants which we had purchased earlier. Fortunately, it was only a short walk back to the car and the journey home and reflect on all the jobs we have to do in the garden.