Chelsea 2007

Hardy Plant Society Hertfordshire Group 2008

Shows & Displays

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2007

It was with great pleasure and pride that the Hertfordshire Group learned that it had been accepted to mount the Hardy Plant Society exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show 2007 in the HPS Golden Jubilee year. The exhibit won a silver medal.

The exhibit took the form of a ’Jubilee Party’ set in an open-sided and open-topped marquee.

The party guests were the plants and they were set in two island beds within the structure. This format marked a tribute to the late Alan Bloom who introduced island bed planting to this country.

In the smaller bed were hardy plants that have been introduced by, or named after, prominent Hardy Plant Society members during the fifty years. These were called ‘The Celebrities.’ In the larger bed were the invited ‘Guests’ - hardy plants all looking their best for this festive occasion.

The Group was proud of the award. Perhaps the greatest reward was the feeling of corporate achievement by a small group of dedicated members who had worked together so well over many months. Each member had a special role to play and ensuring it all ran smoothly was Madeleine McCormack to whom the team members wish to pay tribute.

The concept and design was the inspiration of Barbara Stalbow. The "team" (Madeleine & John McCormack, Barbara Stalbow, Heather & Peter Osborne, Alison King, Judy Barker, Anne Godfrey and Roger & Patt Trigg) thank all those members of the Herts Group who contributed plants for the display and those who took turns caring for the plants..

Thanks must go also to the Shaw Trust for their generous loan of a polytunnel on their site.

A selection of digital photographs of the display is shown below. Click each thumbnail to bring up a larger image.


Completed stand	Jubilee pennant	Party cake and table	Our President recording for the BBC	Roy Lancaster with Hertfordshire chairman and secretary

Carol Klein recording on stand	Team with Rachel de Thame	Iberis gibraltarica ' Betty Swainson '	Mathiasella bupleuroides 'Green Dream'

Orlaya grandiflora	Rosa 'Helen Robinson'	Some celebrity plants	More celebrity plants	Yet more celebrity plants

Our silver medal	Some of the team at breakdown

Photos ©John McCormack 2007

Korean Rubellum and Hardy Spray Chrysanthemums
National Collection

Herts member Judy Barker holds the National Collection of 120 varieties of these hardy chrysanthemums.
They can be seen, in season, at The Allotments, Shenley Lane, London Colney. The following photos show some typical examples.


'Apollo'	'Innocence'	'Royal Command'	''Ruby Raynor''	'Emperor of China'	un-named

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Copyright © 2003 Hardy Plant Society Hertfordshire Group Last modified: 15-01-2008

Copyright © 2003 Hardy Plant Society Hertfordshire Group
Last modified: 15-01-2008