Sun shines for Garden Show at Stansted Park

The sun shone as record number of visitors enjoyed all that was on offer.

Emily Clay, part of the event team, said: “So much of the show is about amazing plants – and this year they were especially beautiful and varied, they left the showground on trolleys and in bags to brighten and enhance many a garden. As always there were all sorts of good and interesting things to see and buy that you cannot find easily elsewhere.

“Keen gardeners kept the Gardening Doctor Experts, Val and Steve Bradley, busier than ever with a plethora of tricky gardening questions whilst Jules and Lance, the environmentalists, worked non stop explaining how anyone can ‘grow’ even in a tiny space and how to feed, protect and raise your plants in an environmentally and easy way.

“Visitors loved watching the birds of prey soaring in flight and then they wandered over to buy something tasty to eat there and then, or to take home. There was so much to take in and the grounds were full of activities to help us all learn more: you could hear how the amazing Tuppenny Barn is working, not only to grow great veg, but to help children from areas where they are not sure about how carrots get planted and pulled or how sweetcorn might look before it is in a tin and to learn about eating what you grow.

“The free talks and cooking demonstrations were a wow again. Derry Watkins from ‘Special Nurseries’ gave such valuable advice on how to create ‘Late Summer Colour’ in the garden. The Stansted Park team shared ‘Behind The Scenes’ with fascinating information on running the house, grounds and park. Ben Cross from Crosslands Alstroemeria Nursery extolled the virtues of British cut flowers and how important it is to support this industry. British flowers rock! The cooking demonstrations this year were barbecue based and were run by Quan Garden Art chef who explained the best recipes for delicious fare and the best way to cook. Arun Meats arrived on the Saturday to explain and indeed demonstrate the skills of butchery and the value of buying direct from your butcher both financially and to get the best tasty meats.

“The Emworth Afternoon Flower Club excelled yet again with the simply stunning flower arrangements in the chapel themed ‘My Hobby’ in aid of Canine Partners. CancerWise, the show’s chosen charity, added a new fun game to the activities by hiding stones painted with the garden show logo around the showground which when found could be taken back to them for a free go on the tombola with all the prizes having been kindly donated by the stallholders.”