Saturday 31 May 2014

Holker Hall Garden Festival

THE Holker Hall Garden Festival in Calk-in-Cartmel near Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria, began yesterday.  The Holker Festival is much more relaxed than Chelsea, Hampton Court or even the show at Tatton in Cheshire. 

Brighter Blooms from Preston in Lancashire, which featured at Chelsea, had a stall in the big Floral Marque that took a 'large gold' for its display of Zantedeschias.   Sales of this plant which is a coloured version of the more frigid and hardy white-flowered arum lillie, went well on the first day of the show which continues until Sunday.  We were tempted to buy two tubs of the waxy petalled plants for £15.

There was no sign of the big companies of rose growers like David Austin Roses that won its 18th Chelsea Gold Medal or Peter Beales Roses Ltd, but Holker has more of a village feel to it that is really quite intimate.  Growers and nurserymen from as far afield as Cambridge came up north to sell at this show, including Hillview Hardy Plants from near Bridgnorth in Shropshire.  Yet, there was even a stall from the nearby small Cartmel racecourse offering a racing schedule for 2014, and The Beach Hut Gallery Artists' Co-operative near Kents Bank Station had a stall.

Anyone interested visiting the show could chance a visit to Holker Hall itself for an extra £3.50 which is definitely worth a visit, and the Italian style gardens there are superb. 

Yesterday was quiet but with the sun out today but today and tomorrow may be more hectic.

No comments: