Living Cornwall Editor
Organisers of a horticultural show described as the "Chelsea of the West" is gathering a small army of volunteers to prepare a Cornish country estate for the arrival of around 10,000 visitors.
Cornwall Garden Society's 101st Spring Flower Show will again be held in the grounds of Boconnoc House, near Lostwithiel.
Attracting exhibitors, traders and gardening enthusiasts from across the South West and beyond, the event is regarded by many as a herald of spring.
Spring-flowering shrubs such as magnolias, camellias and rhododendrons, for which Cornwall is famous, feature in a host of competitive classes, which also cover ornamental trees, daffodils, herbaceous plants, bulbs pot plants, alpines, photography and floral art.
Show director Debbie Evans said: "When it was first staged in the late-19th century the focus was very much on daffodils. But thanks to the plant hunters who travelled to foreign climes and brought back seeds that thrived so well in our mild climate, Cornwall's gardens are a mass of wonderful blooms in spring."
This year's event, on the weekend of April 6 and 7, is sponsored by Atkins Ferrie Wealth Management and will be opened by broadcaster and horticulturalist Roy Lancaster. Hundreds of competitors will be taking part, alongside some of the best specialist growers and trade exhibitors in the UK.
Experts will also be on hand to solve horticultural problems at a gardeners' questions session on the Saturday afternoon.
The event takes place thanks to the efforts of a small committee of the CGS and more than a hundred volunteers, who spend the week leading up to the event erecting trestles, covering tables, raising marquees, hanging signs and a myriad other tasks.
Speaking after the show's launch at Ethy House near Lostwithiel, CGS chairman Andrew Leslie said the work of the volunteers was invaluable to its continuing success – and urged anyone interested to join the team.
"The show is only as wonderful as it is because the volunteers make it all work," he said. "From the Monday morning when the carpenters come in to the moment it opens on the Saturday morning, more than a hundred people are busy setting up and making it look splendid. Visitors arrive and see the finished article – but they have no idea the work that actually goes into it."
Mr Leslie said the spring show suffered, like many organisations and events, from having an ageing band of volunteers.
"What we need is the next generation of helpers to come forward," he said. "In return, they will have a lot of fun and experience a terrific atmosphere and sense of camaraderie. Everyone is passionate about the show and making it a success and it's a great feeling to know you've been part of that."
Begun as the Royal Horticultural Society of Cornwall in 1832 under the patronage of King William IV "who was graciously pleased to place the sum of ten guineas annually" at its disposal, the charity held its first Daffodil and Spring Flower Exhibition in 1897. With occasional breaks for wartime, petrol rationing or severe cold weather, the society – which formally became Cornwall Garden Society in 1958 – has been holding annual shows ever since. Initially supported by owners of large estates, it now attracts a wide range of people of all ages.
"We have the most wonderful bunch of traders who keep their prices very competitive and that's a huge attraction," said Mr Leslie. "The competitive classes are always superb because Cornwall produces these amazing camellias, rhododendrons and magnolias early and that is what really makes it. It has been called the 'Chelsea of the West' for obvious reasons because the quality of the exhibits are second to none and the lovely thing is that it is not all about big, well-known gardens. We encourage small gardens to enter and in fact one lady who has won the camellia cup on several occasion has a garden that is only half an acre."
Cornwall Garden Society's 101st Spring Flower Show is at Boconnoc on Saturday and Sunday April 6 and 7. It is open from 10am to 5pm on the Saturday and from 10am to 4pm on the Sunday. Admission is £7.50 for adults, with under-16s free. For further details, visit www.cornwall gardensociety.org.uk or call 01209 714488.
Andrew Leslie
