Savill gardens plant fair

The first (ish) Saturday of May is the Savill Gardens plant fair. It is a chance to meet up with some plant friends, do a little shopping and then look around the gardens. The trick with these fairs is to get there before they open. Usually you can jump the gun and start your purchasing before many other people arrive.  The nurseries are usually not very spiky orientated, but there is usually something there that will fit in the garden. Lately it has been named varieties of sempervivum and it was no different on Saturday. By the time we were finished the fair was packed, a few coach parties turned up, which is always good for the fairs.

Shopping done, it was time to look around the gardens. For me the best bits of the garden are the woodland areas, especially at this time of year.  One section is full of rhododendrons.

The other area is known for its under planting.  This spring it is way behind where it is usually, it was surprising to see how little the ferns and hostas have grown.  It did mean the trillium were still looking their best though.

The beds were full of wild orchids, sadly they were not in flower yet, but they were everywhere.

I'm not sure which variety this one is, it had longer leaves and was less speckled than the usual Dactylorhiza we find here.

Then it was onto the alpine section. They have been having a bit of a clear out, so it wasn't as colourful as usual.

 One that really caught my eye was this little pinus, I am not sure if you could keep it this small.

The gravel garden was so far behind that only a few of the euphorbias were really putting on a show.

It was a very nice way to spend a blustery Saturday.