Two views of an outstanding trip.

On Sunday 13th April a large contingent of WAGS, including myself, set forth in Tappins coach, driven by our favourite driver for Bournemouth. We were bound for the Purbeck Hall to attend the last day of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Roadshow. I was not too sure what made up a horticultural roadshow but should, of course, have realised it was a Floweer show and this one, being under the aegis of the RHS, was a good one.

There were two competitions - The RHS Ornamental Plant Competition and the RHS Main Camellia Competition. Both were well supported and a number of exhibits received RHS Medals.

One thing that struck me on arrival was that Purbeck Hall was circular. Without exception all Flower Shows I have attended have been held in rectangular rooms with exhibits on long tables. To see them all meant walking for miles. If one stood in the middle of Purbeck Hall the farthest exhibit was only the radius of the Hall away.

As far as I could make out, all the Exhibitors were professional. It was not possible to examine each of the stands of the 39 Exhibitors so, I only went to those which interested me most. Taking them in alphabetical; order, Broadleigh Gardens from Taunton had a large and excellent display of miniature daffodils and other spring flowering bulbs. Dibleys Nurseries from North Wales had their usual splendid show of streptocarpi. I was also impressed by the plants and ferns from around the world shown by Hampshire Carnivorous Plants. Then there was the spring flowering alpines of W.E. Th Ingersen which were lovely. As far as I was concerned the exhibits I liked best were the glorious carnations shown by Steven Bailey Ltd of Sway near Lymington and the majestic camellias of Trehane Nursery from nearby Wimborne. I bought a couple of fushias from White Veil Fushias, also from Wimborne, and also an excellent book on camellias published by Batsford which had been reduced from £30 to £10!

It is inevitable that the above account is entirely biased to that which interests me. I am sure everyone will agree that it was a great day, a really good exhibition in a really good hall. There were alternative things to do e.g. visit the nearby aquarium. (I am not sure if anybody paddled in the sea).

But we must all be most grateful to Iris for taking us on such a delightful trip - yet another of her triumphs.

Gilbert Talbot.

Yet once again we had an enjoyable day’s outing on Sunday - thanks to Iris - when we went to Bournemouth to a new venue for the RHS which they called a "road show". Although I would have liked to have seen more flower displays, what were there were specialist growers with their wonderful arrays and we had time to share our problems (garden ones, of course) with the people on the stands. I have never seen such huge peonies and at first we did not think they were real.

We even had time to sit on a wall outside the BIC to enjoy an ice cream - although we had left the sunshine behind us in Oxfordshire it was indeed a very pleasant day. Thank you Iris.

June Knight.