A quick jaunt out to a plant fair

I do love a good plant fair and for the past few years I like to visit the plant fairs held at Swinesmeadow Farm Nursery which is run by my friends Colin and Karan Ward.  It is always good to have a catch up with them and I have never been known to arrive back home empty handed.  Their April plant fair was held the other day so I set my car eastwards and set off.

First to be purchased was this heritage tulip Absalon from one of the stalls. I saw it......

..... and I had to have it. I did not do my usual 'walk around all the stalls and then go back and buy', there was only one and it was coming home with me.

Is it not a thing of beauty?  Its the sort moment when you realise why tulipmania was a thing.

Second to be bought was this Plume Poppy, Macleaya microcarpa.

This had lots of shoots and I decided I could probably make this into several plants when I got it home.  I know this plant can have a tendency to run so I will have to keep a bit of any eye on it.

Finally, there was this fantastic Toona sinensis 'Flamingo'

this tree has the most amazing pink new foliage,

to see it is to love it.  Colin showed me the specimen he has in his garden and it is a great tree.  I was tempted to buy it from a photo Colin posted on twitter.  I ummed and arred a bit as really I do not have any room for more trees.  Then Colin used those fateful words 'you can shrub it', well then it was easy and Colin put one on one side for me.  Now pink foliage is not for everyone, and usually I would have also been in that club, but this just caught me at a weak moment I think.  I seem to have a lot of weak moments around plants.