The Hardy Plant Society AGM at Bishop Burton College

One of my favourite events in the year is the Hardy Plant Society AGM.  It is hosted by a different local group every year so this means you get to visit lots of interesting new places.  It also means that there will be interesting local nurseries selling plants there that you might otherwise have not come across.

This year the AGM was held near Hull at Bishop Burton College.  This was a very good venue for the meeting as it was easy to access and has a good walled garden that was perfect for wandering around at lunch time.

It is clearly a bit of a sun-trap.

and it boasts these very fine gates dedicated to Diana, Princess of Wales.  The walled garden was well worth a visit, but it was not the main reason for the visit.

We had two speakers on the day:

Christopher Grey Wilson who talked very knowledgeably about poppies, all sorts of poppies, it was a poppy shopping list.

After lunch the talk was given by Andy McIndoe who talked to us very knowledgeably about shrubs.  This was also a shopping list.  It was remarked upon that both speakers were holders of RHS Veitch Memorial medals, which is a very high honour in horticultural circles.  I am a very proud trustee of the Hardy Plant Society and it is on days like this that I really appreciate what a great society it is to be a member of.

There were also plant stalls, so of course you know what happened, I bought a plant or few:

Not all of these are mine, but it was the sign of a very good day out.

This is what I bought:

I bought this Coronilla citrina to replace the one I had until recently.  These are quite shortlived shrubs but they are worth every moment.  They flower for a good eleven months of the year and the scent is divine.

This little Mitella jumped into my hands whilst I was looking at the members stall.  This is always a good stall as it is full of fascinating plants from members' gardens.  They are often cheap as chips too.

I like a good Tiarella and this is a good one.

This heuchera, Lady Salisbury, also demanded to come home with me.

This wonderfully big-leafed Epimedium perralderianum, waggled its leaves at me from across the room and I fell for its charms.

and this Scopolia carniolica V. Brevifolia also wanted a ride home.

But, but, all of these pale into insignificance to the plant that I hoped would be there.  The plant I had seen earlier in the week referred to elsewhere and I had made a note of as I needed to find one.  The plant that at that point, my heart desired....

Glaucidium palmatum.  Isn't she lovely? Isn't she won-der-ful?  I bought her immediately on sight, I could not risk losing her.

It is still rather frosty out at nights at the moment so I popped them into the greenhouse to plant out when it is a little warmer.  The Glaudicium was the most costly of my purchases but all in all I spent well and I was happy.

To make my happiness even larger, I picked up these seeds left over from the seed exchange scheme.
We had the most wonderful day.  We learned a lot from the talks, we met up with friends, we bought plants and we ate cake.

We did ponder what the wicker man was doing in the greenhouse, but discretion is our byword so we looked the other way.

and we drove home along Giant Bradley Way.  As I was a passenger I could google Giant Bradley and we arrived home more informed about this giant of a man.  It felt like the perfect end to a great day.

I end with a massive thank you to the local East Yorkshire Group for hosting us so well and to Cynical Gardener .