Saturday 18 April 2015

Photo essay: alpine delights at the AGS Chesterfield show


Alpines are fast becoming a bit of a passion for me and I was finally able to attend my first AGS (Alpine Garden Society) show last weekend, this one the North Midland Show in Chesterfield. Although I have nothing to compare it to, I thought it was a great show, a large variety of alpines on display and it was easy to spend nearly 4 hours there. Luckily there was a cafe and plenty of seating, so it was easy to take some ME rests in between viewing the alpine delights.

What follows is a photo essay of some of the plants I particularly loved. There are quite a few Fritillaries. I think I'm in love with Fritillaries...

Narcissus ornatus

Fritillaria elwesii

Fritillaria hermonis Anti Lebanon Form
(I would love to know why it's called Anti Lebanon... Anyone know?)
Update 19Apr: Thanks to @StripeyCaptain I learned that the name comes from the 
Seed probably collected from there.

Erythronium sp.

Fritillaria bucharica

Leptinella squalida 'platt's black'

Sempervivum calcareum

Anemonella thalictroides rosea

Fritillaria tuntasia

Fritillaria crassifolia x

Fritillaria crassifolia kurdica

Fritillaria alfredae glaucovirdis

Fritillaria davisii

Lewisia tweedyi

Anemonella thalictroides

Erythronium hendersoni

Anemone nemerosa alleni

Sedum capa blanca

Fritallaria affinis var tristulis

Fritallaria affinis var tristulis

Fritillaria acmopetala wendelboi

Pulsatilla patena v. nuttalliana

I, of course, came away with a few plants...


These include Bellevalia paradoxa, which looks like a muscari and apparently used to be part of that genus, but is now part of the Asparagaceae family.

Bellevalia paradoxa

I also picked up Anemonella thalictroides 'Amelia', Androsace carnea rosea and Erythronium californicum 'White Beauty'.

Anemonella thalictroides 'Amelia'

Androsace carnea rosea

Erythronium californicum 'White Beauty'

Would I go again? You bet! And I hope to visit other AGS shows in the future. And if you haven't yet discovered the delights of alpines, I hope this makes you want to explore them further.