We were impressed by the new HTA National Plant Show at Stoneleigh Park this week. It got a large proportion of the UK’s major growers together under one roof. There seemed a few prominent companies missing, but perhaps they were waiting to see how the first year worked out.

One of the best features was the new plant competition. It was great to see more than 50 entries covering all types of garden plants. A few creases need to be ironed out (why were some Nemesia varieties classed as annuals whilst others were classed as perennials? Surely it would be better to have a “patio and bedding” class instead) but overall our impression was positive. We’ll be looking to support this further in coming years.

This year, five PFE-managed varieties were in the competition. It is a reflection of the quality of output from our breeders that four of these plants were given awards:

• Nemesia Framboise (bred by Martine Tellwright) – GOLD
• Leucanthemum Real Galaxy (Richard Read and Keith Lintott) – SILVER
• Geum Totally Tangerine (Tim Crowther) – BRONZE
• Nemesia Mirabelle (Martine Tellwright) – BRONZE

For details on any of these plants, please contact us.

Horticulture Week has picked up the story on the exclusion of Plant Variety Rights from the proposed “Patent Box”. See here.

Yucca gloriosa Bright Star, raised by PFE client Tim Crowther and managed in Europe by Plants For Europe, has won the "Best Novelty 2009" award at IPM Essen 2009 in the category Container Plants.

The award citation highlights the innovative features of the plant, its ease of cultivation and its drought resistant qualities. The judges believe it will be an important variety in the current trend for "exotic" plants.

Bright Star was submitted for the competition by Fitzgerald Nurseries Limited of Stoneyford, Republic of Ireland. We wish to thank them and congratulate them on achieving this award.

More information on Yucca Bright Star can be found here.

I’ve been atrocious at keeping this site and blog updated recently, so please accept my apologies for that – I promise to do better.

In the meantime, two other websites have had improvements recently – one for consumers and one for the trade. For consumers, the RHS website now features blogs. Graham Rice’s is particularly worth reading – he’s just posted a piece on David Tristram’s new Helleborus.

For the trade, the Horticulture Week website has had a major birthday and now features the latest news (and not just last week’s articles). Part of me wonders what is going to drive people to subscribe to the paper edition of the magazine now that all the main stories are featured here. But, from a usability point of view, it’s a major step forward.

We were delighted to see that Lavandula stoechas With Love was a part of Downderry Nursery’s Gold Medal stand at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Congratulations to Simon and all the team at Downderry for this success.

With Love received some television coverage as part of the BBC’s programmes about the Flower Show, so we are sure that this will boost demand for this excellent plant even further. This is an example of the sort of publicity that PFE can achieve for new plants – in this instance, we were able to use our good relationship with Downderry to invite them to include the plant in their exhibit. Simon expertly grew exhibition quality plants from young plants supplied by our Dutch licensee, Kwekerij van Heesbeen, and will also be offering the variety direct to his own customers at his nursery and by mail order.

We now have three licensees for With Love – Downderry, van Heesbeen and Farplants – and we have now begun to talk with more growers about this superb plant.

Meanwhile, we have also begun a dialogue with exhibitors with a view to seeing more product launches at future RHS events. Watch this space!