25 highlights at RHS Flower Show Cardiff...
The RHS Flower Show Cardiff is back next weekend and there’s so much to do for all the family. From toddlers to foodies and gardening experts, of course, these are the things you must not miss
FOR FAMILIES
Mini labs – National Museum Wales will ensure that learning is fun with a number of mini labs allowing little fingers to investigate rocks, minerals, fossils and plants through interactive activities.
Swift City Garden – getting ready for the swifts’ return to the city in May, step inside this family-friendly garden which recreates the coastal habitat of Cardiff Bay and encourages children to get closer to nature, hunt for mini beasts and enjoy a view of the swifts’ nesting tower.
Lily Pad Flower School – will be hosting children’s flower arranging and craft club workshops.
The Ebbw Vale Owl Sanctuary – will be at the show, allowing little ones to get up close to owls and learn all about this intriguing species.
Celebrate all things Cardiff – Grow Cardiff and designer Isla Horton will be creating their Such Wonderful Things Surround You feature to celebrate our city.
Taking inspiration from the Frozen song Under the Sea, the space will include dangling strawberry plant jelly fish, cress fountains and its very own Billy the Salad Seal!
Follow a trail – encouraging everyone to get growing, families can enjoy exploring the showground on a charming trail to hunt for giant watering cans and plant pots.
Festival flower workshops – there will be fresh flowers to create beautiful headdresses, buttonholes and bracelets with Sharon Dower Floral Innovations.
Wheelbarrow Competition – schools in Cardiff and surrounding areas will create fun and fantastic wheelbarrows for this year’s show; celebrating adventures of the sea to spark the imagination of all budding young gardeners. Roaming entertainers – the eternally curious Mr and Mrs Pigeon (The Pigeons!) will be investigating everything they come across, pecking and scratching around the showground; and showing their love ‘pigeon style’ with much strutting and feather ruffling.
FOR THE KEEN GARDENERS
Show gardens – these are a must for gaining inspiration. Cardiff-based father and son duo Richard and Adam Davis who will reconstruct the Welsh mountains with ‘Cwm Caerdydd’, using materials entirely sourced from Wales, highlighting everything they love about the Welsh landscape.
Showcasing a functional space for professional couples looking for a contemporary and green design requiring minimal maintenance, Bridgend College returns with firsttime designer Petra Kodurand to create Suburban Euphoria.
And self-taught landscaper Mike Furse brings Disequilibrium – a Japanese-themed garden featuring highly cultivated plants and intricate stone patterns to highlight stillness and simplicity for a peaceful setting.
Regeneration gardens – new for 2018, these will show visitors how everyday materials can be utilised to help transform spaces - without a huge outlay of cash.
Floral Marquee and Plant Village – these will be bursting with 60 top-quality nurseries for visitors to select the best seasonal plants. Takehome ideas to celebrate this spring, complete with new exhibitors including an unusual selection of epiphytic air plants from Andy’s Air Plants and Surreal Succulents who will display beautiful and easy-to-keep varieties.
Mendip Bonsai Studio – is set to bloom at this year’s show, introducing this beautiful species of tree to new audiences.
Celebrate British houseplants – helping to spearhead a real revival in the trend for indoor plants with varieties to suit every room is this year’s RHS Flower Show Cardiff Master Grower, Ruthin-based Dibleys.
Floristry Bench – take tips from with Justine Scouller, founder of Far Hill Flowers, an organic flower farm located just outside Monmouth.
Listen to the experts – this year’s speakers include celebrity florist Jonathan Moseley and passionate plantsman Matthew Biggs. Get top tips from a host of the best British growers and nursery experts who will set
you on the right path for a happy and healthy garden.
FOODIE FAVOURITES
Ridiculously Rich by Alana – The Apprentice winner Alana Spencer will be tempting visitors with her creamy salted caramel slices and gooey chocolate brownies.
Roberts Country Fayre – if a pie is what you’re looking for, then make your way to award-winning Roberts Country Fayre which offers deep-filled savoury and sweet pies using only the finest ingredients from local suppliers.
Blacks Cheese – with a host of far out flavours including sticky toffee mature cheddar – with real toffee pieces mixed in – the wonderful and wild varieties are a must try.
Cwm Deri Vineyard – what better to go with a fine cheese than a tipple of Welsh-brewed fruity wine? Leaf & Petal – for distinctive teas and teaware, pay a visit to Leaf & Petal.
Field Bar Gin – for gin lovers, a must-make pit stop is Field Bar Gin. With a variety of fabulous flavours including rhubarb, marmalade and even earl grey, it’s definitely one for the RHS radar.
The Cherry Tree – pick up a pot of chutney, jam or marmalade. Strawberry with Marc De Champagne, plum and mulled wine and cherry with port are just some of the choices on offer.
GENERAL HIGHLIGHTS
Experience the joys of upcycling – Green City Events will be hosting workshops creating yarn bombed old garden tools, paint pot planters, and repurposing old furniture as well as drop in garden craft demonstrations for upcycling hanging planters, lanterns and wind chimes.
Jump on the ferris wheel – a firm favourite from last year, you will be able to enjoy a spectacular view from the skies above the site.
RHS Flower Show Cardiff 2018 is at Bute Park, Cardiff Castle, from April 13 to 15. Opening times: Friday and Saturday 10am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4.30pm (plant sell off 4pm).
For more information and to book tickets, visit www.rhs.org.uk/cardiff