Garden Shows and Events

Below is a list of forthcoming Garden Shows and Events in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

If you would like to publicise your society's event (it's FREE) please submit the details here.

All dates and times are to the best of our knowledge correct at the time of compiling this page. Always check with organisers before attending.

Friday 16th - 18th Sunday May 2008 at 9.00 a.m.	Derby Garden Show Locko Park Spondon Derby. Tel: 01384 370843 Admission: £6.50 Parking available. The New Derby Garden Show takes place in the picturesque grounds of the 300 acre Locko Park, by kind permission of the Palmer Family. With an historic country house which dates back to the early 18th Century, Locko Park is a spectacular parkland venue popular for many different types of indoor and outdoor events. The estate can be traced back as far as the 11th century and the chapel in the estate grounds dates back to 1669. The Hall itself boasts some exceptional examples of Italian inspired artwork and architecture, much of which dates back to the 1850s when a local architect was commissioned to decorate the Hall in Italian style. The delightful backdrop of Locko Hall provides an exceptionally attractive setting for the New Derby Garden Show. Conveniently situated in the Derbyshire countryside within easy reach of Derby, Nottingham and Leicester, Locko Park is only five miles from the M1 motorway (J25). The nearest village is Spondon (Sat Nav DE21 7BW). For further details of event, visit www.derbygardenshow.co.uk
Saturday 17th - 18th Sunday May 2008 from 1.00 p.m.	Nutley Open Gardens Weekend Nutley. East Sussex Tel: Diane Miles on 01825 712071 Parking: Available throughout Nutley. Admission: Adults £5.00. For £5.00 you can visit 16 Gardens as many times as you like all weekend. Plus two plant sales, home-baked bread, home-made cakes, preserves, cream teas and a garden raffle. There is a minibus travelling between the gardens to save your legs! On 17th & 18th tickets only available from Nutley Social Club (A22 well-signed). Tickets are available prior to the event from Wendy Blake Tel: 01825 713997.
Sunday 18th May 2008 from 10.00 a.m.	Plant Hunters' Fair Northop Mold. Flintshire Tel: Judy Jesse on 01978 761083 Parking: There is FREE car parking. Admission: FREE entry. Free entry to this popular plant fair featuring specialist nurseries selling a wide range of hard to find and interesting plants. In aid of NCCPG North Wales Group. For further details of event, visit www.planthuntersfairs.co.uk
Sunday 18th May 2008 from 10.00 a.m.	Chester Zoo Plant Conservation Day nr Chester Cheshire Tel: 01244 650209 FREE Parking within Zoo grounds. Admission: Adults £10.95, Children (aged 3-15) £7.95 Meet the Gardeners here at Chester Zoo and learn about the rare and endangered species of plant that we hold here at the Zoo. You may even be able to pot a plant yourself and take it home to grow. For further details of all events, visit www.chesterzoo.org
Friday 24th - 26th Sunday May 2008 at 9.30 a.m.	Yorkshire Home & Garden Show Cottingham Parks Hull. Tel: 0845 463 9052 Admission: Adults £8.00, Senior Citizens £6.00, Children (5-15yrs) £5.00 Parking available.
Sunday 25th May 2008 at 11.00 a.m.	Mellor Open Gardens Mellor Stockport. Cheshire Tel: 0161 237 1234 Admission: £5.00 Programme Parking: Some Mellor Open Gardens is a charity fund raising event supporting Cancer research UK and the local parish centre. Around 16 outstanding local private gardens are open to the public all day. More information at www.melloropengardens.org.uk
Monday 26th May 2008 at 10.00 a.m.	Plant Hunters' Fair Stonyford Cottage Nursery Stonyford Lane Cuddington Northwich. Cheshire Tel: Judy Jesse on 01978 761083 Admission: FREE. Parking: Some. Free entry to this new plant fair featuring specialist nurseries selling a wide range of hard to find and interesting plants. Gardens open to the public for separate charge.. For further details of event, visit www.planthuntersfairs.co.uk
Sunday 1st June 2008 at 12.00 noon	Plant Hunters' Fair Norton Priory Museum & Gardens Tudor Road, Manor Park Runcorn. Cheshire Tel: Judy Jesse on 01978 761083 Admission: FREE. Parking: There is free car parking. Free entry to this popular plant fair featuring many specialist nurseries selling a wide range of interesting and unusual plants. Gardens and tea room open to the public for separate charge. For further details of event, visit www.planthuntersfairs.co.uk
Friday 6th - 8th June 2008 at 10.00 a.m.	The Garden Show Stansted Park Rowlands Castle. Hampshire Tel: 01243 586323 Admission: Adults £7.00 - Concessions £5.00 - Family £22.00 Parking: On grass - FREE. Fourteen years ago a seed was sown at the Garden Show at Stansted Park creating a forum for new and talented businesses; giving enthusiasts access to the cutting edge of gardening. This affordable and accessible event has evolved over the years and inspired thousands of visitors to take a fresh look at their homes, garden and life. The organizers are committed to the show’s original ethos where businesses are carefully selected for their quality and innovation. Areas have been added to highlight important current issues and this year the specialist nurseries; garden designers & suppliers; artists; sellers of the best country foods & wines and well-being therapists are joined by ‘The Fair Trading Group’ whose companies sell ethically sourced world wide goods. Environmental awareness continues to be raised in a dedicated area within the showground and there will be a new and complementary focus on ‘grow and cook your own’, a celebration of good cooking and an introduction to the joys of growing and harvesting your own produce however small your patch. Additionally Kevin Love will host The Taste Experience with cooking demonstrations & wine tastings sourcing local ingredients from the array of fine foods, wines, liqueurs, beers & ciders in ‘The Country Food Marquee’. A wide range of charities are supported, including The Prince’s Trust, giving their creative companies the opportunity to exhibit alongside established businesses. After its success last year The English Garden Roadshow will return with daily Q & A sessions hosted by a lively panel of garden experts - a great opportunity to pick their knowledgeable brains and profit from their expertise. There will also be Free Talks on the environment, grow your own and sustainability. Apart from the extensive selection of stands there is much else to attract the public - the highly popular daily guided herb walks around the estate and the many on stand demonstrations. Visitors can explore Stansted Park; the renovated Dutch Walled Garden; the peaceful Well Head Garden or enjoy the stunning trees of The Bessborough Arboretum where a mini-railway chugs around in great style! There is also Stansted House (with its Below Stairs Experience) & The Chapel, full of fabulous flower arrangements. This is a show that has traveled down a unique garden path. The landscape has changed but the original essence has held true. Talented individuals continue to gain visibility and provide the many visitors with a taste of what is good about art, design and the garden.
Thursday 12th June 2008 at 10.00 a.m.	Get a Taste for Garden Design Garden Design School Painshill Park Cobham. Surrey Tel: 01380 728788 Admission: £25.00 (includes lunch, refreshments, materials). Parking: FREE parking. Find out what it’s really like to study and work as a professional garden designer at a special ‘taster day’ being organised by Garden Design School. The day is hosted by the college’s founders and principal lecturers, Robin Templar Williams and Moira Farnham, who have 30 years teaching experience between them and are also successful, practising, RHS award-winning garden designers. The aim of the event is to provide a realistic but practical and enjoyable insight into the world of garden design. Also covered are the technical and commercial skills needed to become a successful designer and a look at the content and structure of the college’s intensive, one year, part-time Diploma Course in Garden Design. Former students who have ranged in age from 22 to 64 will be on hand to explain how they have launched exciting new careers. For further details of event, visit www.gardendesignschool.com
Saturday 21st June - Sunday 22nd 2008 at 10.00 a.m.	Abbots Ripton Hall Garden Show Abbots Ripton Huntingdon. Cambridgeshire Tel: 07802 282193 Admission: £7.00 Children (Under 15) Free. Parking: Yes. Major Charity Garden Show. Gardens Open, Show Gardens, Schools 'Grub in Tub', Art Show and Antiques Road Show by Cheffins Over 100 Trade Stands. Hot & Cold Food all day. Brass Bands. All in aid of Cambridgshire Charities. For further details of event, visit www.abbotsriptonhall.co.uk
Friday 4th July 2008 from 10.00 a.m.	Lazy Summer Evenings at the Zoo nr Chester. Cheshire Tel: 01244 650209 FREE Parking within zoo grounds. Admission: Adults £10.95, Children (aged 3-15) £7.95 A new event to celebrate Year of the Gardens - come along to the Zoo as the sun goes down and experience the special atmosphere of an evening at Chester Zoo. Pre-booking will be available. For further details of all events, visit www.chesterzoo.org
Friday 18th - Sunday 20th July 2008 at 10.00 a.m.	The Great Gardening Show Loseley House Guildford Surrey Tel: 07876 645355 Admission: Adults £7.00, Concessions £6.00 Parking for over 5,000 cars. Now in its 12th year, our flagship event continues to grow with more stands than ever. Attractions include expert advice in the Gardener's Forum, show gardens, specialist nurseries, gourmet food, tools, garden statues, horticultural antiquities, books, clothing, Loseley dairy and baked products, and access to the famous walled gardens.
Sunday 10th August 2008 at 11.00 a.m.	Knowsley Flower Show Court Hey Park Roby Road Huyton. Knowsley Merseyside Tel: 0151 443 2155 Admission: FREE On site parking is limited, free park and ride is available. The 10th Knowsley Flower Show will once again be staged at Court Hey Park, home of National Wildflower Centre. With 15,000 visitors last year, the show is affiliated to the Royal Horticultural Society and is the largest free horticultural shows in the North West. The Show offers budding gardeners and novices the opportunity to enter over 100 classes with a chance to win some fantastic prize money. As well as the Large Floral and Plant Society Marquees which are always a blaze of colour, there is a host of entertainment and attractions including Hawkeye Falconry and Dog Displays. There is the added attraction of the Youth Arts Friendship Field, with live music, dance and craft activities or you could try to master some Circus skills? With lots of plant sellers and growers giving advice and helpful tips, Gardeners Question Time and lots more. It’s a great day out for the whole family.
Saturday 16th August 2008 from 10.00 a.m.	Lazy Summer Evenings at the Zoo nr Chester. Cheshire Tel: 01244 650209 FREE Parking within Zoo grounds. Admission: Adults £10.95, Children (aged 3-15) £7.95 A new event to celebrate Year of the Gardens - come along to the Zoo as the sun goes down and experience the special atmosphere of an evening at Chester Zoo. Pre-booking will be available. For further details of all events, visit www.chesterzoo.org
Sunday 24th & Monday 25th August 2008 from 10.00 a.m.	Plant Hunters' Fair The Dorothy Clive Garden Willoughbridge. North Staffs Tel: 01270 811443 Parking: Yes. Admission: Special Offer half price £2.50 (entry to Garden and Fair.) To celebrate 50 Years of the Garden Trust a special plant hunters' fair is being held in the garden. Specialist nurseries featuring RHS Gold Medal Winners and National Collection Holders. Thousands of plants, many rare and unusual and expert advice direct from the growers. Free guided tours of the garden and talk on the history of the garden by curator, Paul Macauley. For further details of event, visit www.planthuntersfairs.co.uk
Saturday 6th September 2008 from 2.00 p.m.	Newton-Le-Willows Flower & Vegetable Show St.Aelred's Technology College Birley Street Newton-Le-Willows St.Helens. Merseyside Tel: Ursula Harrison on 01942 274584 Parking: Free, within school grounds. Admission: FREE. Competitive classes for flowers, pot plants, vegetables, fruit, art, photography, baking, jam, chutney, flower arranging and also classes for children to enter. There will also be stalls selling plants, spring bulbs, secondhand books, a tombola and a raffle. The Show will end with an auction of the produce. For more details about the Show or any other events organised by the Newton-Le-Willows Gardeners' Association, see our website at www.nlwgardeners.com
Saturday 6th - Sunday 7th September 2008 at 10.00 a.m.	The Garden Show in Autumn Althorp. Northamptonshire Tel: 01243 586323 Parking: On grass - FREE. Admission: Adults £5.00 - Senior/Child/Student £3.00 - Family £16.00 (2 Adults +3 Children). ‘The Garden Show in Autumn’ returns to Althorp September 2008. After the launch of the successful ‘taster’ event in 2007 the show returns bigger and better than ever. Two days of garden therapy: specialist plantsmen and designers invite enthusiasts to share their vision in the creation of beautiful gardens. A wide and really different range of gardening products, sculpture, art, gifts, country food and wines to be found in one accessible location in Althorp’s stunning deer park. The Garden Show is committed to an accessible, affordable & inspirational event, avoiding the pressure & expense of the larger shows. Specialist nurseries; garden designers & suppliers; artists; country foods & wines inspire visitors to take a fresh look at their homes, gardens & life. The Show will be supporting several charities and is most especially dedicated to assisting ‘start up’ companies, giving exciting & creative businesses the opportunity to exhibit alongside established ones. Our gardens and homes are as unique as we are as individuals and with 100 stands and four marquees, there is plenty to choose from and be inspired by a celebration of all that is good in the garden, art and design as well as ourselves. September is an ideal time to be taking a look at the garden & planning autumn planting. As the results of the both the Stern and UN Reports reverberate throughout the UK, confirming frightening scientific and economic facts about climate change, it is particularly important that everyone knows what they can do, however small, as part of the collective effort to halt the progress of global warming. Therefore, bearing in mind water conservation, there will be plenty of advice on which plants are can be planted at this time of year. Daily Free Talks & Demonstrations will take place on gardening, floral art & cooking hosted by a knowledgeable and lively panel of experts, all willing to share their trade secrets. Apart from the introduction of this new and exciting forum, the show will continue to provide on stand demonstrations from a variety of exhibitors providing plenty of opportunities to learn about their business and products, from willow weaving to watering systems - certainly something for every visitor to look forward to and utilise. Apart from the extensive selection of stands there is so much else to experience at Althorp. The show provides plenty of children’s entertainment so the whole family will be busy and occupied and there is the chance to explore the wonderful house and see its treasures; discovering beautiful interiors and one of Europe’s finest private collections of furniture, pictures and ceramics. Share in the beauty of the magnificent park and stroll through the remodeled gardens, then perhaps take the opportunity to reflect by the peaceful Round Oval Lake. The Garden Show has traveled down its unique garden path since the initial summer show at Stansted Park, Hampshire fourteen years ago and this year the show completes its season of shows with the introduction of a spring event at Firle Place in East Sussex. Inevitably the landscape will change at each venue and with each season; some ideas & thoughts being reworked but the original essence will hold true; the determination to give talented individuals visibility whilst providing enthusiastic visitors access to the cutting edge of gardening, art & design.
Sunday 7th September 2008 from 10.00 a.m.	Plant Hunters' Fair Ness Botanic Gardens Ness. Neston South Wirral Tel: Judy Jesse on 01978 761083 Parking: There is free car parking. Admission: £1.00 entry to fair, optional entry to garden. Plant fair featuring many local nurseries selling many interesting, rare and unusual plants. For further details of event, visit www.planthuntersfairs.co.uk
Saturday 20th - Sunday 21st June 2009 at 10.00 a.m.	West Woodhay House Garden Show near Newbury. Berkshire Tel: Nigel Dyson on 07802 282193 Parking: Yes. Admission: £7.00 - Groups £5.00 - Children (Under 15) Free. Major Charity Garden Show in the Gardens of West Woodhay House, near Newbury. Show Gardens, Schools Competition, Art Show and Antiques Roadshow. Over 100 Trade Stands. Hot & Cold Food throughout the weekend. There will also be Brass Bands and a Silent Auction. A Gala Evening will take place on the Friday Evening. NAFAS Floral Art Show will also take place. For further details of event, visit www.westwoodhaygardenshow.co.uk
Saturday 4th - Sunday 5th July 2009 at 10.00 a.m.	Stradsett Hall Garden Show Downham Market. Norfolk Tel: Nigel Dyson on 07802 282193 Parking: Yes. Admission: £7.00 - Groups of 20 or more £5.00 - Children (Under 16) Free. Major Charity Garden Show in the Stradsett Hall Gardens, Downham Market, Norfolk. Show Gardens, Schools Competition, Art Show and Antiques Roadshow. Over 100 Trade Stands. Hot & Cold Food throughout the weekend. There will also be Brass Bands and a Silent Auction. A Gala Evening will take place on the Friday Evening. For further details of event, visit www.stradsetthall.co.uk

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