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I had obtained two tickets from Matt Busby for Saturday for the Southport Flower Show.
Unfortunately, I failed to contact Rita Baker, who was the only other member pencilled in
for the meeting, and only met her once we were inside. The show is still a tour de force of
all things horticultural. Matt was ably assisted on the BPS stand by Ray and Brenda Smith
and Ann Gill. The theme of the show was ‘Plants and Literature’ and Matt had done a great
job for the Society of finding many references to ferns from Shakespeare and the classics,
which were well arranged among the fern exhibits to very pleasing effect. [See also Matt’s
account of the Show on p. 152.]
Rita and I felt a little guilty about taking Ann away but she was keen to show us one stall in
particular as well as to see a little of the show herself. Our overall impression was that
although perhaps the Society may not have had a high profile over recent years, the hard
work of members doing a little here and there must have influenced the present times.
Everywhere we went ferns were being used discretely and subtly. Two stands stood out
fern-wise: Kaye’s Silverdale Nursery, which had some beautiful ferns, and also Trevana
Cross Nursery, Helston. I spoke to the owner of Trevana Cross who had imported some real
gems from a New Zealand nursery. Two that caught my eye were the Asplenium hybrid
‘Maori Princess’ (A. bulbiferum x A. oblongifolium) and well grown Blechnum fluviatile.
Time flew by, and Rita and I only
just made the doors of The
Southport Fernery, Churchtown
with a minute to spare. At 1pm
on the dot, Gary Manser, the
person in charge, appeared and
took us around. The fernery had
lots of potential, with tufa walls
providing the right growing
conditions for ferns. Gary was
able to spend sufficient time in
the fernery in between his other
commitments to keep the place
weed-free and tidy and he had
recently added a few new plants.
The fernery, however, was
inundated with fern weeds such
as Adiantum capillus-veneris,
Asplenium bulbiferum, Cyrtomium
photo: P.J. Acock fortunei, C. falcatum and Pteris
cretica. Other dominant weeds
Rita Baker & Gary Manser in Southport Fernery
were ivy-leaved toadflax and
Asparagus sprengeri. All these
plants would make a good backdrop for other ferns and a few more choice ferns would
really enhance the fernery. Budgets are tight these days but with the cost of maintenance
and Gary’s time to keep the fernery nice, the extra expense of a few new plants each year
would seem minimal and we hope Gary can continue to add to the collection. We gave
him suggestions as to where he may receive help but if you feel you could donate a few
plants or live nearby and could help in any other way, I’m sure Gary would be pleased to
hear from you.
Although few in number, when we were trying to encourage more members to visit
Southport Flower Show, I feel we had a splendid weekend of good weather, excellent
company and some lovely ferns.
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