AGS Pershore Show 2026

One of the great things about going to the AGS shows each week is that it gets me out of the house, and I see from the roadside verges how spring is progressing.  Although the year so far has been unremittingly wet, and crocuses, snowdrops and celandines all look battered by the weather, it has generally been warm; this week we spotted the first bushes of cherry plum in bloom as we made our way up to Pershore.

I was concerned that it was rumoured that a team would be filming the show for Gardeners’ World, which would make it difficult for me to get around the show and take plants for photography, but in practice we managed not to get under each others’ feet, and it will be a great fillip to see an AGS show on the television (it should appear sometime in March)

Pershore is one of only two shows which still have an artistic section.  I always make a point of photographing all the entries.

Pictures of Alpines in their natural habitat

The Open section classes start with one for paintings of alpine plants in their natural habitat.  Many years ago, the style was to fill the sheet with a depiction of the habitat; more recently artists tend to produce a much more minimal depiction of habitat.  Rannveig Wallis’s three paintings of Galanthus plicatus, Trillium maculatum f simulans and Narcissus albimarginatus, had just sufficient indication of their habitat.

Pictures of Alpines showing characteristic habit

The two following classes are for portraits of alpine plants showing their characteristic habit (not habitat).  Here, the judges preferred three images of bearded irises by Caroline Jackson-Houlston over a more varied grouping by Rannveig Wallis showing Pterostylis coccina, Crocus minimus and Fritillaria gibbosa.

In the one pan class Caroline Jackson-Houlston entered a small painting of Iris reticulata ‘Scent Sation’.

Botanically accurate studies of Alpine Plants

There was only one painting in these classes – this image of Iris rosenbachiana by Rannveig Wallis.

Pictures in colour of the flowers or other parts of Alpine Plants

Anne Wright, who had journeyed down from Yorkshire with a car full of her miniature daffodil seedlings, also brought a few last minute entries for these two classes.  In the three picture class she entered Crocus baytopiorum, Crocus chrysanthus ‘Warley’ and Narcissus bulbocodium var. graellsii.  In fact all three showed the whole plant, including the roots, and they would have been perfectly suitable for the class for botanical studies.

Fritillaria meleagris

In the one picture class, Anne entered a beautiful, almost photographic rendering of a single flower of Fritillaria meleagris.  Anne won both these classes, which meant that she just pipped both Rannveig and Caroline for the Muriel Hodgman Art Award for the Artistic Open Section aggregate.  In addition, the Fritillaria received the Florence Baker Award for the best painting or drawing.

Pictures in colour of Alpine Plants in a creative style

There was one final painting in the open section, in the class for pictures in a creative style.  This was this flowing depiction of Iris ‘Katherine Hodgkin’ by Lesley Travis.

Three portraits of Alpine Plants

The first class in the Intermediate Artistic section is for three portraits of alpine plants (in any style), where Lesley Travis entered these three images of Cyclamen graecum, Lewisia tweedyi and Iris paradoxa. These helped her to the Artistic Award for the Intermediate Section aggregate.

An Alpine Plant in its natural habitat

Sandra Clements won this class with this image of Crocus vernus, which pleased the judges by showing considerably more habitat than the entries in the Open section.

A Picture of an Alpine plant showing characteristic habit

Lesley Travis entered this painting of Primula elatior in the class for a painting showing characteristic habit.  Although it does show the habit of the plant, for me the rendering is too loose and it would be better suited to the class for paintings in a creative style.

A Picture in colour of the flower or other parts of an Alpine Plant

There were three entries in this class

• Ophrys cornuta by Sandra Clements
• Clematis alpina by Rosemary Walker
• Crocus pulchellus by Lesley Travis

All three paintings had weaknesses; the judges chose the Ophrys for its more meticulous detail, although the green colour used seems unnatural.

A Picture in colour of an Alpine Plant in a creative style

There were two entries in the Intermediate section for a picture in a creative style:

• Helleborus lividus by Lesley Travis
• Crocus pulchellus by Rosemary Walker

Both had an appeal, but the Hellebore came out on top.

A Monochrome Drawing of an Alpine Plant

Likewise, there were two entries in the class for a monochrome drawing of an alpine plant

• Primula pedemontana by Lesley Travis
• Anemone narcissiflora by Rosemary Walker

The pen-and-ink drawing of the Primula in its natural habitat was particularly appealing.

Design inspired by Alpine Plants

There were two very different entries in the class for a design inspired by alpine plants.

• alpine card by Georgina Instone
• Narcissus pendant design by Sandra Clements

Although the card was much simpler than the silver smithing design, both had an appeal, and it was hard to compare the two.  The judges decided to award equal firsts.  I was pleased to catch up with Sandra later in the day, and photograph the actual pendant she had produced.

A piece of needlework inspired by alpine plants

One final class, and the only piece of needlework in the show was this Crocus from Georgina Instone.

As usual, I took photos of the show benches whilst judging was in progress, so most of them feature judges or stewards.

It was entertaining to see Rannveig Wallis, who was acting as Judging Coordinator, treating this eminent collection of judges like a rather unruly primary class.

Arum pictum ‘Primrose Warburg’

Whilst I was taking the views of the show, I took the opportunity to snap this arum exhibited by Bob Worsley, which I very much like but didn’t really want to carry.

West & Midland Iris Group display

I also photographed this display by the West and Midland Iris Group, which subsequently received a Gold Award.

Six small pans of Alpine Plants

Finally, I photographed this entry in the class for six small pans of alpine plants by Paul and Gill Ranson.  The three dionysias were fabulous, but rather showed up the weakness of the three primulas with them, which led to the exhibit as a whole being awarded a second rather than a first.

Crocus etruscus ‘Zwanenburg’

As always, once judging had finished I made a bee-line for the crocuses.  When the doors first opened, the hall was packed with visitors, which was great, but which made it difficult to get to the plants. This first pan was exhibited by our new, and former editor, John Fitzpatrick.

Crocus pelistericus

The other large pan on display was Ian Robertson’s Crocus pelistericus, which I photographed at the South Wales show.  A week later, it had more flowers, and they were fully open in the warm hall, but were also already tiring and starting to flag a little.

Colchicum luteum x kesselringii

Bob and Rannveig Wallis had a nice three-pan entry with the tricky Colchicum kesselringii, and this hybrid between it and the equally tricky Colchicum luteum, grown from Jim Archibald seed sown in 2006.

Scilla mischtschenkoana

Bob and Rannveig’s pan of Scilla mischtschenkoana is a familiar sight at these early spring shows.

Daubenya aurea

George Elder brought a few of his cherished South African bulbs.  We have come to look for this bright red form of Daubenya aurea at this show.  He exhibited four bulbs, three in this pot and one in a separate entry.  The judges awarded the pan of three a Certificate of Merit.

Gladiolus venustus

George also brought the beautiful Gladiolus venustus.

Galanthus ‘Claude Biddulph’

In the Novice section there was a new award, the Sue Bedwell Memorial Trophy, for the best plant in the section, to commemorate the late Sue Bedwell who passed away just over a year ago.  Sue loved snowdrops, so it was fitting that the trophy went to Michael Heseltine for Galanthus ‘Claude Biddulph’.

Galanthus AW 4136-1-19

In the Open section there was a fine poculiform seedling exhibited by Anne Wright, to which the judges awarded a Certificate of Merit.

Narcissus ‘Iapetus’

As well as snowdrops, Anne brought a wonderful collection of her own daffodil seedlings, which dominated the bulbous classes.  David Carver’s small pans didn’t get a look-in.  I photographed this one on the bench during judging, and meant to go back and collect it to photograph it properly, but Anne brought so many.  Much as I would have liked to, I couldn’t spend all day photographing daffodils.  Besides, I got a little confused about which ones I had photographed and which I hadn’t, and a number of them got away.

Narcissus hybrid AW 330

This little N. cyclamineus hybrid from Anne was very charming, and sparkled in the sunshine.

Narcissus ‘Palomina’

Another N. cyclamineus hybrid from Anne, this time with white tepals.

Narcissus hybrid AW 5001-2-21

This was a graceful, long-stemmed N. triandrus hybrid from Anne Wright.

Narcissus hybrid AW 4220

I missed several very compact petunioid Narcissus cantabricus seedlings from Anne in the small pan section, but in the Open section there were two larger pans. Both were considered for the award for the best bulbous plant; this one was runner-up, but a very fine plant.

Narcissus hybrid AW 3337-1

Instead the award went to this wonderful pan, which stood out on the bench.  Not only did it win the Audrey Bartholomew Memorial Award for the best bulbous plant for Anne, but it went on to receive the Farrer Medal for the best plant in the show.  I’m not surprised; this was one of the occasions when the Farrer plant shouts out to you as soon as you enter the hall. 

The RHS Alpine and Rock Garden Expert Group (formerly known as the Joint Rock Garden Group) also considered it, and awarded a Preliminary Commendation and a Cultural Commendation.

Corydalis maracandica

The other plant to receive an award from the RHS Alpine and Rock Garden Expert Group was this lovely clone of Corydalis maracandica from Bob and Rannveig Wallis.  Apparently it was even better last week, but I don’t remember seeing it.  This also received a Preliminary Commendation and a Cultural Commendation subject to naming – the species is variable and the committee wanted a specific name for this clone.

Corydalis popovii

Bob and Rannveig Wallis also received a Certificate of Merit for this Corydalis popovii, which I did photograph last week.

Corydalis verticillaris

And late on in the day I found and photographed this little pan of Corydalis verticillaris, also from Bob and Rannveig.

Gymnospermium albertii

David Carver exhibited a good plant of this golden orange Gymnospermium.

Ophrys fusca

As well as early Pleiones (‘Riah Shan’), Steve Clements showed one Mediterranean orchid species, Ophrys fusca, with two flowering stems.

Saxifraga ‘Corona’ and Saxifraga ‘Sissi’

The Henry Hammer Cup for the Novice section aggregate went to Graham Anderson, whose plants included some fine saxifrages.  These two are Saxifraga ‘Corona’ (yellow) and Saxifraga ‘Sissi’ (pink).

Cyclamen libanoticum

The Cyclamen Society Salver for the best Cyclamen went to Ian Robertson for this Cyclamen libanoticum, which was by no means the largest of his Cyclamen on the bench, but was the one in the best condition.

Dionysia hybrid ‘Corona’ MK 9914/4

There were lots of perfect small domes of Dionysia.  This lilac hybrid, ‘Corona’, was exhibited by Mark Childerhouse.

Dionysia tapetodes JRD 21/1/03

John Dixon also brought a lot of little Dionysia plants.  This is one of his own Dionysia tapetodes seedlings.  Five years to get to this size.

Dionysia iranshahrii JLMS02-55/GS

John’s plant of Dionysia iranshahrii drew a lot of attention, and received a Certificate of Merit from the judges.  It may not look huge, or covered in flowers, but it is difficult to grow, and it is a long time since I have photographed a plant of this species as big as this, or as well flowered.

Dionysia hybrid JLMS02-07/JM1 (D. khatami x.  ?janthina)

Of course, Paul and Gill Ranson also had an array of little Dionysia species and hybrids.  This is a wild-collected hybrid grown originally as D. khatami, which I have photographed several times over the years – I still find it beautiful.

Dionysia curviflora ENF93/11

Paul and Gill had a good plant of this lovely clone of Dionysia curviflora, raised from seed by the late Nigel Fuller.

Dionysia ‘Claire’ ENF-MK03146/7

This hybrid, again from Paul and Gill, was raised from seed by Nigel Fuller and named for his grand-daughter.

Dionysia ‘Zdenek Zvolanek’ MK9801/14

For the second week running, Paul and Gill won the award for the best plant in a 19cm pot (this week the Ashwood Trophy) for this fabulous plant of the D. afghanica hybrid ‘Zdenek Zvolanek’.

Hepatica japonica forma magna

There were some wonderful cultivars of Hepatica japonica in the Intermediate section.  This lovely red one was from Lesley Travis.

Hepatica japonica ‘Kanazawa’

Competing with Lesley was Christine Jarvis, whose plants included an equally lovely magenta form.  In the end, Christine narrowly won the Tomlinson Tankard for the Intermediate Section aggregate.

Hepatica japonica

Honours were even though, for Lesley won the Susan Clements Memorial Trophy for the best plant in the Intermediate section with this wonderful plant.

Hepatica japonica

In the Open section, the best of the Hepaticas came from Bob Worsley.  The first of these is the cultivar ‘Utyuu’.

As always, I would like to thank all of those who contributed to this excellent show.  Firstly, Gail Devries for organising the show, then all the volunteers who put up and later took down the tables, judged and stewarded the plants and recorded the results, and the exhibitors for bringing a wonderful display.  Excellent catering was provided in the plant sales hall by the school caterers, but I was so busy I barely ventured in there.