Related links
- 2008 Events
- Great Northern Carnation Society 2008 show Report
- Harrogate 08
- VISIT TO HIGHGROVE HOUSE - HOME OF THE PRINCE OF WALES AND THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL
- Bakewell Show 08
- Harrogate Great Yorkshire Show – 2008
- June Show 2008 report
- Lady Salisbury at the June Show
- Pinks and Carnations Day 2008
- BNCS visit to Southview Nursery 2008
- Chelsea 2008
- Westminster Show report 2007
- BNCS Carnation World Championship
- Harrogate Autumn 2007 Show Report
- Southport Show 2007
- Notts Carnation Show
- Allwoods visit 2007
- BNCS at Gardeners World Birmingham
- BNCS AGM Report 2007
- PF's at The Royal Welsh Show 2007
- Floral Art at Westminster
- Behind the scenes at Westminster
- Visit to Whetmans nursery 2006 report
- 2005 Show Reports by Neville Smith
- The Annual General Meeting 2006
Pinks and Carnations Day 2008
Held on 18th June at Wisley this was certainly one of the highlights of the carnation year.
The day which, coincided with the BNCS June Show, consisted of a visit to the pinks and border carnation trials ground and then a series of lectures and demonstrations in the Hillside Centre. The public poured in and the day was a resounding success.
On the trials ground the pinks were at their best and the air was full of their fragrance.
On entering the Hillside Centre there was a competition to judge the most fragrant pink won by Lady in Red. I am only sorry that the internet cannot transmit the fragrance to you the reader!!
All our exhibits were admired (see June Show report) especially the floral art, and there was a superb educational stand demonstrating cultural techniques and seed propagation thanks to Peter Booker et al.
The first demonstration was by Helen Bostock and was on floral art. A report on this appears in the Floral Art section . It set the scene to encourage using dianthus blooms in the home starting with the simplest of techniques, which any grower could achieve, to more elaborate but stunning arrangements.
Then we were treated to Mark Trenear’s talk on the history of dianthus. I never cease to be amazed at Marks endless knowledge of this subject. He comes out with new information every time. Mark runs Southview Nursery
Rather inconspicuous in the back row I noticed Emma Townshend gardening journalist from the Independent on Sunday. You may have noticed her recent article on pinks written in a refreshing style. She was busy taking copious notes from this and subsequent lectures, and then viewed all the BNCS exhibits. Keep an eye on this paper in the weeks to come. I think we are going to see a lot more about dianthus and the BNCS!
Peter Booker of Bofield Nursery then gave an inspiring demonstration about growing pinks from seed showing their stages of development. I am sure everyone there will want to have a go at producing their own new variety!
Then Vic Borrett went on to show how to grow spray carnations with the emphasis on producing plants suitable for use on the patio with five plants to a ten litre pot. He demonstrated the disbudding technique, the exact opposite to PFs. (I forget the number of times I have got my plants mixed up!)
Finally John Whetman (of the world famous firm of pinks breeders) shared his knowledge on the subject of scent in pinks. This was extremely interesting and certainly brought home to me that whilst we think of cloves as the quintessential fragrance of dianthus there are cultivars with very varied scents. I was fascinated to hear that when assessing new varieties they place then in a walkway at the nursery used by all so that when passing staff can record the nature and intensity of the fragrance at different times of the day. As well as chocolate, clove, roses, etc. I was surprised to hear that some blooms smell of old socks!
Without doubt the established formula of pinks day is extremely successful and I hope will run for years to come.
The Trade Stands were:-
And Whetmans Pinks
