Get inspired at the Royal Norfolk Show

The Royal Norfolk Show is a huge celebration of everything that is great about the rural life of our county. It takes place on June 28th and 29th – Wednesday and Thursday of this week. The Norfolk Show is a great day out for all the family: there’s entertainment in the arena, trade stands selling great local produce and agricultural animals groomed to look their best. One subdivision of the show is the Flower and Garden show – a great place for budding horticulturists to get inspired.

Focus of the Flower and Garden Show

This area of the show is run in partnership with the Norfolk and Norwich Horticultural Society. The focus of this year’s flower shows are those English country garden favourites: roses, delphiniums and sweet peas. 

Roses

Roses have been grown in England since time immemorial and began to be cultivated in gardens during the Roman occupation. They became the symbol of two rival dynasties: Lancaster and York were represented by the red rose and the white. The two symbols were combined into the Tudor Rose when Henry VII married Elizabeth of York. Local rose breeder Peter Beales stocks over 700 varieties of rose.

Delphiniums

Delphiniums are another native flower, but the ones that are familiar today are much larger and better formed than the wild version – the result of breeding programmes that were undertaken in the early twentieth century. Mediaeval Englanders called the Delphinium ‘larkspur’ – a folk name that lingers on in parts of the country. The nectary – deep inside the flower – supposedly  looks like the claws of a lark. 

Sweet Peas   

Sweet peas are a modern import. They were originally native to the Mediterranean and, like roses and delphiniums, a huge breeding programme has made modern cultivars very different from their wild sweet-smelling ancestors.

If you want to find out more about these beautiful and versatile plants that would look beautiful growing out of a pot on your patio, pop along to the Norfolk Show and get inspired. If your garden is looking a bit tired and needs more attention than a few bloomers can offer, get in touch with Knight’s Paving and Landscaping. We offer a full landscaping service that will give you the garden that you always dreamed of. Call us on 01603 360548 or email enquiries@knightslandscaping.co.uk.

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