RHS mounts Monster Pumpkin show

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is holding its usual shows in London this autumn. Avid gardeners will be rushing over to gather some tips on autumn planting – but even the gardening amateurs among us can go and marvel at the monster veggies and see if the largest pumpkin is big enough to break some records.

The first event is the RHS London Harvest Festival Show on 6-7th October. Held just as the leaves begin to turn, this annual celebration of seasonal bounty will give visitors the chance to see, taste and buy fresh autumnal produce from some of the UK’s leading nurseries, growers and independent food producers. Among the range of colourful fruit and vegetables on show will be the astonishing entrants in the RHS Heaviest Pumpkin Competition, with professional and amateur growers competing for the top prize of £1,000.

This year the show has a special focus on one of Britain’s favourite fruits, the apple. The Two Thirsty Gardeners (Richard Hood and Nick Moyle) will be on hand to demonstrate how to make homebrewed cider with recipes from their new book Brew it Yourself, which will be available to buy at the show. As well as sampling the cider, visitors will be able to taste and purchase a range of delicious apple cultivars from RHS Garden Wisley and gain expert advice from the RHS Gardening Advice team.

Seasonal displays from Pennard Plants and RV Roger will offer inspiration on late-summer gardening. Visitors can try their hand at finding the perfect chilli with Sea Spring Seeds, and gourmet gardeners will be able to taste and stock up on garlic and other produce available from a range of exhibitors including The Garlic Farm.

On 6th October, the show stays open until 9pm to make time for additional pumpkin carving, apple bobbing, seasonal fruit cocktails from the Midnight Apothecary, food and live music.

Later on in October comes the RHS London Shades of Autumn Show, which will celebrate the beauty of autumn colour. It will be packed full of inspirational planting ideas to extend the gardening season, with sensational autumnal plant displays and opportunities to buy from the UK’s top specialist nurseries, including a wide range of spring bulbs, garden accessories and art. Us city dwellers will have a chance to go to workshops run by Petersham Nurseries on “Kokedama” – a Japanese technique which involves planting house plants in moss balls.

The Shades of Autumn Competition, which is open to all amateur growers, will present the pick of seasonal foliage and flowers from growers around the UK. Adding to this colour and creativity will be horticultural art installations from the Royal College of Art and the RHS-judged Plant and Garden Photography exhibit. Expert talks from nurseries on seasonal topics will also take place throughout the show.

•RHS London Harvest Festival Show, 6th October (10am-9pm); 7th October (10am-5pm). Non-members tickets £5 in advance, £8 on the door. Admission plus Midnight Apothecary Cocktail on 6th Oct late: £10 (+ delivery fee) in advance.

•RHS London Shades of Autumn Show, 23rd October (10am-7pm), 24th October (10am-5pm). Non-members tickets £5 in advance, £8 on the door. Admission plus Kokedama Workshop: £20 (+ delivery fee) in advance only (includes materials, but bring your own scissors and gloves). Both at Lindley Hall, Greycoat Street, Westminster SW1P 2PE
Tickets are available to buy in advance (from www.rhs.org.uk/Shows-Events) or on the door. RHS members gain FREE entry to all shows when they present their RHS Membership Card.

•The RHS is committed to bring the joy of gardening to millions more people, inspire the next generation of gardeners and invest in the future to safeguard a £10.4 billion industry employing more than 300,000 people. It is entirely funded by its members, visitors and supporters. For more information call 020-3176 5820 or go to www.rhs.org.uk/join

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Is your agapanthus poorly?

The RHS has appealed to gardeners to help fight off a new pest which is attacking agapanthus plants. The pest, which the RHS has named “agapanthus gall midge”, can cause deformity and discolouration of the flower buds of the plant, and in some cases cause the flower bud to fail to open. The severity of the effects of this gall midge can range from a couple of buds failing to the collapse of the entire flowerhead.

The tiny agapanthus gall midge lays eggs that develop into maggots inside the individual flower buds or inside the closed flowerheads as they are developing. Infestation can be confirmed by the presence of small maggots, 1-3mm in length, which are a creamy yellow colour.

The RHS is asking for samples of Agapanthus flowerheads that may be affected by agapanthus gall midge to be sent to its science team in sealed containers. Photographs of suspect plants will also prove hugely valuable to the team leading the research into this midge.

Speaking about the new pest, RHS Entomologist Dr Hayley Jones said: “We really hope that UK gardeners, who are often the first to spot new pests and diseases, join forces with us, Defra and international experts to increase our knowledge of this new and potentially destructive threat to Agapanthus.”

•Samples should be sent to: Entomology, RHS Garden Wisley, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. Images, with location information (particularly postcode) that will help the RHS map how widespread agapanthus gall midge is in the UK, can be sent to: advisory_entomology@rhs.org.uk

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