Green Island Gardens in Colchester will host the Plant Fairs Roadshow for the first time on Sunday, the 4th of May. To the backdrop of bluebells, flowering azaleas, rhododendrons and extensive acer collection, the garden welcomes the collective of independent nurseries – including nurseries set to exhibit at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
A hardy group of forty-three independent nurseries, from across ten counties, make up the Plant Fairs Roadshow, a collective of specialists who take their plants on the road to some of the greatest gardens in the South East.
The 20 acres, Green Island Gardens with its unique microclimate, were designed by its owner Fiona Edmond, are laid out as a series of structured rooms, planted with a huge range of unusual trees, shrubs, perennials, and bulbs. Determined not to waste anything, nearly all of the features in the gardens have been created from wood and other materials found on site. The garden holds the National Collection of Hamamelis and Camellias.
Edmond said: “I am super excited to be hosting our first Plant Fairs Roadshow event at Green Island Gardens in May because sharing the garden with other passionate plantsmen who really appreciate what we are doing here is what makes all the hard work worthwhile”
“As a team of nurseries, we quite literally go on the road for seven months of the year, showcasing our plants at wonderful venues like Green Island Gardens and also the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. We are so pleased to get the chance to bring our plants to Fiona’s beautiful garden. We will have 13 nurseries in attendance at Green Island Gardens and they can’t wait to display their incredible plants,” explained Paul Seaborne, coordinator of the Plant Fairs Roadshow and owner of Pelham Plants.
