Re: what makes a good garden show

**K* M* <k*@iol.ie>**

If parking were critical Chelsea would have closed down years ago  
since it has none at all. And you can't buy plants to take away  
except on the last day. Of course there is the Chelsea tradition but  
some other factor must be working the magic, since the crowds are a  
nightmare nowadays.

Here in Ireland there has been one attempt after another to establish  
a garden show, and one failure after another. Some have had good  
parking, some haven't. Some have had fine speakers and  
demonstrations, others haven't. But the one thing every single one of  
them has lacked to my mind, and its unfortunate that Irish garden  
writers have covered it up, is really good displays. If you can't go  
to a show and see a range of well designed AND WELL PLANTED gardens,  
with ideas that can be adapted to every size and shape of home  
garden, along with really beautiful commercial displays, then the  
show will fail. Designers must produce something interesting and  
approachable, there has to be range of both formal and informal  
schemes, there have to be a good number of gardens - a dozen won't  
cut it.

There has been mention of late that our public are beginning to ask  
for vegetable gardens, natural planting, wildlife gardens - we need  
to give them these if this is where the cutting edge is going to be.  
If we live in an area where watering is becoming an expensive problem  
for our clients we need to show them xeriscapes that will still  
appeal to someone who last year wanted a lush lawn. Of course we must  
follow our hearts - but we must learn to take our audience with us  
and organisers need to make sure that they have commercial suppliers  
present who will enable the visitor to take home a little bit of the  
dream. Gift baskets are lovely for us as speakers, but lovelier is an  
enthusiastic audience guaranteeing we will be asked back - and that  
our fees won't be negotiated downwards.

Catering does need to be good - they'll go home early if they can't  
eat - but basically a garden show is about gardens, and if they've  
seen one thing last year they'll want to see something new and  
different this year

kathryn

On 23 Mar 2008, at 22:55, Dan Clost wrote:
> I'd like to poll the list, with the hopes that planners of garden  
> shows
> "listen" in to your erudite responses. I suspect this might  
> generate an
> article or two for more than a few of us.
>
> What makes a good garden show? Displays, vendors, speakers, some  
> magical
> combination of all three? Is it parking? What about good food? Is  
> it timing?
> Is it gift baskets in the hotel room?
>
> I ask because the last few I've been to have been disappointing.  
> They're
> long time mainstays in the gardening scene but they seem to be  
> stuck in a
> time warp, i.e. "It worked 10 years ago so it should work today, too."
>
> We must have aeons of experience amongst the lot of us, so we  
> should be able
> to nail it down pretty well.
> Thanks,
> Dan
>
> Dan Clost
> The Good Earth Columnist
>
> _______________________________________________
> gardenwriters mailing list
> gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters
>
> GWL has searchable archives at:
> http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters
>
> Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
> at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos
>
> Post gardening questions/threads to
> &quot;Gardenwriters on Gardening&quot; &lt;gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org&gt;
>
> For GWL website and Wiki, go to
> http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters
>

_______________________________________________
gardenwriters mailing list
gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters

GWL has searchable archives at:
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters

Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos

Post gardening questions/threads to
&quot;Gardenwriters on Gardening&quot; &lt;gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org&gt;

For GWL website and Wiki, go to
http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters