Words by Vikki Rimmer

A team of seven intrepid nurseries from Kent and Sussex will be taking specialist plants grown in their micro nurseries and back gardens to the most prestigious flower show in the world.

With just a few days to go, preparations are in full swing for the Plant Fairs Roadshow exhibit in the Floral Pavilion at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

The independent nurseries came together more than a decade ago to organise their own plant fairs as a way of bringing their plants to the wider public - and last year a team from the Plant Fairs Roadshow took their plants to Chelsea for the first time.

The seven nurseries taking part this year will showcase their plants in an exhibit double the size of last year’s.

The seven combined stands will feature desert, tropical, perennial, prairie, shade-loving plants as well as a stand devoted to climate-change resilient species.

Graham Blunt, the owner of Plantbase Nursery, a one-acre site in Wadhurst on the Kent/Sussex border, is a founding member of the Plant Fairs Roadshow.

Graham grows his entire stock of drought and flood resilient plants completely off-grid with the help of solar energy.

“My exhibit is about plants for climate change,” says Graham. “My plants herald from around the world, but the thing that unites and interests me the most are plants that can withstand prolonged climate extremes - drought tolerant, flood resistant, able to cope with both heat and cold.

“These plants are essential now more than ever with the threat of climate change. For me, it’s not about the medal, it’s about the message.”

Graham will be taking resilient cacti (Echinocereus polyacanthus) that thrive in clay soil outdoors, tough begonias (Grandis evansiana), a tea tree oil myrtle (squamea) that can withstand minus 23 degrees, and ‘bomb-proof’ weigelas.

“The weigela is such a brutal plant and easy to grow,” he adds. “You can put them literally anywhere and they'll survive!”

Steve Edney and Louise Dowle are the owners of No Name Nursery in Sandwich and this year they will be taking the largest pseudopanax in the UK to display.

“It’s been a difficult start to the season with very little sun,” says Louise. “But we are feeling positive about the pseudopanax from the National Collection and we will be taking lots of exotics with us for the stand.”

Speaking of the wider team, Steve says: “It’s great to have the support of our fellow nurseries and to do this together, to bounce things off each other. Chelsea can be a bit much otherwise!”

Rachael Castle from Swallowfields Nursery in Ashford, Annie Godfrey from Daisy Roots in Hertfordshire, Paul Seaborne from Pelham Plants in East Sussex, Miles Hayward from Miles Japanese Maples in West Sussex and perennial superstar grower Derry Watkins complete the Plant Fairs Roadshow team this year.

They will be making final preparations to take their home-grown plants to Chelsea over the weekend and will show off their displays to the public when the show opens on Tuesday, May 21.