August’s theme is Open Gardens, or a Flower Show
(This can be a local flower show in your village or town, a national show like Chelsea, Hampton Court etc. or maybe even a small garden open for charity or to the public several times a year)
Fruit Basket Competition:
Annual fairs such as the Gooseberry and Carnation fairs, were introduced in the early eighteen hundreds. They were organised to attract country folk in to the town to sell their surplus produce, but often became scenes of debauchery and got out of hand. The Agricultural Society held its first show in 1875 with the band of the Coldstream Guards playing and the present Shropshire Horticultural Society was established in October the same year. Although flowers and horticulture are the main focus it has always been a family event with entertainment including military bands and show-jumping.
Usually taking place mid-August, the two-day event attracts a lot of visitors. The 2016 ticket was £24 for one of the days, not cheap, but there is a lot to see and do.
Several marquees are erected in the Quarry (park); the Quarry is for professional horticulturists; the Severn is where you’ll find vegetables, cut-flowers, bonsai, children’s classes, bee, honey and wine and the Dingle is home to floral arrangements.
Vegetable Basket Competition:
There are also show gardens, school gardens, a craft marquee, farmers and artisans markets, trade stands and food stalls. Celebrity chefs, professional gardeners (this year it was Sarah Raven), bands and other entertainers are present. The show is open for 12 hours each day and ends with a magnificent fireworks display.
As well as admiring all the wonderful exhibits you can also buy plants and other items at the show, they even have a crèche where you can leave them and pick up later. Interesting ideas for your own garden can be discovered so take a notebook and camera with you. Be warned. It gets very busy. We went several years ago on a beautiful summer day and the crowds were enormous. We actually sat and watched the show-jumping as we desperately needed a rest!
If you would like to join in with Garden Photography then please take a look at my Garden Photography Page. No complicated rules 🙂
- Create your own post and title it August: Flower Show / Open Garden
- Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
- Add the tag “GardenChallenge” so everyone can find the posts easily in the WP Reader
- Get your post in by the end of the month, as the new theme comes out on the first Sunday in September.
- Please visit the sites in the comments to see what others are posting.
This is the last week for the Open Garden / Flower show theme so if you have some photos to post then get them in quickly. Thank you to everyone who has participated this month, either by linking your own lovely posts, or through comments and likes. I do appreciate you stopping by. Next month is Flower Portrait where I’d like you to showcase one single bloom of your favourite or most unusual plant and please tell me why you are attracted to it. I will be travelling much of this month so may not get to visit your posts until the end of the month, but please don’t let that stop you from joining in. My posts will be scheduled and I shall do my best to keep in touch.
Earth laughs in flowers 
Pingback: August Garden Challenge: Show or Open Garden | Elizabatz Gallery
Until I read this post I had no idea what a garden show really entailed – only that they were very expensive! Now I see it is sort of a combo garden, flower show, and farmer’s market with horses. I still think it’s really expensive and have offered a free tour of my tiny garden in exchange: https://elizabatz.wordpress.com/2016/08/31/august-garden-challenge-show-or-open-garden/