Gillian Spencer of National Office visited the RHS Spring show in London and reports:

"Even the Streptocarpus and Clivia blooms did not look out of place in the exuberant display staged by the London Group of Plant Heritage at the RHS Spring show on 15/16^th February. Stately Ribes sanguineum ‘White Icicle’ from the gardens of Buckingham Palace provided height for the display along with many coloured stems of Cornus (from Richmond Park), strokable catkins of Salix daphnoides (from Capel Manor College) and Rhododendron ‘Praecox’ in full bloom from Elizabeth Bristow’s garden.

However the public, at times six deep in front of the display were captivated by the scents coming from the specimens on the lower stages of the display. Lonicera fragratissima, Osmanthus yunnanensis, Viburnum, Daphne and Edgeworthia all competed for our senses and delighted everyone with their delicate beauty.

Specimens of Hamamellis were grouped to show the different colours of three cultivars and Chimonanthus praecox was positioned next to C.praecox ‘Luteus’ so that the differences could be examined. Helleborus flowers were placed on plates of moss so that their charm could be appreciated and small vases of Galanthus and Narcissus were interspersed among the larger specimens, which included a magnificent branch of Chaenomeles specios ‘Nivalis’.
 

Visitors to the show were truly impressed with the display of what was in flower in the gardens of our members in these early days of spring and the Silver Gilt medal awarded by the RHS was well deserved."