Harrogate Flower Show will celebrate the mental health benefits of gardening

The mental health benefits of gardening are being celebrated at the Harrogate Spring Flower Show which starts tomorrow.

Designers from across the country will be creating a flash of floral inspiration aimed at showcasing the country’s growing connection with plants and flowers.

The four-day event at the Great Yorkshire Showground will feature ‘Grow Your Home’, a colourful installation created by floral stylists from Leeds-based Leafy Couture.

The display, featuring hundreds of blooms around a central courtyard setting, offers visitors a glimpse of the joys which flowers can bring, which was particularly highlighted during the pandemic.

Show director Nick Smith said:

“After a difficult time for many of us, this year’s Spring show concentrates entirely on the positives which plants and landscapes can bring to us all.

“Gardening is the great leveller – from sweeping lawns to a simple window box, we can all benefit from the life-affirming pleasure which plants and flowers can make to our own personal space.”

Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID) has chosen the flower show to launch its latest campaign – ‘A Floral Summer of Celebration’.

Between July 15 and August 12, the town centre will be home to a floral trail featuring 10 unique displays, floral-themed shop windows and events starring key speakers from the world of gardening.

Pictured at their art deco-themed flower show stand: From left, Harrogate BID Chair Sara Ferguson, BID manager Matthew Chapman, Blameys florist Fran Addis, BID business and marketing executive Bethany Allen, Blameys owner Ruth Fisher and BID business liaison officer Jo Caswell.

This will be in addition to dozens of hanging baskets outside town centre businesses, the numerous flower beds maintained by Harrogate Borough Council, more than 200 barrier baskets funded by Harrogate BID and some specially commissioned floral street art.

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Matthew Chapman, Harrogate BID manager, said:

“Harrogate is renowned for its floral displays; it’s the home to RHS Garden Harlow Carr, the stunning Valley Gardens, and of course the Spring Flower Show, which is one of the biggest and best in the North of England, if not the whole country.

“This summer, Harrogate Floral Summer of Celebration will see us celebrating our floral excellence and the return of Yorkshire in Bloom after a two-year absence.”

Featuring show garden features, plant nursery displays and floral art, the show will include plenty of colour, style and inspiration.

Local charities will also be showcasing their work, including Jennyruth Workshops in Ripon and Horticap in Harrogate.

This year the programme of live entertainment includes talks and demos across four stages.

A new show, ‘Human Gardener’ will offer a series of fun and engaging sofa conversations with the people behind the plants – from bee inspectors to fungi fanatics.

Over on the Gardener’s Kitchen stage, TV cook and chef consultant Stephanie Moon will create dishes from veg patch produce, with the help of grow-your-own guru Martin Walker. 

Meanwhile, the GROW! Live team will provide answers to  gardening questions, whilst the CREATE! Floral stage will host celebrity floral designer Jonathan Moseley.

Thousands of garden products, handmade crafts, gifts and specialist foods will also be on offer.

Tickets

Pre-booked tickets with a £3 saving on gate prices are available online until midnight tonight.

Thursday to Saturday tickets are £20.50 online, £23.50 on the gate.

Sunday tickets are £18 online, £21 on the gate.

Children under 16 are free when accompanied by an adult. General car parking is free.

Stray Kitchen: freezing flower show, but the chefs keep cooking

Stray Kitchen is our column all about food written by renowned local produce expert, food writer and chef, Stephanie Moon. Stephanie is a champion of food produced in the UK and particularly in Yorkshire and the Harrogate district. 

The Harrogate Flower Show had bad weather this year, but in spite of the rain, it was a blooming marvellous success! Those of us who were cooking at the event were just so happy to (finally) be let out..

The plants took a battering in the rain but even the soggy ground seemed not to mind. My role this year was to cook alongside expert gardener Martin Walker, former Head Gardener at York Gate Garden and his partner Sue. We ran the cookery theatre and did 40 demonstrations in four days. Every cookery demo was coupled with expert gardening tips from Martin and his encyclopaedic knowledge of gardening.

Our gardening tips and cookery demonstrations took inspiration from salads, asparagus, courgettes, beetroots and some seasonal sweet treats. I found the tips on growing fascinating and it gave me more confidence to have a go in the garden. My potatoes now are looking great, along with a piece of guttering which Martin and Sue filled with “Cut and Come Again Lettuce”. It’s had three close shaves so far, and is still going strong…

My cookery demos where showcasing the Yorkshire produce available to buy on the day at the show. Tasked with what to do with a glut of courgettes, we demoed a courgette, beer and cheese soup – using Isaac Poad‘s sell out beer and Coverdale Cheese.

‘Feast over the Fence’ garden was great fun and Martin and Sue won the President’s Choice Award

All agreed the garden Martin and Sue so expertly made up was a beautiful thing to behold and it really had it all… raised beds full of cabbage and brassicas, pots of rhubarb and beetroots, a wheelbarrow spilling over with vegetables and fruits, a garden shed and guttering filled with salads and herbs- really the finest stage I have ever had the pleasure to cook on and with such a marvellous fun and humble couple we had a great time.

Now that events are back, I cannot wait for the Great Yorkshire Show and Harrogate Food Festival.

See you there and hopefully if the weather is better than it was for the Flower Show, we will have some fun in the sun!

Steph x

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