As we gear up for the next Flower Show Forum at the end of March, I wanted to share an inspiring story about the success of Longburton Garden Club’s members, who revived their Flower and Produce Show after more than a decade, following the initial Flower Show Forum in 2016.

After deciding that they wanted to relaunch the village show, the members attended the Forum and found that it gave them the tools they needed to run a successful show. The community of knowledgeable individuals involved, including the Royal Horticultural Society’s Affiliated Societies, all willingly offered support and advice along the way, giving them confidence in relaunching the show after 10 years. The day was a huge success and the Longburton Flower and Produce Show will return on Saturday 19 August 2017.

The whole idea of the Flower Show Forum is to identify ways to inspire more people to take an interest in gardening and keep the traditional flower show alive, so I was delighted to discover that we helped Longburton Garden Club get its show back on track. One of the key findings at the Forum was the need to entice younger people and less experienced gardeners in with alternative categories, and this is exactly what Christine and her team did. By involving local art and craft groups, the organisers made the event inclusive and accessible for the whole community.

The next Flower Show Forum will be held at Castle Gardens in Sherborne, Dorset on Thursday 30 March from 6:30pm. This third forum, which is free to attend, will look to initiate a new relationship between schools and their local gardening clubs with the announcement of a new free pot scheme for local schools.

Mike