Guest Author - Nicola Jane Soen

The Kent Flower Showis four days of gardening gluttony! It always ends on the second bank holiday monday in May every year. Different from the Kent County Show; it is not to be confused. The Kent County Show is huge and includes animals like horses and chickens etc. The Flowers show is about flowers.

It is amazing, stall after stall selling different, mainly English flowers. There were a few different Nurseries, local ones, selling their wares. These Nurseries tended to be more expensive than growers who were there specifically for the show.

The ‘little’ growers or private growers were fantastic. Their prices ranged a little, but there were bargains to be had. One stall, who only goes to the shows and has neither shop nor website, he informed me, was brilliant. His prices were great and his offers worth their weight in flowers! If you pardon the pun. He had a good range of different perennials,shrubs and clematis and had the clematis going for 5 plants for £10 when I arrived. The perennials were £5 for 3. The clematis was the best buy I made all day! I have a passion for them and many stalls had good choice but his was the best.

There were two herbs stalls. One whose prices were ok, but I was not keen on, although they had more of an unusual range; the customer service was not very good. The other stall was local and had a deal going which was very good.

There were the usual tool stalls, Makita, Goodwin’s etc, whose customer service was very good. Goodwin’s sell, among other gardening electrical equipment; elite spas which were very luxurious. They also spent alot of time talking to the customer and served wonderful coffee.

Their lorry I was told, cost £30,000 and is custom made. It shows off their hot tubs to perfection. It is fabulous.

Among the pother stalls was the conservation charity, the Kent Wildlife Trust. This Trust sell membership to the most precious English commodity; the Wildlife and countyside of Britain. They have countryside and gardens that they protect and the public can visit. Their stall had lots of information. If you brought membership, the pack showed walks and visits well worth going on. Even the free leaflets were informative and showed where to visit. Find more about them at www.kentwildlife.org.uk

There was a funfair for the children, plenty of eating places AND wonderfully clean toilets, plenty of them, with toilet roll that did not run out! They also provided shower rooms for those staying over.

The indoor part had local produce, bonsai, fresh cut flowers, Mediterranean food; garlic bread and olives with iced cakes piled high to buy. There were also local ginger drinks with freebie tasters too. These were just some of the delights! Artists were their flogging local artwork, hand made old fashioned fudge, old 40’s nick naks, bo-ho clothing and metal work etc, all worked side by side. It was great, although it got a bit crowded to say the least.

It was well worth the day, even though you need to pay to get in. If you love local produce, for good prices, I would definitely put this show in your diary for next year. It’s great.