Looks like the weather is going to be perfect for Great Dixter’s fourth plant fair this weekend, 5th and 6th October from 11-4pm. There’ll be 20 very choice nurseries attending, mostly from the UK, but also featuring sellers from France, Ireland, Sweden and Holland. What a treat!
Nursery owners will also be giving talks on a wide range of plants over the weekend, including Neil Lucas from Knoll Gardens talking about grasses, Paul Barney from Edulis on Edible Plants, Derry Watkins from Special Plants on Annuals and Marina Christopher from Phoenix Plants on Herbaceous plants. What a fantastic line-up!
Entrance is £7.50 and this also includes entry to the garden, which will no doubt still be looking lush and gorgeous in its late summer glory. Definitely worth the trip to East Sussex.
Out of my shed 
Have read one or two snippets about this event Naomi – sounds like my idea of the most perfect day out. Maybe next year – will have to start saving now 🙂 Have a great day if you are heading that way.
Thanks Anna! Can’t wait to see the gardens too. Haven’t been down since spring and they always look wonderful this time of the year.
Looks like a fasci nating day. A pity we cant have something like this in London. Great Dixter is fairly inaccessible in a day from here without a car. Also it is rather aimed at people who have some sort of conservatory as there’s no way you can overwinter cannas without glass and they have finished flowering, i.e it’sfor the affluent, whichI suppose is fair enough
Hi Susan, Great Dixter is quite a way from London (and a car does help), but I think their own nursery is very reasonably priced and packed full of gorgeous tough and hardy plants that you’d be hard pressed to find in many other nurseries. I’m not great at getting Cannas to overwinter myself, but it was a lovely bright pic for the post. Rest assured (for others who are visiting!), there will be loads of other hardy plants on sale and the talks alone would be reason enough to go down I reckon. And the garden (I hear from Perry at Great Dixter) is looking resplendent at the moment!
There is a spring plant fair at the Garden Museum in London in Lambeth (usually end of April/beginning of May) (here’s another post from 2012). It’s a very jolly affair with plenty of out of London nurseries attending, maybe not all quite as specialist (or from Sweden, France, Ireland and Holland) as at Great Dixter’s fair, but definitely worth the tube fair!
Those going have a treat ahead; the garden is stunning. I visited a couple weeks ago with a group of 28 from North and South Carolina and it was everyone’s favorite. Wish I could be there for the event. Enjoy!
Hi Marian, that sounds like quite a trip. Curious to know which other gardens you visited…..
I’m jealous also–
Great Dixter has been on my list for a long, long time.
I can overwinter Canna’s though–we just leave them in ground here in the Southern US which is USDA zone 7 B. I’m surprised they don’t overwinter in London. The problem could be your ample moisture. Some plants don’t like wet feet in winter.
Have fun! And think us poor yanks! Great post.
I’m jealous! !!! Plant festivals are my favorites!!!
Am stomping vigorously on my envy and wishing you a very happy time. 😉
Christine, Karen and Janet-Maybe next year??? N x
I would have loved to attend but my little car broke last week (clutch cable, now being fixed). All not lost, though, I’m going to Dixter next weekend with college and really, really looking forward to it! Hoping to pop in on Sissinghurst as well while in the area.
Thanks but unfortunately I had to do other less fun things this weekend. It is a number of years since I last visited Great Dixter and I have put it on my list for 2014. Did you visit, did you pick up some gems? The late Christopher Lloyd was in my mind the best writer about all things horticultural, a great inspiration. Hope to hear about it further if you did visit.
Hi Dorris and Caro, sadly didn’t get there in the end either. GRrr…Next year for me too! Caro-hope you have a great time this weekend and look forward to (enviously) reading your post!
Dorris-love Christopher Lloyd’s writing too.
I’ve heard that there’ll be about 50 students attending from college (as well as public) so plan an early start to the day! It makes me realise what a wonderful gift you gave us earlier in the year when we few bloggers had the gardens to ourselves!