Creake Abbey Plant Lovers Fair

At the end of May, Mum, Dad and I went to visit the Creake Abbey Plant Lovers Fair - Dad had found the details in the local paper ages ago, so we popped the date in our diary to go and check it out.  I'm not sure what any of us were expecting, but the size of it was amazing!

We were hooked from the first stall we saw - and there were about thirty more! The choice of plants was astonishing - there was something for every type of garden. I had a list of things I would like to look at - I've been making assiduous notes while watching the current series of Gardener's World. In fact, I don't watch any gardening programmes on TV now without my note book beside me.  The mistake we made was not having enough cash with us - actually, that might have been a good idea, to stop us getting carried away! Not all of the stallholders took cards, cash was king that day. (Although it got a bit tricky in the tea room as I had to pay for our coffees and cakes with pennies and silver!)

The tea room was set up in a barn, with artwork all around the walls. The tables sat ten or twelve, so there were a number of different groups on each table, all with our carrier bags of plants. It was actually a great opportunity to quiz strangers about what they'd bought and which stall they'd visited - it was a very collaborative event!

This picture is one I'm very proud of - I posted this on Twitter and tagged the organisers and they have asked if they can use it for their publicity next year - of course!  How exciting! (The irony is that this wasn't actually taken on my new zoomy camera, it's taken on my basic-as-anything camera 'phone!)

I'd visited Creake Abbey before but the bonus this time was that the gardens were all open too so this was the first time I'd visited there.  It was a lovely surprise, as we had no idea we'd get a chance to explore them.

I love this picture of Mum and Dad studying the planting.

This rosemary was enormous - and smelt beautiful.

Time for a sit down with all our purchases - Mum had brought her funky trundle with her - jolly good idea actually.  Next year I'm taking mine!

An absolute fantastic day - much bigger than we'd anticipated but at least we know for next year. I will continue to make my notes of plants I'd like and I will definitely be taking more cash with me!