Harrogate Spring Flower Show: Horticulturalists to stage armchair chat programme featuring experts and famous faces

Having time on our hands gave us the opportunity to nurture nature and even have a go at growing our own. Seeing the impact this had, and the interest among visitors to last year’s

Harrogate Spring Flower Show, horticulturists, Faith Douglas, and her friend, Sarah Owen-Hughes decided to tap into the enthusiasm.

The pals, who met professionally through attending Harrogate Flower shows, spent the past six months putting together a special programme, bringing together experts, including a few famous faces, for this year’s Harrogate Spring Flower Show which opens tomorrow and runs until Sunday at The Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate.

Think of an interactive armchair chat show in the wonderful ambiance of a horticultural setting – The Human Gardener – is all about life and how our outside space benefits us as human beings, educationally, medically and mindfully.

“The demographic of the flower show changed since Covid. During Covid everybody was getting passionate about their gardens, taking notice of nature and a lot of younger people were interested in growing their own food, interested in the health and well-being side of it,” explains Faith.

“We thought we need to do something, we love the Harrogate Flower Show, it’s one of the best in the country. The Northern Horticultural Society who run it are brilliant and are always supportive.”

Conscious the horticultural industry was also feeling the impact of Covid, Faith and Sarah felt it was also the perfect time to embrace the increasing interest in gardening and growing, especially among the younger generation whose involvement they are keen to encourage.

They were allocated a stage for the four day event where industry guests and experts, among them Ruth Mann, Head of Integrated Crop Technologies for Harrogate-based Agrii, and Liz Ware of the national charity Silent Space, will have 15 minute conversations with Faith and Sarah about their professions.

There will also be a Trowels and Tribulations Podcast which Faith and Sarah are running with Phil Airey from Horticap, an independent charity based in Harrogate which provides adults with learning and other disabilities training in horticulture, allied crafts and rural skills.

The Human Gardener programme focuses on different themes. These include the Experimental Gardener, Curious Gardener; Creative Gardener; Professional Gardener; Human Nature; Playful Gardener and The Natural Gardener.

Dr Amir Khan and celebrity florist, Jonathan Moseley from Jonathan Moseley Flowers, are among the well-known faces bringing their expertise to The Human Gardener programme. “The fact that Amir does so much to publicise horticulture and nature as well as being a GP is really exciting,” says Sarah.

She also acknowledges the impact Covid has had, along with the increasing interest in gardening and horticulture, particularly among younger people. “I have volunteered on the advice stand at the show for over 10 years and we noticed people who were coming to the show had changed.

“It’s more families, people who have never gardened before. We noticed a lot more 20 somethings coming with their parents and people who are curious, who want to experiment and find out more about horticulture,” says Sarah.

“We are all trying to heal. It has been a really difficult time for everyone and something that will ignite a spark of interest, or inspiration, I think we will be doing our job very well. Although gardening can be something we do alone, it builds community and it’s great to get these people together talking about it and celebrating it.”

Faith, part-time curator of a 100 acre arboretum within the beautiful landscape of Thorp Perrow in Bedale, North Yorkshire, who also delivers mindfulness techniques through her business, Forest Bathing UK, will focus on Forest Bathing, one of the many techniques she teaches.

“There are so many interesting people out there in interesting professions and this is the future of the planet; it’s health; it covers life; it supports human beings - you can relate any of this back to human beings – that is why we call it The Human Gardener.

“We have armchairs, it is interactive and it will be welcoming,” says Faith. “It’s about people taking a moment, it will be really relaxed, really calm and interesting. Everything we are talking about is relating to human beings, whether you are a gardener or not, it is relatable.”

The Harrogate Spring Flower show is one of two held twice yearly. The Autumn flower show, showcasing the world-famous giant veg competition as well as Autumn flowers grown by specialist societies, takes place in the stunning surroundings of Newby Hall and Gardens near Ripon, providing visitors with access to Newby Hall’s beautiful award-winning gardens and showcasing stunning floral installations in the historic stately home.

Both the Spring and Autumn shows are organised and run by The North of England Horticultural Society (NEHS), a leading gardening charity established more than a 100 years ago to support and promote horticulture across the north.

The purpose of the society, whose patron is HRH The Prince of Wales, was to promote horticulture in the north of England, providing a showcase for plants and produce grown in the colder northern climate. Over the years the shows have become regarded as the biggest and most prestigious independent shows in the gardening year.

This year’s show, which kick-starts the UK’s national gardening calendar, brings together designers from across the country who will be demonstrating the benefits of bringing plants and flowers into our lives.

Among the many garden design features is ‘Grow Your Home’ – a spectacular floral installation created by floral stylists from Leeds-based Leafy Couture. Featuring hundreds of blooms around a central courtyard setting, the showcase demonstrates to visitors the joy which flowers can bring.

Visitors can also look forward to stunning show garden features, spectacular plant nursery displays and fantastic floral art, along with live entertainment, talks and demos.

TV cook and chef consultant, Stephanie Moon, will be demonstrating mouth-watering dishes from veg patch produce on the Gardener’s Kitchen stage with the help of grow-your-own guru Martin Walker, and the GROW Live team will be on hand to answer gardening questions.

Celebrity floral designer, Jonathan Moseley, will be inspiring audiences with practical and fun ways to bring the garden into your home on the CREATE! Floral stage. Visitors can also browse a range of garden products, handmade crafts, gifts and specialist foods.

Show director, Nick Smith, says: “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.”

For tickets or for more information visit flowershow.org.uk.